September/October 2007
Special Announcement
Wayne will be talking about The Living Teaching in Chicago and New York City in the coming weeks. See details below.
Message from Wayne
Hello my loves,
I am periodically taken to task for not having a teaching style more like some
of my preceptors - most notably, Nisargadatta Maharaj. Maharaj was famous for
speaking from the standpoint of the Absolute. He would say things such as, "I
was never born and I will never die" and "I am awake even when I am
asleep." Such assertively non-dual statements
sometimes had the effect of shocking his listeners into a profound, transcendent
Seeing.
I am sympathetic to this approach, but I have rarely been comfortable using
it. I feel much more at home when I am meeting my listeners where THEY are...
most of them believing that they were born and will die and that they are asleep
while asleep. From this point of "obvious" truth we can then proceed
to examine the more profound, underlying nature of
this "one" who lives and dies and sleeps.
No one can deny that there is EXISTENCE here. The nature of that EXISTENCE can (and has been) debated endlessly. But this EXISTENCE is self-proving. It is not a philosophical debating point but a self-affirming Truth. It is here at the center when you pull off the onion-like layers of your apparent self - the self that lives and dies and sleeps and wakes.
We are the victims of our beliefs. When you "believe" the pointers of a teacher such as Maharaj, the inevitable result is a kind of nihilism in which all that is apparent (including yourself) is denied as meaningless and illusory. When you believe the pointers of a teacher such as myself, the inevitable result is the sense of having a progressively deeper and truer knowledge about the nature of Existence.
So pick your poison. With a little luck...either one will kill "you."
With much love,
Wayne
Events with Ramesh Balsekar
Daily Talks in His Home: 9AM Sindhula, N. Gamadia Rd. #10, Mumbai,
India
Helpful info for people planning to visit Ramesh can be found at:www.advaita.org in the Ramesh Balsekar section
Events with Wayne Liquorman
Chicago, Illinois October 26 - 28, 2007
Contact: Maggie - Email: maggiewilkins@one-heart.net
New York City, New York November 9 - 11, 2007
Contact: Daniel - Email: djhnd@nyc.rr.com
Ross, CA (San Francisco Bay Area) December 7 - 9, 2007
Contact Joanne: 415-987-6400 jfm1@comcast.net or Ellen 415 902 1713
Paris, France January 18 & 19, 2008 Contact:
Philippe - Email: phde_h@yahoo.fr
London, England February 1,2 & 3, 2008
Contact: Ryan Spielman - Email: trueryan@aol.com Phone: (0) 7951 515 667
Madrid, Spain February 8, 9, & 10
Contact Conchita - Email: ccuriel@curiel-lifecoaching.com
Further details are available at http://advaita.org/aftalks.html
Talks in Wayne's Home
927B Sixth St., Hermosa Beach, CA
Check www.advaita.org for times or call 310-376-9636 for a recorded announcement.
These talks are broadcast LIVE over the Internet. Live broadcasts can be accessed free from the advaita.org website thanks to the continuing support of the members.
To become a member go to:
http://71.254.156.46/members/register.asp
Advaita Press Store
New Books from Ramesh
A Buddha's Babble - Ramesh S. Balsekar
Aham-Brahma-Asmi - I am Brahman
Tat-Twam-Asi - THAT You Are
These statements - the mahavakyas - have caused considerable confusion among Indian spiritual seekers because their inner meaning has not been comprehended.
Every twam is not Tat: every 'you' are not THAT. THAT is every 'you', THAT will always be there without 'you', but 'you' cannot be there without THAT.
Unless this is very clearly understood, every seeker will want to be 'one with THAT' and will, therefore, be frustrated. What is to be very clearly understood is that every human being, in his daily living, must continuously remain connected to THAT Source and never be disconnected from it.
The individual entity - the Ego - gets disconnected from the Source whenever he considers himself or the 'other' as the doer of some action, and blames and condemns him for some action.
The connection finally ends when the body dies and the Ego no longer exists as a separate entity.
To remain continuously connected to the Source in one's daily living means doing whatever is necessary to be done in any situation as if one is the doer---and, therefore, to witness whatever is happening as something that is precisely supposed to happen according to the Cosmic Law, without regrets about the past, without any complaints in the present, without any expectation in the future, and, importantly, without condemning anyone for anything---neither himself nor the other.
