Lex Hixon

Visions of the Goddess and Tantric Hymns of Enlightenment

Mother of the Universe

Babaji Bob Kindler

Annapurna Sarada

Laurence Galian

John Forman

Father Abbot Joseph Homick

CS Shah

Welcome to Nectar of Nondual Truth’s summer issue, which includes, as our cover suggests, fiery philosophical ideas and truisms from timeless traditions designed to inspire and challenge the mind — articles from an ongoing upsurge of concrescent perspectives springing from both experiment and experience in the world’s arena of sacred spiritual endeavor. There could not be a better time than the twenty-first century, nor a better place than this planet, Terra Firma, to encounter and assess what mankind has gleaned, garnered or gathered from his spiritual ruminations and introspections over this seemingly endless span of time we call life in the universe. Therefore please enter in for your own share of Nectar, and bring the clear container of the lucid, percipient and discriminating mind with you, while leaving the doubting, inattentive and querulous ego outside.

The Fire of Spirituality

Nectar #16

Swami Aseshananda

Swami Brahmeshananda

Rabbi Rami Shapiro

John Dobson

Father Bruno Barnhart

It remains somewhat of a mystery, even after all the advantages of contemporary times have been lavishly bestowed upon present day humanity, that the ills of pervasive suffering still persist on the world scene. Of course, we know from the Buddha’s declaration of His Four Noble Truths, that suffering here on Earth will never go away entirely. Still, unnecessary suffering, a type of misery that has viable solutions, also remains constant — despite the fact that humanity has had plenty of time to apply these readily available stopgaps. When looking at this perplexing situation, the conscious observer cannot but notice, often painfully so, that narrowness of mind lies at the root of both the problem of suffering itself, and its tardy removal. In view of all this, when one considers ultimate solutions, there is nothing that compares with that of Universality. Universal religious outlook, universal philosophical perspective, universal compassion, universal service of mankind, a more universal mindset — even a more universally-based business and politics — all would be welcome alternatives to the ponderous and ineffective arsenal of methodical weapons that nations and peoples are presently utilizing to try to stem the tide of pervasive human suffering. True, religion nowadays has become an obvious caricature of itself, and philosophy has turned into a job and a career instead of a means for the revelation of truth. Even altruistic service, after the many attempts it has made towards drying up the ocean of human misery, has shown us its limitations and its downside.

Offering a Garland of Universal Religions

Nectar #31

Sumita Roy

Kyogen Carlson

OP Sharma

Professor Sivaramkrishna

Divine Reality is all-encompassing, ever-present, and all-pervasive — that is the testament of the enlightened beings throughout countless ages and seems to be the consensus of the writers featured in this issue of Nectar of Nondual Truth. And not only are the seemingly varied perspectives of philosophy brought together in such a profound and unilateral insight, the assumed divisions between man and man, man and woman, nation and nation, religion and religion, and even heaven and earth are also harmoniously conjoined therein. Further, the very concepts of transcendence and immanence, something beyond and something present, also get a thorough revamping in our minds, particularly if we imagine that they represent a contrasting dichotomy, when in truth they do not. As the Indian poet/sage, Ramaprasad, is wont to sing repeatedly: “Mother’s Reality escapes every mind that imagines sets of dualities to be real.” In the pages of this bold and well-intentioned journal, as well as in the hoary leaves comprising the revered scriptures of the world, the idea of Nonduality, Advaita, persists. Regardless, there are always and predominantly two things on the minds of living beings, whether they are awakened or unawakened: those are Reality and relativity. The unawakened either do not know about Reality, do not think of It, attempt to escape it in themselves, or remain antagonistic to It. If they accept it at all, in what the seers call the beginnings of spiritual awakening, there is still the considerable problem of overcoming procrastination, prevarication and compromise and swiftly approaching It. As for relativity, the world of name and form perceived via the five senses as being ultimately real, those unawakened to the Divine Verity mistake it to be the Reality, “bartering the infinite wealth at the center of their being for a world of mere colored glass,” as the poet sings. Thus, through lack of natural realization, and unconscious of the underlying presence of Brahman, they default to what the senses report and dictate, and remain satisfied — even through persistent suffering and obvious limitation — with relative existence and what it has to offer.

Truth, Transformation, and Transcendence

Nectar #13

Nahid Angha

Rev Canon Charles P Gibbs

Shivakumar Viswanathan

With a reverence for the universality of all religions, SRV Associations, under the auspice of its Chosen Ideals, Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada Devi, and Swami Vivekananda, offers its 29th issue of Nectar of Nondual Truth into the world-wide community of truth seekers everywhere. The purpose is twofold: first, that religion aligned with philosophy get disseminated and become available to humanity in this trouble-prone day and age; second, that through this divine dispensation, the principle of Universality — the truth of all religions — gets propagated as well. For, as we often say in SRV Loka, “There is no such thing as a foreign religion; all religions are indigenous to your soul.” To this fine end, then, we are to laud and applaud all Nectar contributors towards this singular principle, writers and spiritual leaders from both different walks of life, and from various traditions as well. They are fine examples of the potential of a people united in a world of beings and societies who only grant lip-service to such high-minded causes, but seldom follow through in action and in realization. As Swami Vivekananda has pleaded, “When will man finally be friend to man?”

