ESSAYS

Anatma means “not-Self” — everything that can be observed, from body and mind to the entire universe. Vedanta teaches that liberation lies in discriminating between the witnessing Self and the changing anātma.

Ahankara — the ego or “I-maker” — is the subtle principle that fashions individuality by borrowing awareness from the Self and attributes from the mind. Vedanta reveals it as mithyā: real enough for transaction, but not the truth of who we are.

Nisargadatta Maharaj was brilliant, blunt, and bewildering. To some, he seemed like a poor teacher, leaving seekers frustrated and confused. To others, he was a poet-philosopher whose presence and words worked like medicine. With help from David Godman’s recollections and a closer look at Maurice Frydman’s translation of I Am That, we can see him more clearly—not as a traditional ācārya, but as one of Advaita’s most radical improvisers of truth.

Vedanta often seems to say one thing in one place and the opposite elsewhere. The secret lies in adhyāropa–apavāda—a teaching method that first grants provisional truths, then withdraws them, revealing the Self as the sole reality.

Suicide is often seen as self-hatred, but Vedanta reveals it as a distorted act of self-love — a longing to be free of pain. The Self, however, cannot die with the body, nor can suffering be ended through death. The Bhagavad Gita shows that despair can turn either toward destruction or toward inquiry. Vedanta urges us to see suffering not as a wall but as a doorway to knowledge, where the freedom we long for is discovered in the Self, untouched and whole.

Sex has always been a difficult topic for seekers. In the past it was hidden behind taboos; today it’s splashed across every screen. From masturbation to porn to homosexuality, Vedanta offers a perspective that cuts deeper than social norms. The question isn’t whether sex is good or bad, but whether it binds us or leaves us free.