Wisdom of the Masters

These profound teachings on the nature of pure consciousness as taught by Sri Ramana Maharshi were taken from various sources/texts, including, 'Talks with Ramana Maharshi,' 'Day by Day with Bhagavan' and 'The Maharshi’s Gospel'.Ramana Maharshi (1879 -1950) was an Indian sage and jivanmukta (liberated being). He was born Venkataraman Iyer, but is mostly known by the name Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. He was born in Tiruchuli, Tamil Nadu, India. In 1895, an attraction to the sacred hill Arunachala and the 63 Nayanmars was aroused in him and in 1896, at the age of 16, he had a "death-experience" where he became aware of a "current" or "force" which he recognized as his true "I" or "Self".Music: Arunachala Siva chant - produced by Ramana Maharshi Centre for Learning, Bangalore - India._____________________________🙏 May whatever goodness arises from these readings/offerings be for the benefit of all sentient beings.🔆 Thank you to everyone who has written to inquire about offering a donation or gift. You are welcome to do so, and all offerings will go towards supporting monastic requisites and overheads at Viveka Hermitage.There are two options to donate using this email address: [email protected] with PayPalor using this link: https://paypal.me/VivekaHermitage Alternatively, donations can also be made via 𝐖𝐈𝐒𝐄 - you can use this direct link:https://wise.com/pay/me/margarets448or please contact us on the email above for account details if you have problems.

Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 BCE – c. 50 CE) was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher and mystic who lived in Alexandria, one of the great intellectual centers of the ancient world. Deeply rooted in the Hebrew Scriptures and equally fluent in Greek philosophy—especially Plato and the Stoics—Philo sought to show that true philosophy and authentic revelation were ultimately one.
Philo’s distinctive contribution lies in his mystical interpretation of Scripture. Reading the Torah allegorically, he taught that beneath its literal narratives lies a spiritual map of the soul’s journey toward God. Biblical figures such as Abraham, Moses, and Jacob symbolize inner states of awakening, purification, and union.
For Philo, the highest purpose of human life is not ethical conformity alone, but direct experiential knowledge of God. Central to his mysticism is the idea of ecstasy (ekstasis)—a state in which the soul transcends discursive thought and is lifted beyond itself into divine illumination. In this condition, the ordinary mind falls silent and the soul becomes receptive to God’s presence. Philo insists that such knowledge cannot be grasped by reason or language, but is given through divine grace when the egoic self is relinquished.

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This guided meditation track provides some spacious pointers and instructions for settling into a natural and easeful state of meditation. Rediscovering our inherent, natural peace within the mind is key to learning how to relax and deepen into our meditation practice where "practice" becomes effortless.

🙏 May whatever goodness arises from these readings/offerings be for the benefit of all sentient beings.
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Reading of excerpts from Dr Raghavan's essay 'Consciousness and Existence'. The full text can be found here: ⁠https://theosophytrust.org/⁠
Professor Raghavan N. Iyer (1930 -1995) was an internationally known philosopher, political theorist, and spiritual practitioner who devoted his life to the intellectual and spiritual uplift of human society. The only Rhodes Scholar from India in 1950 to Oxford, he secured First Class Honors in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and later earned a D. Phil. Degree in moral and political philosophy.
He was professor of political philosophy at the University of California, Santa Barbara for 21 years.His message is that a renewed humankind is now emerging, and his writings address the causes of the global situation, the nature of this evolution, and the manner in which individuals can participate fully in this collective transformation.Dr Iyer was a practitioner and member of the Theosophical Foundation and wrote that:
"Initiation into Theosophical metaphysics is more than an intellectual or moral enterprise; it is a continuous spiritual exercise in the development of intuitive and cognitive capacities that are the highest available to humans, a process that includes from the first a blending of the head and the heart through the interaction of viveka and vairagya, discrimination and detachment.

🙏 May whatever goodness arises from these readings/offerings be for the benefit of all sentient beings.
🔆 Thank you to everyone who has written to inquire about offering a donation or gift. You are welcome to do so, and all offerings will go towards supporting monastic requisites and overheads at Viveka Hermitage.
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Reading of excerpts from Dr Raghavan's essay 'Consciousness and Existence'. The full text can be found here: https://theosophytrust.org/Professor Raghavan N. Iyer (1930 -1995) was an internationally known philosopher, political theorist, and spiritual practitioner who devoted his life to the intellectual and spiritual uplift of human society. The only Rhodes Scholar from India in 1950 to Oxford, he secured First Class Honors in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and later earned a D. Phil. Degree in moral and political philosophy. For eight years, he was Fellow and Lecturer in Politics at St. Anthony's College, Oxford, then Visiting Professor at the Universities of Oslo, Ghana and Chicago, and lectured at the College of Europe in Belgium, the Erasmus Seminar in Holland, and at Harvard, Bowdoin, Berkeley, U.C.L.A., Rand Corporation and the California Institute of Technology. He was professor of political philosophy at the University of California, Santa Barbara for 21 years.His message is that a renewed humankind is now emerging, and his writings address the causes of the global situation, the nature of this evolution, and the manner in which individuals can participate fully in this collective transformation.Dr Iyer was a practitioner and member of the Theosophical Foundation and wrote that:"Initiation into Theosophical metaphysics is more than an intellectual or moral enterprise; it is a continuous spiritual exercise in the development of intuitive and cognitive capacities that are the highest available to humans, a process that includes from the first a blending of the head and the heart through the interaction of viveka and vairagya, discrimination and detachment. Even our initial apprehension of a statement of Theosophical metaphysics involves an ethical as well as mental effort, just as even the smallest application of a Theosophical injunction to our moral life requires some degree of mental control and the deeper awareness, universal and impersonal in nature, that comes from our higher cognitive capacities. Moral growth, for a Theosophist, presupposes “the silent worship of abstract or noumenal Nature, the only divine manifestation”, that is “the one ennobling religion of Humanity.”
🙏 May whatever goodness arises from these readings/offerings be for the benefit of all sentient beings.
🔆 Thank you to everyone who has written to inquire about offering a donation or gift. You are welcome to do so, and all offerings will go towards supporting monastic requisites and overheads at Viveka Hermitage.
There are two options to donate using this email address: [email protected] with PayPalor using this link: ⁠⁠https://paypal.me/VivekaHermitage⁠⁠
Alternatively, donations can also be made via 𝐖𝐈𝐒𝐄 - wise.com/pay/me/margarets448