Back in my teenage years, it was an exciting time learning to travel places all by myself. I didn’t have a car as I was still two years short of turning eighteen and old enough to have a driving license. I would explore different areas in Delhi, commuting by local bus. That was the popular transportation means back then. I think it still is. Sometimes we used to pick the wrong bus and reach unknown areas. So, there was one golden rule. If you lose your way, find bus no. 56. That bus had the highest frequency everywhere, and it would take us home no matter how much time it took. Eventually, we ..read more

Most people do not bother about spiritual awakening because they feel content with life. But deep down they acknowledge conflict and confusion lurking in their personal shadows. When one is in youth experiencing full vitality, they do not care about existential questions and meaning of life. However, as people age and face the monotony of mundane and repetitive work, they start experiencing physical decay and loss of strength and vitality, they begin to question life and its purpose. That’s when existential crisis hits them and a frantic search for permanent happiness begins. Some find refuge ..read more

What if I tell you that there is a possibility of awakening in this moment or now? And that nothing needs to be done other than allowing things to reveal themselves in consciousness without resistance. What if I tell you that every layer of unreality can be shed at this moment, revealing your true nature? That there’s no need for any practice, penance, or pilgrimage to be in the bliss of this present moment. The best part is that this liberation frees the individual from both the real and the unreal. Reality and illusion are concepts of the mind that have no concrete existence of their own. A ..read more

Our life is mostly an action-reaction loop, and we remain stuck despite knowing its futility. Awareness brings wisdom – a profound knowledge of a different kind that disentangles the knots created by the compulsive thinking mind. Awareness is pure knowing. It is noumenon, non-dual, and devoid of the subject-object relationship. It is not an object of perception but the one that makes perception possible. It is self-luminous and all-pervasive. It is here and now. It is not something we have. It is what we truly are beyond the limitations of mind and body. Spiritual awakening is waking to this a ..read more

Every spiritual inquiry begins with this question, “If I am not the mind and not the body, then what am I, and what’s going on?” This fundamental existential question is the beginning of all spiritual seeking. Every question related to life and living eventually boils down to this question. But there is another question that precedes this one. WHO WANTS TO KNOW? The traditional Vedantic texts apparently use “not the mind or body” or Neti-Neti (not-this-not-this) as affirmations to arrive at the source of pure consciousness, which is our true nature. The philosophy behind it is that we create s ..read more

Enlightenment is a loaded subject. Different people interpret it differently. The general idea people have about enlightenment is of liberation or moksha or nirvana from samsara (the world of names and forms), which according to them, liberates the individual from the misery of life, death, and rebirth. The individual consciousness perfectly aligned with the universal consciousness resides in its perfect bliss or unconditional love. But according to the ancient Mahayana Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna, nothing of samsara is different from nirvana, and nothing of nirvana is different from samsar ..read more

Andrea.: If you say that non-dual awakening is not in the individual’s control, then why should anyone even bother with non-duality? Why do you feel the need to convey this message and talk about non-duality? What is the point of self-inquiry or spiritual practices that claim one can spiritually awaken by practicing them? And my final question is that you say you have nothing to give, I feel you indirectly are giving me a belief system. Jagjot.: I stand by my statement that non-dual awakening is not in the individual’s control. The non-dual awareness ceases the individual according to its own ..read more

In my view, the man who searches for enlightenment is no different from the man who works in his corporate job and looks forward to becoming the CEO.  That man is still better because he is not hypocritical. He is clear about what he wants, along with the fact that he’s willing to do anything to get there.  Spiritual man, on the other hand, is hypocritical and full of dissonance. He searches for peace, not acknowledging the fact that it is the very search that is responsible for his misery.  He moves from one ashram to another; one guru to another; one book to another; he medita ..read more

Awareness is at the core of spiritual awakening. Without awareness or self-knowledge, it’s impossible to generate love, kindness, empathy, and compassion, not only for oneself but also for others. Even for the mind to turn inwards, we need awareness. Our life is mostly an action-reaction loop and we remain stuck despite knowing the futility of it. Awareness brings wisdom – a deep knowledge that disentangles the knots created by the compulsive thinking mind. Life throws all kinds of challenges and difficult situations; it is up to us what we do with them. Do you feel like a victim and suffer th ..read more

Om.: I absolutely agree that the world is an activity of consciousness, but if it is so, then could there be a possibility that consciousness is made of something finner? What proves that there is no division in consciousness? Jagjot.: If there are divisions in consciousness, they have to be discovered. Only when they are discovered, we’ll know that they exist. But you see, the discovery will happen in consciousness only. Consciousness makes the perception possible, so nothing can be known outside of it. Hence, Consciousness cannot be known objectively. Scientists call this the hard probl ..read more