“This royal path (Advaita), revealed by the sages of yore, is now in danger of being closed. The by-lanes are being taken for the royal path. Our effort now is to make people realize that these diversions from the royal road will lead them nowhere. Life’s real problem is not solved with these shortcuts to spirituality. These shortcuts will only result in endangering the seeker… This is a movement for the propagation of the true Vedantic wisdom, the legacy left behind by Shankara Bhagavathpada, the timeless knowledge that is eminently adaptable to the modern times.” ----Shri Yellamraju Srinivasa Rao What is the Absolute Truth? What is my essential nature? How can I grasp the truth and make it my every-day experience? In this book, Shri Yellamraju Srinivasa Rao, with great insight and clarity, answers questions that intrigue seekers of the truth. Srinivasa Rao’s clear and lucid explanations of the Absolute Truth resonate deeply, and awaken the seeker to a direct experience of the Self as Pure Consciousness. “This book is a very useful addition to the Vedanta texts in English. It is an excellent summarization of Advaita.” --- Dr. Aravinda Rao Karanam, Retired DGP, now teaching at www.advaita-academy.org “Shri Yellamraju Srinivasa Rao imparts a no-frills Advaita that has a high fidelity to Shankara’s core teaching. His unique style of explicating the Knowledge Path captures analytical minds and makes one marvel at the rigor of logic and precision of the ancient Indian Sages. His metaphors are often enthralling and highly instructive. Here is a truly rewarding Advaita text that challenges everyone’s intellect.” ---Dr. Ramesam Vemuri, Author of Religion Demystified, and writer at www.advaita-vision.org.

"This royal path (Advaita), revealed by the sages of yore, is now in danger of being closed. The by-lanes are being taken for the royal path. Our effort now is to make people realize that these diversions from the royal road will lead them nowhere. Life's real problem is not solved with these shortcuts to spirituality. These shortcuts will only result in endangering the seeker... This is a movement for the propagation of the true Vedantic wisdom, the legacy left behind by Shankara Bhagavathpada, the timeless knowledge that is eminently adaptable to the modern times." ----Shri Yellamraju Srinivasa Rao What is the Absolute Truth? What is my essential nature? How can I grasp the truth and make it my every-day experience? In this book, Shri Yellamraju Srinivasa Rao, with great insight and clarity, answers questions that intrigue seekers of the truth. Srinivasa Rao's clear and lucid explanations of the Absolute Truth resonate deeply, and awaken the seeker to a direct experience of the Self as Pure Consciousness. "This book is a very useful addition to the Vedanta texts in English. It is an excellent summarization of Advaita." --- Dr. Aravinda Rao Karanam, Retired DGP, now teaching at www.advaita-academy.org "Shri Yellamraju Srinivasa Rao imparts a no-frills Advaita that has a high fidelity to Shankara's core teaching. His unique style of explicating the Knowledge Path captures analytical minds and makes one marvel at the rigor of logic and precision of the ancient Indian Sages. His metaphors are often enthralling and highly instructive. Here is a truly rewarding Advaita text that challenges everyone's intellect." ---Dr. Ramesam Vemuri, Author of Religion Demystified, and writer at www.advaita-vision.org.

This complete guide to enlightenment presents the wisdom of the ancient science of self-inquiry, a time-tested means for achieving spiritual freedom. The author convincingly refutes the popular view that enlightenment is a unique state of consciousness and debunks a host of other myths. In his straightforward style he reveals proven methods for purifying the mind, and takes the reader from the beginning to the end of the spiritual path, patiently unfolding the logic of self-inquiry.

Being Myself is a contemplative exploration of the essential nature of our self. Everyone has the sense of ‘being myself,' but not everyone knows their self clearly. In most cases, our sense of self is mixed up with the content of experience and, as a result, its natural condition of peace and happiness is veiled. Through investigation and analogy, the meditations in this collection take us back to our true nature again and again, until we begin to find our self naturally and effortlessly established there, as that. In time, experience loses its capacity to veil our being, and its innate peace and joy emerge from the background of experience. * * * The Essence of Meditation Series presents meditations on the essential, non-dual understanding that lies at the heart of all the great religious and spiritual traditions, compiled from contemplations led by Rupert Spira at his meetings and retreats. This simple, contemplative approach, which encourages a clear seeing of one’s experience rather than any kind of effort or discipline, leads the reader to an experiential understanding of their own essential being and the peace and fulfilment that are inherent within it.

