Wisdom of the Masters

This is a selection of key pointers from Nisargadatta formatted for guided meditation, taken from the texts, 'Seeds of Consciousness' and 'Nothing is Everything'. Nisargadatta Maharaj (17 April 1897 – 8 September 1981), born Maruti Shivrampant Kambli, was an Indian guru of nondualism, belonging to the Inchagiri Sampradaya, a lineage of teachers from the Navnath Sampradaya and Linga...

These excerpts for meditation have been taken from the text "The Sun My Heart" by Thich Nhat Hanh. Thích Nhất Hạnh (1926 - 2022) was a Vietnamese Thiền/Chan Buddhist monk, peace activist, prolific author, poet and teacher, who founded the Plum Village Tradition, historically recognized as the main inspiration for engaged Buddhism. Known as the "father of mindfulness", Nhất Hạnh...

William Samuel (1924-1996) was born in Alabama to a Jewish father and Christian mother. Samuel taught and wrote from his home at Mountain Brook, Alabama, for over 40 years. He was a spiritual teacher who taught and lectured on the subject of metaphysics based upon the Absolute, or as referred to today, non-duality. Samuel never sought to be well known or venerated himself, and did not embrace the...

A reading for meditation of excerpts taken from the text "All Else is Bondage". Terence James Stannus Gray (14 September 1895 – 5 January 1986), better known by the pen name Wei Wu Wei, was a 20th-century Taoist philosopher, writer, Egyptologist and theatre producer. Gray was born in Felixstowe, Suffolk, England on 14 September 1895, into a well-established Anglo-Irish family. He was edu...

This is a selection of key pointers from Siddharameshwar taken from the website Inner Quest. You can find more of his teachings here: https://www.inner-quest.org/Siddharam... Siddharameshwar Maharaj is one of the greatest unknown saints of the age who attained the highest abode of Eternal peace. He was born in August 1888 in the small village of Pathri, in the district Sholapur of India. From 1925...

A selection of profound, direct pointers for meditation by Master Hongzhi Zhengjue. Excerpts taken from the text: "Cultivating the Empty Field The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi" - translated by Taigen Dan Leighton. Hongzhi Zhengjue (1091–1157) was one of the most accomplished Chan masters of the Song dynasty who authored or compiled several influential texts. Hongzhi's co...

Vimala Thakar (1921- 2009) was born in Bilaspur District in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. She was a great spiritually enlightened revolutionary and activist; mystic, and a notable Indian figure of the 20th Century who boldly forged a radically independent approach to spirituality and the search for truth. In 1958, Thakar attended talks given by, and met with, the philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti...

The Heart Sūtra is a key sutra in Mahāyāna Buddhism. Its Sanskrit title, Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya, can be translated as "The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom". The sutra famously states, "Form is empty" (śūnyatā). It is a condensed exposé on the Buddhist Mahayana teaching of the Two Truths doctrine, which says that ultimately all phenomena are sunyata, empty of an unchanging essen...

This chapter on "The Method of Developing Bhavana" was taken from the text "Atulo" from the notes and memory of Phra Choa Khun Bodhinandamuni (Somsak Pajhdito), Wat Burapharam, Surin. Translated from the original Thai book "Atulo" by Bhikkhu Khemasanto (Douglas Johnson). ** A note on the word 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐚 The word "Heart" is not a totally satisfactory rendering of...

These profound practice teachings on meditation and realising the Self, as taught by Sri Ramana, were taken from various sources/texts. 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 A...

These excerpts for meditation have been taken from the text "The Sun My Heart" by Thich Nhat Hanh. Thích Nhất Hạnh (1926 - 2022) was a Vietnamese Thiền/Chan Buddhist monk, peace activist, prolific author, poet and teacher, who founded the Plum Village Tradition, historically recognized as the main inspiration for engaged Buddhism. Known as the "father of mindfulness", Nhất Hạnh...

Shyama Charan Lahiri (30 September 1828 – 26 September 1895), best known as Lahiri Mahasaya, was an Indian yogi and guru who founded the Kriya Yoga school. He was a disciple of Mahavatar Babaji. According to the book America's Alternative Religions by Timothy Miller, Lahiri Mahasaya's life was described in Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi as a demonstration of the spirit...

Mazu Daoyi (709–88) is one of the most eminent of the ancient Chinese Zen masters. Two of the traditionally acknowledged major schools of Zen trace their lineage through this renowned Zen ancient. He was an influential abbot of Chan Buddhism during the Tang dynasty. The earliest recorded use of the term "Chan school" is from his Extensive Records. Master Ma's teaching style of "...

