In the classical Yoga texts we find the concepts of Purusha (Consciousness) and Prakriti (nature; matter; energy), a duality of that which is beyond form and concept, and that from which all things arise. The one permeates the other so creating a duality which encompasses all creation.
Advaita is a Sanskrit word for Non-Duality. Everything has one source, or to put it another way, all things derive from one Reality which is fundamental Existence. Awakening is the process of transcending the ‘veils of illusion’ that seem to separate us from realising that our real identity is Awareness, Consciousness, and not the ephemeral entity that is the ever-changing ego and personality. However, let us not deny the importance of the ego-self since it absolutely necessary for each of us to function in the physical world in which we live as ’embodied beings’.
Select a post from the list below to read or listen
The Vigyana Bhairava Tantra in context.
A series of recordings taken from some of Swami Nishchalananda’s discourses on the Vigyana Bhairava Tantra, will be coming to the blog very soon. We decided it would be useful to explain a bit about how…
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You Are What You Are
The sessions from Satyananda Tapovanam in January 2003 continue with this session from the 5th January. Question driven, it shows Swamiji in an uncompromising mood regarding the essential nature of being beyond the personality and mind.…
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14th March 2021 Satsang with Swami Nishchalananda
In this satsang Swamiji introduces and highly recommends the Yoga Vasistha as an advaitic text full of startling wisdom. From this text he reads and illuminates two verses which, if pondered deeply upon, can revolutionise our understanding of…
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Firefly
A post by guest author, Narada. I’ve been invited to put this post on here by Swami Nishchalananda. It’s an honour to me, as I mostly consider he is the one who has something to say!…
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I am Conscious
Swami Nishchalananda gave this meditation as part of the Advaita online course given in October 2020, hosted by Mandala Yoga Ashram. If one could truly connect with the simple truth within the meditation, it would have…
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A birthday webinar by Swamiji
‘Actually… the day before. On a Friday evening the day before Swami Nishchalananda’s birthday we again got together with people from around Europe and the UK courtesy of online videoconferencing platform Zoom. We started with a…
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Embodiment and Awareness
On the path of yoga, let us have two sentiments regarding our identification. First of all, let us appreciate our embodied form as body and mind –and how extraordinary it is. At the same time, let…
Keep readingWhose Life is it?
We should be passionate about life and do our best in every situation, but at the same time we should first of all know that ‘our’ life is not really our life but the play of…
Keep readingMeditation – going deeper, a course given at Mandala Ashram in October 2018
‘…. when we see that our belief systems and our behaviour is nothing but conditioning, that then gives us the starting point for looking deeper through meditation’ Swami Nishchalananda Saraswati This satsang, and question and answer…
Keep readingThe Edge of Infinity
When I was eight years of age I had a dream, a very lucid and vivid dream, that repeated itself over a period of some weeks. I dreamed that in my search for Truth I traveled…
Keep readingThe Pathless Path
All religions, philosophies, systems and sciences are different fingers pointing at the moon (symbolizing Reality). They do not and cannot encompass Reality. This includes the systems of yoga, tantra and advaita. Realization of the Reality behind…
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Swami Nishchalananda 