Vedanta's Reaction to Ram Dass's Spiritual Search

ZOOM on 2nd June of 2024 at 7pm Madrid time

May 30, 2024

Dear friends

This Sunday, James and Susan Barlettani will continue and finish the “dresser drawer metaphor' teaching from preceding weeks: discriminating life and relationship issues from one another before removing the differences. We hope you will all join us and participate in the discussion.

Much love

Sundari and Ramji

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8346167587

Meeting ID: 834 616 7587

Passcode: 2023

1. Book of The Week:

Removing Duality

The next stage is to resolve this duality by understanding that with the help of Maya matter evolved from existence/Consciousness, and is therefore not separate from me. For instance, a pot borrows its existence from clay. If the clay is weighed and the pot is weighed, and the weight of the pot is subtracted from weight of the clay, the clay’s weight is un- changed. The clay is the cause and the pot is the effect. The effect is nothing but the pot appearing as a name and a form. Similarly, the vast world of objects are only names and forms of existence/Consciousness brought about by the action of Maya. The clay never became the pot; it appeared as the pot. So matter is not separate from me, but I am not matter. Therefore things that affect my material sheaths don’t affect me.

No object exists unless it is known to exist. Objects exist as thoughts, i.e. knowledge in the subtle body, and depend on the subtle body, reflect- ed awareness. The existence of the thought is borrowed from the exis- tence of the subtle body, and the subtle body borrows its existence from the Self, existence itself. Therefore all objects are nothing but existence/ Awareness appearing as something else.

Something that appears and disappears is not real. It is not non- existent, because we can’t experience something that doesn’t exist, but it is as good as non-existent because it has no impact on me, existence/ Consciousness. If something isn’t there before it exists and ceases to ex- ist at some time, is it actually there when it is appearing? It is apparent non-existence.

Removing duality is not removing objects. They exist by the will of Isvara, and cannot be removed. It is removing the belief that they are separate from me. If they are not different, my life is conflict-free. I only have problems with others, never with myself, because I love myself above all else.

An Excerpt from page 66

Link to Book

2. Video of the Week:

Vedanta's Reaction to Ram Dass's Spiritual Search

James, a friend of Ram Dass, met him twice and shares his insights about Ram Dass’s spiritual journey and the pitfalls of spiritual myths.

3. Social Media: Join us on Reddit

Join us on Reddit in the group NonDuality either by comments or by posts and give people who otherwise would have never heard of Vedanta a chance to discover a methodological approach to enlightenment that works!

To see all comments and posts by Ramji, click here:

Ramji on Reddit

To see all comments by Dave, click here:

Dave on Reddit