A selection of key points for prayer and meditation from St Teresa of Avila's teachings. Excerpts taken from numerous sources, including: "The Way of Perfection", "Collected Works" and "Interior Castle." St Teresa of Ávila (March 28, 1515 – October 4, 1582) was a prominent Carmelite nun and Spanish mystic. St Teresa had many mystical experiences she tried to refle...

A reading for meditation on some key pointers of the Thoughtfree State by Annamalai Swami's ~taken from various texts. Annamalai Swami (1906–1995) was a direct disciple of Sri Ramana Maharshi who realized the Self after practicing Self-enquiry for decades. This experience gave him first-hand knowledge of how to perform Self-enquiry successfully, making his advice especially valuable to seekers...

These excerpts for meditation have been taken from the text, "Self-Liberation through seeing with Naked Awareness" by Padmasambhava. Translated by John Reynolds. A text belonging to the same cycle as The Tibetan Book of the Dead, this instruction on the method of self-liberation presents the essence of Dzogchen, The Great Perfection, regarded in Tibet as the highest and most esoteric tea...

A clear and powerful teaching given by Upasika Kee Nanayon - taken from the book "An Unentangled Knowing" - translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Upasika Kee Nanayon or Kor Khao-suan-luang was a realized female practitioner from Thailand. She was mostly self-taught, reading the Pali canon and other Buddhist literature. She considered the Buddha's Dhamma as her primary teacher. Her dhamma...

Ryōkan Taigu 良寛大愚 (1758–1831) was a quiet and unconventional Sōtō Zen Buddhist monk who lived much of his life as a hermit. Ryōkan is remembered for his poetry and calligraphy, which present the essence of Zen life. He renounced the world at an early age to train at nearby Sōtō Zen temple Kōshō-ji, refusing to meet with or accept charity from his family. These selected excerpts and poems by Ry...

Bede Griffiths (17 December 1906 – 13 May 1993), born Alan Richard Griffiths and also known by the end of his life as Swami Dayananda ("bliss of compassion"), was a British-born Catholic priest and Benedictine monk who lived in ashrams in South India and became a noted yogi. Griffiths was a part of the Christian Ashram Movement. In 1968, Fr. Bede Griffiths immersed himself in the study o...

The Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta (Pali) or Anātmalakṣaṇa Sūtra (Sanskrit), is traditionally recorded as the second discourse delivered by Gautama Buddha. The title translates to the "Not-Self Characteristic Discourse", but is also known as the Pañcavaggiya Sutta (Pali) or Pañcavargīya Sūtra (Skt.), meaning the "Group of Five" Discourse. In this discourse, the Buddha analyzes the consti...

A reading of selected excerpts from the Record of Linji. The Linji lu (Record of Linji) has been an essential text of Chinese and Japanese Zen Buddhism for nearly a thousand years. A compilation of sermons, statements, and acts attributed to the great Chinese Zen master Linji Yixuan (d. 866), it serves as both an authoritative statement of Zen’s basic standpoint and a central source of material fo...

This is a guided meditation on the power of listening as an effective means of entering into a meditative state. It encourages a gentle letting go of our reactivity to the sense world, and to the thoughts, concepts and the labels we attach to conditioned phenomena; and to finally recognise and rest into the continuity of Awareness as the background silence. It was spoken spontaneously by Jayasara....

This is a selection of some key teachings of Abhinavagupta extracted from various sources and texts. Abhinavagupta (c. 950 – 1016 CE ) was a philosopher, mystic and aesthetician from Kashmir. He was also considered an influential musician, poet, dramatist, exegete, theologian, and logician – a polymathic personality who exercised strong influences on Indian culture. Abhinavagupta was born in a Bra...

Sri Sarada Devi (22 December 1853 – 21 July 1920), was a nineteenth-century Hindu mystic and saint. She was the wife and spiritual consort of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. Sarada Devi is also reverentially addressed as the Holy Mother (Sri Sri Maa) by the followers of the Sri Ramakrishna monastic order. The Sri Sarada Math and Ramakrishna Sarada Mission situated at Dakshineshwar is based on the ideals...

This is a reading of Chapter 1 of the Patanjali Yoga Sutras - Samadhi - translated by Alistair Shearer. The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali is a collection of Sanskrit sutras (aphorisms) on the theory and practice of yoga. The Yoga Sutras was compiled in the early centuries CE, by the sage Patanjali in India who synthesized and organized knowledge about yoga from much older traditions. The Yoga Sutras is...