This satsang is for sincere people who have been guided to ShiningWorld, who are new to traditional Vedanta (albeit it in a seemingly non-tradititional format), who are familiar with many non-dual teachings and teachers, but who have not been consistently exposed to the complete Vedanta teaching. If you are struggling to experience the constant bliss of Self-knowledge, it is probably because you lack clarity with reference to the relationship between your individual awareness and the awareness of everything. This satsang encourages you to let go of your attachment to what you think you know spiritually and start over; it also tells you how to start. If you know what questions to ask ShiningWorld, you will be blessed with the help of traditional qualified ShiningWorld teachers.
Dear James,
You answered a very important question I had by writing ‘’You focus your attention on a ‘’name’’ of God which I was given in 1973 and am still at it. However, I still don’t understand what ‘’keeping your attention on the self all the time’’ means.
James: You are still at it because you don’t know what the name of God means with reference to the person who is chanting it.
Seems like you’ve been super busy, if you can fit me in for a Zoom call I’ve been wanting to go over a few items in the book Inquiry into Existence, and Meditation, Inquiry into the Self. For example in Essence of Enlightenment p.52 states.. “you don’t control the mind by controlling the mind. You do not control it because your conditioning controls it.” In Inquiry into Existence you write, “To control and concentrate the mind makes you a meditator”, P 218. Then on the next page, “Therefore it is necessary to control the mind.” And on p.234, “An inquirer should gradually control the mind.” So there’s some confusion there.”
James: The thing is, Mark, Vedanta is a systematic teaching. It starts at A and ends at Z. And each teaching is built on the previous teaching, so you won’t understand the importance of teaching 2 if you haven’t completely understood teaching 1. And so on right to the end. No teaching is more important than any other. The all fit together into a perfect mandala of meaning that sets you free. From speaking with you more or less randomly over the last year or so, here and there, it has become clear that you have a lot of the bits and pieces right, but you aren’t clear how they relate to each other, so you keep going round and round. The big picture should be with you all the time so if you get stuck in the little picture, you can zoom out of it, which is the only way to resolve it. Trying to solve the riddle of your true identity when you are identified with it, doesn’t work. I tried to explain this to you before, but it didn’t register.
Until you have this knowledge I can’t be of service. So, I suggest that you go to the home page of the website, click the New to Vedanta graphic at the top, and follow the links that will give you the understanding you need to proceed. Don’t skip a single topic because you think you know it or you think it isn’t juicy enough. Tattva Bodh establishes the terminology and gives the basic essential teaching. Once you are clear about this, write and I will tell you what to do next. You have the desire, which is the most important ingredient, but now we need to organize that desire so it produces the result you want…freedom and non-dual love.
Mark: Got it, your commitment to helping me is causing my eyes to mist up, really. I won’t let you down. I’ll do my best.
James: You can’t let me down because I’m not up. 😀 Don’t let yourself down; follow my advice. Anyway, not to worry, read Tattva Bodh carefully, think about it for three days, then read it again. Then without consulting the text again, write or record your takeaway and send it to me. I will read your takeaway and we can chat about it. That way I can figure out how to teach you. We have to do this right.
Love,
James