All Religions are Indigenous to Your Soul

Nectar #29

Sharad Chandra

Arthur Osborne

Bruno Barnhart

Advaita, a word of wondrous Oneness, is the specific topic of our Winter issue of Nectar of Nondual Truth — the journal which declares a timeless message of absolute Unity based upon the indivisible and homogenous nature of all existence. Why indivisible? Because despite the apparent bifurcation of Ultimate Reality into two parts, Shiva and Shakti — the static and the dynamic — and these two into a multitude of things via the inscrutable prestidigitation of the hand of Maya, Reality remains both immutable and ever-cohesive. The acts, movements and various conjurings of mind and nature, involved, willingly or unwillingly, in the process of birth, growth, decay and death, can never divide It. Compartmentalization is for creation, not for Consciousness — and even creation, when seen rightly, is one. Why homogenous? Because regardless of the appearance of multiplicity, that pictorial presentation of ephemeral phenomena before the enchanted mind and senses, all is Consciousness, all-pervasive. What is all-pervasive cannot be invited, encouraged, caused, forced, tricked, seduced or persuaded to give up Its innate continuity. The preternatural cosmic laws and powers such as time, space, creation, evolution, dissolution, life, death, transformation and projection are helpless to effect any change in the natural, unique and nonpareil uniformity of Divine Reality. Thus, as the saints, sages, seers and savants all say, there is but one living “substance” in existence, and that is pure conscious Awareness. Being a spiritual verity rather than a material entity, it is true, it is pure, it is real.

Scaling the Heights of Advaita Vedanta

Nectar #6

Modern meditation on Islam's Koran in free English prose. Companion video.

Heart of the Koran

Swami Ranganathananda

Deacon Peter A. Solan

The fourth issue of Advaita-satya-amritam, which signals the completion of one year of distributing wisdom nectar to spiritually thirsty people, focuses on revealing and supplicating the guru, or Guru-Tattva, the indubitable principle of superlative guidance inherent in all things. Though this ubiquitous force of sempiternal intelligence is far-flung across the universe — present in the innermost constituency of the tiniest material particle on the atomic level, and extending even into the subtlest atmospheres of celestial and empyrean realms — nowhere is it more concentrated than in mankind. Therefore we extol the authentic human preceptor with hearts and minds made radiant with love and devotion.

A Journal of Universal Religious and Philosophical Teachings

Nectar #4

For many, "Great Swan" is Lex's greatest work -- a true classic. The sanctity, delightful playfulness, wisdom, power, devotion, and spiritual intensity of one of the most inspiring spiritual teachers of all time permeate every page. Blissfully unconventional, Ramakrishna (1836-1886) was a prime mover in the transmission of Eastern mystical practices into the West's spiritual renaissance. "Great Swan" may well be the next best thing to a personal meeting with him.

Meetings with Ramakrishna

Great Swan

Lama Surya Das

Yitzhak Buxbaum

Islam, Vedanta, Yoga, Zen, Tibetan Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism — one finds all these and more represented in Nectar of Nondual Truth. And never mind that there are points of difference with regard to practice and approach. You will find a nearly unanimous agreement around the Essence. On the cover, in the scriptural quote for this issue, we find the rishis of ancient India referring to this nondual Reality in terms of “something hidden.” It is indicated by religious traditions as the Pearl of Great Price, the White Dove Ascending, the Bourne of Freedom from Fear, the Ultimate Quest and other expressions which indicate both the beauty of and the difficulty involved in finding this Treasure, and infer the huge amount of self-effort that will have to be undertaken to succeed in this most excellent endeavor. But purity, practice, patience and perseverance — what can stymie the aspiring soul who approaches Divine Reality with such resolve? If one wants to see patina exude from a copper penny, one places it in a damp atmosphere and watches for days, weeks, even months, until that green substance finally issues forth. What a huge amount of work and effort is involved in gaining a few drops sesame oil from hundreds of seeds! Reality is “hidden,” then. Nature is Its sporting-ground, the universe Its Cosmic Mind, thought-force is Its power to create, revealed scripture is Its revelation, and forms and objects are solid reminders of both Its power to create and Its transcendent and unlimited nature. Yet, all of these are reflections, are insentient material principles. The one Spirit, though It pervades them, is independent of them, and they all get their existence and their ability to shine with reflected light from That. It is Svarupa, to quote the ancients, Essential Being, and everything, everyone else, is Svarupavishranti — always resting in this one essential Being.

