Finally, we return to the clear water of the pond. It is through purifying the mind, quieting the intellect and spiritualizing the ego that we grow, evolve and eventually experience our golden soul nature. With a purified mind, we can see those golden nuggets at the bottom—our soul nature—having freed ourselves from the lower states of mind and entered the heaven within.
That brings us to a natural question: “If heaven is a state of consciousness, how do we access that higher state—how can we live in it now?” Hinduism answers with a beautiful concept: atma darshana—directly experiencing the soul. Atma means soul. Darshana means sight, which includes mystical sight or divine vision.
Let’s imagine what happens when we truly go within—when we dive inside ourselves, into our spiritual essence, into the realm of the atma. Think of it as a journey in four steps. Step one brings us to a calm, intuitive awareness—a space of quiet confidence, creativity and inner peace. Step two takes us into a place of unconditional love for all beings. Step three unveils brilliant inner light, where visions of divine beings, sages and higher realities become possible. Step four takes us beyond form—into a vast, silent, luminous inner space, a realm of pure awareness, where even identity dissolves into the transcendent.
God does not see us as other beings, other minds. Though we have been taught to believe that we have personal or human minds, and live now in a human or material existence, this teaching and belief has an end. Enlightenment has revealed that there has never been more or other than one Self, one Consciousness, one World, and one Existence.
"Alchemy is not about turning lead into gold; it is about transforming the lead of the personality into the gold of the spirit."
All this universe is in truth Brahman. He is beginning and end of life of all. As such, in silence, give unto him adoration.
Sama Veda, Chandogya Upanishad 3.14.1
Who is the God to whom we shall offer adoration? The God of gods, in whose glory the worlds are, and who rules this world of man and all living beings.
Krishna Yajur Veda, Svetasvatara Upanishad 4.13
The Self within the heart is like a boundary which divides the world from That. Day and night cross not that boundary, nor old age, nor death; neither grief nor pleasure, neither good nor evil deeds. All evil shuns That. For That is free from impurity; by impurity can it never be touched.
Sama Veda, Chandogya Upanishad 8.4.1
We should consider that in the inner world, Brahman is consciousness; and we should consider that in the outer world Brahman is space. These are the two meditations.
Sama Veda, Chandogya Upanishad 3.18.1
The energy in you is a part of the great cosmic energy. Cosmic energy, when individualized in the human being, manifests in many aspects. And one very important aspect is the physical biological aspect. That is the sex energy. A higher aspect is the mental and occult aspect. The mental and occult energy is called medhas. Then there is in the individual the psychic aspect of the cosmic energy. This is the kundalini shakti. And above everything else, in its highest aspect, the cosmic energy shines in the human beings as Atma Bal, as Atma Shakti, as the radiance of the Atman, the Self. So, think over all this. These are seeds of certain concepts for your further reflection.
Silence is very important. It is food for the soul. If we can make our mind absolutely silent, our body absolutely silent and our emotions absolutely silent, just for a few minutes, we can quiet down. We then begin to draw divine energies from the central core of the universe itself. The noise of the mind, the noise of the emotions and the noise of the physical body often block these divine energies. Or, as they are “oozing out” from the central core of the universe, they get quickly used up in all the commotion we cause in ourselves and in others. Therefore, we have the practice of mauna, silence–just sitting and being quiet.
In a gathering of teacher and disciple, the sage Yajnavalkya imparts the wisdom of the Self to his devoted student, Paingala, revealing the essence of non-duality and ultimate liberation.
Paingala asked, “O revered teacher, please explain in detail the great teachings that lead to liberation.” 1
Yajnavalkya replied: “One should meditate on the truth of ‘That Thou Art’ and ‘I am Brahman.’ In this context, ‘That’ refers to the unseen, all-knowing divine being—endowed with the power of maya and existing as pure being, consciousness and bliss—the very source of the universe. ‘Thou’ refers to the individual self, shaped by personal experience and identified with the sense of ‘I.’ When the veiling power of maya and ignorance is removed, the Supreme and the individual self are realized as one and the same—Brahman, which is not separate from the true Self.
“Be vibrant as the winds”, the closing mantra seals the success of vibrant humanity in action with the final achievement of “Om KhamBrahma” with Grace Divine. Life according to the Yajurveda is a journey from the beginning-less beginning to the endless end with the message:
Immortal child of Divinity, Your roots go deep to Eternity, Your reach is unto Infinity. And your path is up and onwards, Never never downwards.
“In short Veda is an eternal articulation of omniscience, the voice of God”. Each work of Prasthana Trayi i.e. Vedanta, Upanishads and Gita is not a take off from the Vedas but a continuation of Vedic studies in its own context of meditation, meditative teaching and a rousing call to action in a situation of karmic crisis.
The Divinity in All - Essential Divinity is the fundamental essence found at the heart of all things, the Spirit Within, the Inner Fire, the "most basic reality of all." It is the life force at the core of every creation, the cornerstone of every structure. In the writings of all the world's great religions this Principle is confirmed, that there is a universal Energy or Life which is the essence of all things. "Having pervaded this entire Universe with a fragment of Myself, I remain." Krishna speaks these words in the Bhagavad Gita, the Hindu Song of God.
