There are two books written or recorded by Advaitans that must be read and read again, studied until understood, and then discarded. The more "western" of the two is "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle. This one addresses the western mind in language less esoteric than the other, "I Am That" by Nisargadatta Maharaj. My only problem with Tolle is his occasional dalliance with New Age claptrap. "I Am That" is unerring but at times opaque to a reader unfamiliar with the vernacular of eastern philosophy and the colloquialisms of the speaker. Sages such as Nisargadatta or Ramakrishna make perfect sense, just as Shakespeare does, once you have run a protracted gauntlet through their language and lofty thought. So, too, it is with Advaita and the daily practice of jnana yoga. Keep exposing yourself to the sun and you will slowly, inexorably ripen; earnestness is all you need.
There is no wet or dry, near or far, large or small, which are just varying degrees of the same thing as it splinters through our senses into the myriad flavors of one taste.
I am a leaf who thought itself a tree
I am a glint of sunlight upon this leaf
I am the sun
I am
Am
That is jnana yoga in a nutshell, to ripen from "I am that" to "I am" to "am." Lately I can read two or three good sentences from N.M. and I'm there...empty consciousness, beyond void and plenitude both, and with it comes a certitude that I am opening at last.
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