Extracting Essence

Nectar #10

Our small but dedicated staff at Nectar of Nondual Truth is pleased to offer the Autumn issue of this contemporary journal of religious and philosophical teachings to all who value spirituality and its continued existence in this world. Each issue is filled with writings of substance created by deep and thoughtful minds steeped in the principles and practices of their chosen tradition. Such commitment, as rare as it is in present times, is the result of long-standing study, conscious action, inner compassion and deep-seated meditation. Wherever these kinds of qualities are made manifest, humanity is reminded of the many blessings being bestowed upon it continually. Nectar of Nondual Truth concentrates mainly on the nondual element of religion, philosophy, and spirituality, but maintains a close watch on all other perspectives as well. This is because true nondualism is never narrow and exclusive, but latitudinous and all-encompassing. The contents of these pages are a testament to that universal orientation. From the seriously sought after humility which Christianity enjoins upon its monastic communities, to the duality-dissolving, mind-unifying insight which radical nondual Buddhism epitomizes, the avid seeker of Truth perceives the One working among the many in order to reveal to them the One. If that revelation of homogenous unity gets expressed via the treasures of religious tradition, or instead happens to appear in the serendipitous setting of the spontaneous

The Sorrowless Space of Light

Nectar #17

Explores the experience of enlightenmentin sacred traditions and how it affects those who experience it.

The Experience of Enlightenment in Sacred Traditions

Coming Home

Purnoham Rob Reno

In this first issue of “Nectar,” the Universal Mother’s transcendent wisdom, we offer articles on Vedanta, on Sufi Meditation, and teachings from the Tantric Wisdom of Mother India. There is an article on Nondual Judaism focused on Jewish spiritual practice, and of course the “Wisdom Facets from the Gem of Truth,” teachings from our SRV ideal — Sarada, Ramakrishna and Vivekananda — whose matchless love and wisdom will grace every future issue. In all these articles, indivisible unity, called Advaita or nondualism, is greatly emphasized. This is one of the aims of our SRV journal, to show that all practice along the spiritual path can and should be undertaken with the fore-knowledge of our essential oneness with God. As my guru used to tell me, “Grace and self-effort must go hand in hand.” Human beings are expressions of God, pure and perfect by nature, but the mind needs to know this. This knowing is called Enlightenment, Illumination, Liberation or Self-realization and cannot be feigned, nor can the integrity of the path leading to It be compromised.

Nectar #1

DS Lokanath

Tabriz Parinda Lowe

Reyhan al-Jerrahi

Monica Miller

Swami Akhilananda

In this 2009 issue, and to greet the new year in the characteristic fashion of all those who wish to live a dharmic life dedicated to the manifestation of God on earth via the practice of purificatory disciplines, we include articles depicting the wisdom contained in the sacred traditions of Judaism, Jainism, Christianity, Sufism, Taoism, Yoga, Tibetan Buddhism, Zen buddhism, and Vedanta, all underscored by the crucial and foundational element of nondualism, or Advaita. We also invite all those who come in contact with Nectar of Nondual Truth to duly submit articles, writings, poems, or personal questions and experiences from any other faith or belief system so as to give an even more complete and fulfilling expression to this religiously and philosophically committed literary journal.

Harmonization of Religious Traditions

Nectar #24

Surya Green

To know Religion is to know Truth, for that is its basis. And who knows the Truth? Those who have realized It through the unique and specific ways and means leading to It. The enlightened souls and the honest oral and written records they left behind should become the recourse of the wise seeker. Such a seeker hears the Truth contained within the nondual revealed scriptures, then gets the transmission of Truth directly from a realized soul, then practices intensely with dedication and perseverence to realize that Truth. This triple combination produces sages and seers. Reading a few books; giving a few talks; leading a few classes on relationships; fasting, dieting, breathing, and posturing the body; fascination with occult powers; indulging all the many modes of pretended spirituality; intellectual study devoid of any direct experience — when did any of these ever produce an authentic luminary?

True Universal Religion

Nectar #19

Anam Thubten Rinpoche

Judaism, Jainism, Tibetan Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, Vedanta, and Advaita Vedanta, are all represented in full in this issue of Nectar of Nondual Truth, and if we had the available pages and writers we would certainly include all the rest of the world’s religious traditions herein as well. For, The Religion of the coming age, and of all ages — recognized as such or not — is Universality, and its underlying essence is Nonduality (advaita). Different liquids may be pleasing to the palate, but only water really slakes our thirst. Similarly, religion brings solace to embodied souls, but only nonduality slakes the inner thirst of the soul yearning to be free. Odors of cooked food wafting on the air bring children running for their meal, but only eating it truly satisfies their hunger. Like this, the inward fragrance of religion attracts the soul to perform worship and meditate, but only merging with Divine Reality fulfills all their aims and ends. The holy water and sacred food of the soul, then, is Universality based in Nonduality. Universality is beyond interreligious harmony and outstrips eclecticism. It breathes free, grows, and expands in the rare and exalted atmosphere of the open mind of the sincere and dedicated aspirant. Like the headiness of breathless heights one feels on pilgrimage in the Himalayan mountains, or the inspiration felt by taking pilgrimage to Jerusalem, or the power present when going on Hajj to Mecca, just so Universality verily transports the human mind to lofty experiences of Consciousness felt nowhere else — not even in the life heavens or the causal realms!

Nectar #30: The Desire for Freedom

Lex Hixon

About

Books

Join the club