Section
Vedanta and Yoga
The Gita, the Upanishads and the masters of Advaita.
TraditionKarma Yoga: acting without attachment to the fruits, the yoga of actionKarma Yoga proposes turning work into a spiritual path by acting without attachment to the fruits; the tradition sees in action and the law of karma what binds or frees.TraditionWhat is the form of God? What the hymn to Dakṣiṇāmūrti says, in Vedānta's readingFor non-dual Vedānta, the Dakṣiṇāmūrti-Stotram hymn describes God as the Whole in eight aspects, among them the observer itself.TraditionKatha Upanishad: the young Nachiketas and the question Death tried to dodgeIn the Katha Upanishad, a young man asks Yama, lord of death, to reveal what exists after the end; the answer is the doctrine of ātman, the Self that does not die.TraditionSahaja avasthā, the natural state of Being: the image of the rope and the snake in VedāntaIn the Vedānta tradition, sahaja avasthā is the state in which Being is recognized without effort; a talk in Hindi explains it through the image of a rope mistaken for a snake.AccountWhy pride keeps people from faith: a reflection on the emptiness of living "well"In a livestream, teacher Lu argues that pride hides a fear of depending on others, and that, for those who feel wounded, faith begins in vulnerability.TraditionUpa-paramā: Vedānta's renunciation means leaning on nothing, not giving up everythingIn Vedānta, one virtue required of students is inner renunciation: no longer propping identity on possessions, relationships, or image, with nothing to abandon.TraditionConsciousness with a body: what Vedānta says the “self” isFor Vedānta, the “self” is neither body nor mind, but the Ātman, unchanging consciousness; a study of Swāmi Dayānanda's teachings explains the argument.TraditionA method made to be abandoned: Vedānta and the question of deathFor teacher Uddhava, Vedānta is not a body of doctrines, but a provisional method of teaching, which the question of death helps explain.TraditionDeath as companion: what Vedānta teaches about time, discipline, and urgencyFor Vedānta, death accompanies every person from birth, and it is death that gives life its weight and urgency, according to teacher Uddhava.TraditionThe value of values: why Vedānta begins by preparing the mindIn an opening lecture, teacher Glória Arieira explains Swāmi Dayānanda's text on the values in Bhagavad Gītā chapter 13 as the foundation of self-knowledge.TraditionWhat Dies When Someone Dies? The Answer from Ramana Maharshi and Advaita VedantaFor Ramana Maharshi, the body dies and the Self does not; the method for recognizing it is asking “Who am I?,” a teaching of the Vedanta tradition, not a scientific finding.TraditionUpanishads: what the 108 texts underlying Indian philosophy are, and what they teachThe Upanishads gather the Vedic sages' experience of reality, the cosmos, and being; ten of them are regarded as the principal ones.TraditionGita, lesson 21: what is nonexistent, what is false, what is realLesson 21 uses an analysis of language to separate three Vedānta categories: asat, the nonexistent; mithyā, the apparent; and satyam, the real.TraditionGita, lesson 20: consciousness isn't in the world, the world is in itIn the Vedāntic reading, space, time, and objects appear within consciousness, not the other way around; nothing could contain it.TraditionGita, lesson 19: the Self as the only evidence that needs no proofLesson 19 argues, in Dayananda's reading, that everything we know is revealed by consciousness, the Self, which needs no proof of its own.TraditionGita, lesson 18: what I can call "I" and what is merely an objectEverything perceived, from body to mind, is an object, not the self; only the perceiving subject is self-evident, in Dayananda's reading.TraditionGita, lesson 17: why Vedānta calls for a teacher and a traditionVedānta offers itself as a means of knowing the Self and, for that reason, is said to require a teacher, a lineage, and a prepared mind.TraditionGita, lesson 16: belief isn't knowledge, and the Veda as a mirror of the SelfFor Dayananda, believing isn't knowing: Vedānta presents itself as a means of knowledge, and the teaching is said to work as a mirror of the Self.TraditionGita, lesson 15: knowing isn't doing, and the knower is the Self itselfKnowing isn't doing: it happens when the right means are present, and the Self is said to be the inner witness that knows every thought.TraditionGita, lesson 14: from wanting freedom to committing to self-knowledgeLesson 14 distinguishes the vague wish for freedom from the firm commitment to seek self-knowledge, and explains why that step organizes a seeker's life.TraditionGita, lesson 13: the four aims of life and what each one can giveThirteenth chapter in the series: artha, kāma, dharma, and mokṣa, the four aims of life in the Vedic tradition, and their limits.TraditionGita, lesson 12: heaven as a promise, and the search to feel at ease with oneselfTwelfth chapter in the series: why heavens and pleasures never resolve the feeling of being insufficient, and what Vedānta proposes instead.TraditionGita, lesson 11: moha, the confusion that overvalues what lies outsideEleventh chapter in the series: moha, the error of giving things a worth they do not have, and the roots of that error in not knowing oneself.TraditionGita, lesson 10: hurt and guilt, and the idea that the Self does not actTenth chapter in the series: hurt and guilt as the roots of suffering, and the Vedantic thesis that the Self is not the agent of any action.TraditionGita, lesson 