Paperback / Pages: 197 $16
https://advaita.3dcartstores.com/A-BUDDHAS-BABBLE--by--Ramesh-S-Balsekar-_p_11-235.html
Enlightened Living - Ramesh Balsekar
It stands to reason that if you want something desperately you would take great pains to find out what it did for those who have 'got' it. So if you desire Enlightenment, it would make abundant sense to at least check out what the 'Enlightened' ones have to say about the state of self-realization. That is what "Enlightened Living" does for you.
In this book, Ramesh Balsekar, arguably the most renowned exponent of the ancient philosophy of Advaita today and the author of 30 well-known books, presents you a clear perspective on the self-realized state, in his hallmark lucid style.
If you have believed the sage to be a glorified vegetable, passionless and neutered to all pleasure and all pain, if you have believed that he is in a never-ending state of cocooned bliss or if you have believed that there is some-'one' out there to enjoy that 'blissful' state, this book shows you just how mistaken you are.
To make its point, "Enlightened Living" presents an impressive array
of Masters - from Adi Shankara to Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, from Ashtavakra to
Ramana Maharshi, from Jnaneshwara to Nisargadatta Maharaj and Sengtsan - to
share with you, in the simplest terms possible, the reality of the state of
self-realization. Pointers are used, insights are
bestowed and cobwebs vigorously dusted away till what you are left with is a
deeply satisfying clarity - which may or may not be intellectual.
Paperback / Pages: 183 $15
https://advaita.3dcartstores.com/ENLIGHTENED-LIVING---by-Ramesh-S-Balsekar_p_11-240.html
New DVDs from Ramesh
2007 Guru Purnima Talk with Ramesh Balsekar
DVD - July 29, 2007
Daily Talks with Ramesh Balsekar
DVD - August 2, 2007
These are well produced video records of the daily Satsangs in Ramesh's Mumbai. All of Ramesh's satsangs are wonderful in their own way but we have selected and are offering some that we believe to be the best.
Running time approx. 2 hours
To order click:
https://advaita.3dcartstores.com/Ramesh-Balsekar_c_18-1.html
What I Teach, The Way I Live
DVD **NEW**
This is a new video interview of Ramesh produced in India by Zen Publications. In this conversation Ramesh dispels the most common misconceptions about a Sage and reveals his path to finding Peace of Mind.
Running time: Approximately 2 hours
To order click:
https://advaita.3dcartstores.com/WHAT-I-TEACH-THE-WAY-I-LIVE-INTERVIEW-WITH-RAMESH--DVD_p_0-251.html
New Downloadable PM3s Added
Several new MP3's of Wayne's Talks have been added to the DOWNLOAD section
of the Advaita Press Store.
Also, nearly all the currently available CD's of Ramesh and Wayne's Talks have
been converted to downloadable MP3's. These can be purchased in the Store and
then immediately downloaded for use in your iPod or other mp3 player. MP3 downloads
are less expensive than the CD versions and there are no shipping charges.
These can be found at www.advaita.org
Advaita Online Store under DOWNLOAD MEDIA
https://advaita.3dcartstores.com/DOWNLOAD-MEDIA_c_32.html
YOUR TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATION HELPS SUPPORT THE TEACHING
The Advaita Fellowship is an IRS recognized 501 c3 non-profit organization. Your contributions help to make these beautiful Teachings available to everyone --- plus they are tax deductible in many countries.
Donations can be made in the following ways:
Via the website: https://advaita.3dcartstores.com/DONATIONS_c_24.html
By sending a check
By contacting the Fellowship Office for bank transfer details 310-376-9636 or
fellowship@advaita.org
You may also support the Fellowship by becoming a Member of The Advaita Fellowship.
For more information on becoming a member go to: http://71.254.156.46/members/register.asp
A living gem from Ramesh
(never before published)
Liberation is really only liberation from the concept of bondage.
Only objects can be born and die, only objects can be conceived or
perceived. And all that seems to exist is appearance only, phenomena.
And the "spirit" or "self" or "subjectivity" cannot
be anything that is cognizable.
In fact IT or THAT can never be any thing.
It can only be ALL that is, and ALL that we are, not what we think we are.
It is phenomenal absence / absolute PRESENCE without the consciousness of it
presence.
January 1, 1990