Hard cover edition

'The nature of truth is to be free from contradictions. We approach nearer and nearer truth as we fi nd less and less contradictions. The only thing which is so free is non-duality'...'This may be achieved at fi rst, as the Upanishads say, in lightning fl ashes, in fl eeting momentary glimpses, but later this must be established into permanency. You should stabilize them through self-recollectedness to be done throughout the day, and through the constant reminder that the world is not separate from yourself. It is not enough to grasp the intellectual truth of non-duality'...'As the man of realisation knows the world to be an idea, a mental construct, the sense of unifi cation and love to all mankind is simultaneously its materialization, for he knows no difference between idea and matter. Hence too he wishes all beings to be happy, loves even his enemy, wishes him no harm, for he knows the truth of universal self-identifi cation. Thus to the extent a man realises the truth, he can do good and no more'...'Any kind of difference means contradiction. Nothing whatsoever other than the Atman exists. If you think there is another entity, whether man or God, there is no truth. This is the teaching since time immemorial of those who have inquired into truth.' - V. SUBRAHMANYA IYER

All objective sciences deal with the objectifiable entities and ignore in the process the very subject, who is doing the analysis. This book deals with the limitations of the objective sciences and also discusses how to prepare the mind so that it can see the truth. Transcending Science, therefore, involves how to transcend the subject-object duality, using the Yoga-Sastra discussed in the Gita and the Upanishads, and how to abide in the knowledge by overcoming all the mental obstacles that arise in the process. This forms the very purpose of life itself.

"Effortless mindfulness" is a new way to immediately enter an optimal flow state available to us in the midst of our busy lives. In The Way of Effortless Mindfulness, Loch Kelly teaches that when you "unhook" awareness from chattering thoughts, you can access a peaceful mind and a naturally embodied wakefulness. From this heartful space, students report they find that right action comes easily and a loving tenderness for all of life is freely available. This follow-up to Kelly’s award-winning Shift into Freedom outlines practical and supportive material from neuroscience, psychology, and the wisdom of various spiritual traditions. Here you will find a reader-friendly guide to understanding exactly what effortless mindfulness is, practices for engaging with it, and how to avoid the pitfalls to the full embodiment of this timeless awareness. The Way of Effortless Mindfulness offers a compelling introduction to the next stage in the ongoing mindfulness revolution.

aparokShAnubhUti is a short treatise written by Shankara, the seventh century saint and foremost exponent of Advaita Vedanta, in which he provides the most Direct Path to the realization of the Self on a “here and now” basis. Through the 144 verses of this text, he explains that the means to having the direct and intuitive realization of brahman - the eternal, immutable Beingness-Knowingness, which is our very nature. He declares, up-front, the unreality of the three entities, the Individual-World-Creator, a model commonly invoked by many philosophical systems to explain the genesis of a “me,” the person, and the world that I live in. Srinivasa Rao gave an elaborate commentary on aparokShAnubhUti in a series of talks, over a period of eight days. These audio commentaries have been transcribed, translated into English, edited, and organized into this book to help Non-Dual aspirants understand the intricacies of Shankara’s Direct Path.

A Seminary Co-op Notable Book of 2016 William James is often considered a scientist compromised by his advocacy of mysticism and parapsychology. Jonathan Bricklin argues James can also be viewed as a mystic compromised by his commitment to common sense. James wanted to believe in will, self, and time, but his deepest insights suggested otherwise. "Is consciousness already there waiting to be uncovered and is it a veridical revelation of reality?" James asked shortly before his death in 1910. A century after his death, research from neuroscience, physics, psychology, and parapsychology is making the case, both theoretically and experimentally, that answers James's question in the affirmative. By separating what James passionately wanted to believe, based on common sense, from what his insights and researches led him to believe, Bricklin shows how James himself laid the groundwork for this more challenging view of existence. The non-reality of will, self, and time is consistent with James's psychology of volition, his epistemology of self, and his belief that Newtonian, objective, even-flowing time does not exist.