9: the disciple, death and the Self that never changesThe ninth lesson marks the start of Krishna's teaching: Arjuna declares himself a disciple, and his sorrow is traced to confusion about death and who we are.TraditionGita, lesson 8: self-awareness, intelligence and a disciple's requestThe eighth lesson starts from what sets humans apart from animals to show how Arjuna arrives at asking Krishna to teach him.TraditionGita, lesson 7: when renunciation is just a way to runThe seventh lesson follows Arjuna's wish to walk away from it all, and shows why, for Dayananda, the way out lies not outside but in self-knowledge.TraditionGita, lesson 6: the hero who collapses and Krishna's responseThe sixth lesson follows Arjuna's collapse before his relatives and Krishna's first words, which break the silence with harsh language.TraditionGita, lesson 5: a blind king's question and the field of dharmaThe fifth lesson reads the Gita's opening question as a portrait of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's attachment, and links human birth to karma and the chance of liberation.TraditionGita, lesson 4: the inevitable war and the master in the chariotThe fourth lesson shows how the royal family's quarrels lead to war, and how Krishna, without fighting, takes Arjuna's place as charioteer.TraditionGita, lesson 3: the Mahābhārata as the setting for the teachingThe third lesson places the Gita within the Mahābhārata and distinguishes poetic text, which moves, from revealed text, which teaches.TraditionGita, lesson 2: what the name Bhagavad Gita already saysThe name Bhagavad Gita, "song of the Lord," already points to the teaching's style: knowledge offered with gentleness, never imposed.TraditionGita, lesson 1: the text that wants to clarify, not just informFirst chapter in the series: the Gita as a means of knowledge within Vedānta, and suffering as a problem of self-image.TraditionListening to see: what Vedānta asks of those who want to know themselvesFor Advaita Vedānta, the first step is not technique: it is quieting the rush and listening, since every person is already whole, and what's missing is seeing it.TraditionThe Prayer of Caritas read through Advaita Vedānta: a Spiritist prayer and Indian philosophyA Vedāntic reading of the prayer dictated in 1873 by the spirit Caritas translates each petition into images of the path from ignorance to the recognition of Being.TraditionPsalms 23, 91, and 121 read through Vedanta: who is the shepherd who watches over usTwo traditions read the divine protection of the Psalms in opposite ways: as the care of a personal God, or, in Vedanta, as the recognition of one's own Self.TraditionNachiketas and Death: what the Upanishads teach about the eternal Self and immortalityThe Upanishads teach that the Atman is identical to Brahman, and tell how the young Nachiketas asked Death for the secret of what comes after life.TraditionWhat is Īśvara in Vedānta: why "where is God?" is not the right questionIn Vedānta, Īśvara is not a person in a place, but the substance and intelligence of all that exists; schools disagree on how far that idea reaches.TraditionWhat Vedanta calls liberation: recognizing the Atman, the inner selfFor Vedanta, suffering comes from mistaking ourselves for body and mind; liberation is recognizing the Atman, already present and needing no conquering.TraditionThe inner war: what the Bhagavad Gītā says to those caught between duty and fearOn the battlefield, Arjuna freezes, and Kṛṣṇa answers with the immortal soul, duty, desire as the enemy, and action without attachment to its fruits.TraditionThe straw of Agni: what the Kenopanishad teaches about the pride of the godsIn the Kenopanishad, victorious gods boast until a mysterious figure gives them a straw to burn and move; Swami Dayananda reads in this the role of the ego.TraditionHow to live spiritually without leaving the world: what Vedānta answersIn a Q&A video, a Vedānta swami addresses prayer, study, work, illusion, and loneliness, and says only liberation closes the search.TraditionA Mother's Grief Through the Lens of Vedanta: The Love That Needs No FormA first-person meditation draws on Vedanta to propose that, in a mother's death, what is lost is form, not the Self, and that love remains.TraditionIs the universe real? Advaita Vedānta's three answers, from creation to "never born"Advaita Vedānta offers three ways to understand the world, from ordinary creation to ajāta vāda, for which nothing ever arose; all three point to Brahman.TraditionDoes God sleep? What Advaita Vedānta says about the consciousness that never sleepsStarting from a question posed by Ramakrishna, a swami explains that Vedānta sees consciousness as what remains awake through sleep, dream, and waking.TraditionWhat is consciousness? Vedanta faces off with neuroscience, physics, and AIIn a talk, the monk Swami Sarvapriyananda argues that consciousness is not an object, that science doesn't explain its origin, and that an AI wouldn't have it.TraditionDissolving the mind: what Vedānta means by freeing oneself from thoughtFor Advaita Vedānta, liberation demands more than understanding: it requires knowing the truth, extinguishing latent desires and dissolving the mind, through four paths.TraditionVedānta: texts, schools, and the study method of one of India's six philosophiesVedānta, “the end of the Vedas,” brings together foundational texts, three major schools, and a traditional method of study with a teacher, and can be compared with other mystical traditions.