James: During an interview, a well-known modern teacher, now deceased, was asked for his “final” teaching and quickly changed the subject. The question itself reveals a common misconception. Freedom is not an event; it is the nature of the Self. The belief that liberation from the thralldom of matter is a happening is based on the idea that reality is a duality, the world is an effect of a prior cause, and that a finite entity can produce actions that will generate a limitless result. In fact reality is non-dual – appearances to the contrary notwithstanding – the “world” only appears in the human mind, and the one Self is already free. Therefore the notion that enlightenment can be “attained” requires an appreciation of the truth that what exists but is not known can only be gained by knowledge, that knowledge requires an appropriate means and that ignorance of our limitlessness is difficult to remove. Ignorance – the belief that “I am small, inadequate, limited and separate from everything” – cannot be permanently dismissed by a non-dual epiphany, the transmission of spiritual energy or luck.
Known for millennia, the “final” teaching – “I am ever-free, limitless, unborn, non-dual, ordinary awareness/existence/love” – is a well-kept secret that will only reveal itself in its fullness when the ignorance that hides it behind beliefs and opinions of every ilk is systematically and rigorously assaulted with a complete teaching. Vedanta is a complete teaching. It explains the paths of love, action and knowledge with reference to our physical, psychological and spiritual selves. A proven, scientific, scripture-based tradition, it connects character to values and love, and leads a disciplined inquirer from the listening to the reflecting and on to the assimilation phases of self-inquiry with quiet confidence.
I am giving the complete teaching three times in 2020 because many Self-realized individuals who are firmly committed to Vedanta find the steady bliss that should become a constant experience when a qualified person is firmly convinced that “I am ordinary, ever-free, unborn, ever-present, unconcerned awareness” is often obscured by unresolved emotions developed in childhood and overlooked during the listening and reflecting stages of the teaching. Vedanta attracts intelligent people, who often assume they know more than they do. Mistakes in the reflecting stage are a consequence of improper hearing. So it is incumbent that a dedicated inquirer go back to the beginning and listen again. Even when the hearing stage is completed correctly, failure at the reflecting stage is commonplace because of the mind’s tendency to delude. Mistakes at the reflecting stage carry over to the actualization phase. Because self-deception is the nature of ignorance, all three stages of Vedanta need to be practiced under the tutelage of a qualified teacher. To accept that you have more work to do when you believe that you are enlightened requires great humility.
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This seminar explains the complete teaching of Vedanta as unfolded in James’ best-selling books The Essence of Enlightenment and How to Attain Enlightenment. It showcases signature teachings, including the three gunas, from Vedanta’s most important texts: Vivekachoodamani, Panchadasi, Bhagavad Gita, Narada Bhakti Sutras and Mandukya Karika.
Warning!!! Only read James’ best-selling book The Essence of Enlightenment after you have attended this teaching if you are new to Vedanta. If you are a dedicated inquirer, try to forget everything you have read before you attend!