Cultivation of Essential Divinity - Essential Divinity is a living reality which must be experienced, through inner illumination and revelation. We therefore "awaken" to this Divine aspect of ourselves, the highest aspect, the true essence of our being. Once awakened we begin to see the Divinity in all things, and as the light naturally attracts and cultivates the growing plant, we begin to cultivate Divinity within ourselves and in all around us, seeing ever more clearly the Divine Plan and Purpose working in and through all that is.
In Sanskrit, the word for chi is prana. The Tibetan word is lung. In Lakota Sioux it is known as neyatoneyah. The Bush People of the Kalahari speak of it as num, which means 'boiling energy.' In the Islamic world chi is referred to as barraka. Although many cultures possess an awareness of chi, the Chinese have refined the concept and integrated it into their culture to an unparalleled degree. Chi is a pivotal factor in Chinese medicine, martial arts, meditation, science, painting, calligraphy, architecture, interior design, and poetry.”
"Original Christianity—which was identical with Sanatana Dharma—taught that the Divine Light "was the light of men....the true Light, which lighteth every man" (Jn 1:4, 9) without exception. That Light cannot be alienated from us, but is ever the essence of our existence, making us "the children of light.” (Jn 12:36) This is the real Gospel, the Good News, of real religion.”
The Light of God Almighty is not metaphor—it is the cool, shadowless radiance revealed in the Sahasrara and proclaimed by all scriptures. Through the lived experiences of Kash, Arwinder, and Lalita, this Light is described as brighter than many suns, yet gentle to the eyes, fixed above the Divine Mother, and casting no shadows. It is the Light of Brahman, the Light of Christ, the Nur of Allah, the Clear Light of the Buddha, and the Ohr Ein Sof of Jewish mysticism. This Light is the essence of God, the inner illumination of the soul, and the universal truth that transcends all religious boundaries. It is the supreme secret of divine knowledge—cool, eternal, and dwelling within all beings.
“In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again.”
“The roots of all living things are tied together. Deep in the ground of being, they tangle and embrace. If we look deeply, we find that we do not have a separate self-identity, a self that does not include sun and wind, earth and water, creatures and plants, and one another.”
When you look outward you see names and forms. When you look inward you see the Self — the source of all.
Finally I am coming to the conclusion that my highest ambition is to be what I already am.
The soul is bound to the body by a chain of desires, temptations, troubles, and worries, and it is trying to free itself. If you keep tugging at that chain which is holding you to mortal consciousness, some day an invisible Divine Hand will intervene and snap it apart, and you will be free.
It alone exists always.
Talking of the 'witness' should not lead to the idea that there is a witness and something else apart from him that he is witnessing.
The 'witness' really means the light that illumines the seer, the seen and the process of seeing. Before, during and after the triads of seer, seen and seeing, the illumination exists. It alone exists always.
“God is the infinite mirror in which the universe beholds itself, the eternal thought that thinks all things into being. He is not a person, but the Personification of all that is, was, and ever shall be — the supreme intelligence that weaves the tapestry of time and space. The magician knows God not through prayer, but through the sacred act of creation, for to align the will with the divine is to become a co-creator of the cosmos. In the pentagram, in the wand, in the cup, in the sword, His presence is invoked, for every symbol is a syllable of His unutterable name.
To seek God is to dare the mysteries, to pierce the veil of Isis, and to stand in the radiant presence of the eternal light that consumes all shadows.”
You have no idea how hard I've looked for a gift to bring You.
Nothing seemed right.
What's the point of bringing gold to the gold mine, or water to the ocean.
Everything I came up with was like taking spices to the Orient.
It's no good giving my heart and my soul because you already have these.
So I've brought you a mirror.
Look at yourself and remember me.
Let go of what has passed.
Let go of what may come.
Let go of what is happening now.
Don’t try to figure anything out.
Don’t try to make anything happen.
Relax, right now, and rest.
To deify desire is to turn it into a teacher.
Instead of asking, “How do I get rid of this?” ask, “What is this desire really seeking beneath its surface?”
Behind every hunger is a deeper hunger — the thirst for union, for intimacy with the Whole. Every longing, when traced back to its root, leads to God.
Abhinavagupta’s Tantra turns even the heat of longing into light. This is not indulgence, but awakening through participation — embracing the totality of life as the play of Consciousness itself.
When desire is seen through the Eye of Shiva, it no longer enslaves — it liberates.
For centuries, seekers have been told that desire is the enemy of liberation. Spiritual traditions often painted it as a fire to be extinguished — the source of suffering, attachment, and downfall.
But Abhinavagupta, the luminous mystic of Kashmir Shaivism, dared to say what few ever did: Desire is not the problem — unconsciousness is.
He saw desire not as sin, but as Shakti — divine creative energy in motion. Desire is the way the Infinite remembers Itself through form. It is not the chain that binds you to the world; it is the invitation that can free you — if you know how to meet it with awareness.
In Abhinavagupta’s vision, all existence is spanda — the pulsation of Consciousness. The universe isn’t born out of boredom or need; it emerges out of a divine longing — the longing of Shiva to know Himself through Shakti, the longing of the Infinite to taste Its own beauty in diversity.
When you feel desire — for love, creation, art, expression, connection — you are not being “unspiritual.” You are echoing the same pulse that brought galaxies into being.
Desire is the divine heartbeat made personal. The key is not to kill it, but to purify its seeing — to let it remind you of where it truly comes from.
