Akilesh NorCal 2024 workshop on surrender, inquiry, and Ramana's supplement to 40 verses - Day 1
Jan 5-13: A week of teaching in the Menlo Park area
EDIT: some of the times in the flyer were wrong; a corrected flyer is now posted below. Weekday evening sessions are from 7:30-9:00 pm Pacific, not starting from 6. Wednesday evening there is no session.
I will be teaching for a week in the a Menlo Park area, from Jan 5 to Jan 13.
Anyone is welcome to join via zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88687365232?pwd=amJLakVHYUN0TE0wUndlODZqQWxHdz09
The times are below, all in Pacific Standard time, and if you’re in the area and want to join in-person, contact Geetha Swamy at the number at the bottom of the flyer for exact location details.
Attachments and the discerning methods of surrender and self-inquiry
Weakening attachments is most of the ball game in the spiritual search. Attachments prop up the illusion of mind; seeking peace through concentration weakens them. But while the peace of concentration can be attained in different ways, there are special advantages to surrender and self-inquiry.
Surrender is like trusting that breathing will happen on its own
Surrender offers the beauty of effortlessness, but of course we are afraid of it leading to death, since we think that to sustain life requires our effort. It is not so. In fact, what is necessary will happen by itself -- but it may not SEEM so, for several reasons. We have to persevere through this illusion to get to the other side.
Commentary on Ramana Maharshi's 40 Verses -- compiled PDF
Over the last several months I’ve released a series of commentaries via blog on each of Maharshi’s 40 verses. Here is a full and compiled PDF version of the commentary.
Akilesh interviewed by Dr. Prasad Kaipa
Some topics covered (links in the description of the video):
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Formative years
3:54 What made him feel he hit a 'brick wall'?
9:54 Do 'spiritual' people need therapy?
13:32 Therapy vs Psycho-analysis - a comparison
23:20 Indian and Western psychology - similarities and differences
32:10 Multiple levels of the mind - In Indian psychology and psychoanalysis
51:33 Is there an experience of oneness through psychoanalysis?
53:14 Liberation, enlightenment, self-realisation - distinction
58:21 Impact on 'normal' life
1:00:44 Identifying oneself at various levels
1:11:00 Perspective on religious traditions other than Hindu thought
1:13:06 Importance of knowing the scriptures
1:17:20 Need for a spiritual search among academicians and leaders
1:24:14 Mapping the consciousness of spiritual leaders to present contexts
1:30:00 Developing the attitude of karma yoga
The ladder and the key: the relationships between religion and spirituality
What is the relationship between religion and spirituality? Religion contains a powerful spiritual element insofar as its techniques perform two tasks: quiet the mind, and aid the discernment between temporary and eternal. The seeker should see religion and spiritual as a single ladder, and climb to whatever point they can, and practice there. Or they can see it as a key, and trace its curve to whatever point they are able and insert it there. The idea is to cultivate concentration and discernment by any means possible.