Wisdom of the Masters

Former Carmelite nun, Bernadette Roberts, discusses the nature of no-self and the journey towards trust in the unknown. She explores inner stillness, divine transformation, and the revelation of eternal life beyond consciousness. Roberts delves into the depths of divine communication and selflessness, emphasizing the surrender of self-control for the experience of divine love.

Baba Hari Dass (1923 - 2018) was an Indian yoga master, silent monk, and commentator of Indian scriptural traditions of dharma and moksha. He was classically trained in the Ashtanga of Patanjali (also known as Rāja yoga), as well as Kriya yoga, Ayurveda, Samkhya, Tantra, Vedanta, and Sanskrit.  Baba Hari Dass took a vow of silence in 1952, which he upheld through this life. Although he did not speak, he was able to communicate in several languages through writing. His literary output included scriptural commentaries to Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Bhagavad Gita, Samkhya Karika, and Vedanta, yoga training materials, and a range of others writings. Upon his arrival in North America in early 1971, Baba Hari Dass and his teachings inspired the creation of several yoga centers and retreat programs in the United States in Santa Cruz County, California, and in Canada at Salt Spring Island and in Toronto. 🔆 These podcasts are not monetized. If you benefit from these podcasts and would like to support our nun's hermitage, there are two options to donate - via Paypal using this email address: vivekahermitage@gmail.com with PayPal or using this direct link: https://paypal.me/VivekaHermitage or become at Patron at: https://www.patreon.com/jayasara 🙏 May whatever goodness arises from these readings/offerings be for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Indian sage Sri H. W. L. Poonja discusses inner peace, stillness, and embracing the unknown truth. He explores emptiness, freedom, and the mind in satsang, emphasizing the importance of embracing truth and silence to find inner peace.

A reading for meditation of the Kaccānagottasutta taken from Samyutta Nikaya (SN 12.15).  In this sutta, Venerable Kaccānagotta asks the Buddha about right view, and the Buddha answers that right view arises when one sees the origin and cessation of the world. The main theme of the text is the avoidance of the extremes "existence"  and "non-existence" with respect to the world, and instead seeing the world in terms of the Middle Way which is illustrated by the twelve links of dependent origination. The one with right-view understands this. This translation is an amalgam of Walshe, Bodhi, Thanissaro, and Sujato.  A Sanskrit and Chinese (Saṃyuktāgama 301; also a partial quotation in SĀ 262) parallel text is also extant. Although there is considerable agreement across versions, the Sanskrit and Chinese texts are more or less identical to each other and both slightly different from the Pāli version. The text is cited in Sanskrit in works by Nāgārjuna and his commentators. 🔆 These podcasts are not monetized. If you benefit from these podcasts and would like to support our nun's hermitage, there are two options to donate - via Paypal using this email address: vivekahermitage@gmail.com with PayPal or using this direct link: https://paypal.me/VivekaHermitage or become at Patron at: https://www.patreon.com/jayasara 🙏 May whatever goodness arises from these readings/offerings be for the benefit of all sentient beings.

This is  a selection of key pointers from Nisargadatta taken from the texts "I am That" and "The Nisargadatta Gita" - intended as a guided meditation. Original text of "I am That" edited and compiled by Maurice Frydman. The Nisargadatta Gita edited by Pradeep Apte. 🔆 These podcasts are not monetized. If you benefit from these podcasts and would like to support our nun's hermitage, there are two options to donate - via Paypal using this email address: vivekahermitage@gmail.com with PayPal or using this direct link: https://paypal.me/VivekaHermitage or become at Patron at: https://www.patreon.com/jayasara 🙏 May whatever goodness arises from these readings/offerings be for the benefit of all sentient beings.

"Wu Hsin" (meaning No Mind)  was a fictitious character created by Roy Melvyn to create and structure a series of pith teachings and pointers to the Absolute, based on key non-duality teachings. Despite the controversy around the "deceit" in publishing these works as words from an  "authentic" Chinese Master, I have chosen to upload these readings as they are some of the clearest pointers I have read. Please be aware of the context as to how they were created. In essence, we are all really imaginary "persons" anyway!  Roy Melvyn (1947-apparently died in 2017? -TBC ) was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Eastern European immigrant parents. It wasn't until the 1980s that his interest in spirituality and religion began to blossom and his investigations into the Western religions began.  By the late 90s, he was writing about the more mystical aspects of Eastern meditative pursuits, exploring the writings of Dogen, Jiddu Krishnamurti, both Shunryu and D. T. Suzuki and Ramana Maharshi among others.  These pointers were taken from the book: "Solving Yourself". 🔆 These podcasts are not monetized. If you benefit from these podcasts and would like to support our nun's hermitage, there are two options to donate - via Paypal using this email address: vivekahermitage@gmail.com with PayPal or using this direct link: https://paypal.me/VivekaHermitage or become at Patron at: https://www.patreon.com/jayasara 🙏 May whatever goodness arises from these readings/offerings be for the benefit of all sentient beings.

The Root Verses on the Six Bardos are some of the most famous sections of The Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo (Bardo Tödrol Chenmo), a treasure text revealed by the fourteenth century tertön Karma Lingpa. This text offers instructions on each of the six intermediate states (bardo) and helps us to live a better life while preparing for death and beyond.  The Bardo Thodol , is a text from a larger corpus of teachings, the Profound Dharma of Self-Liberation through the Intention of the Peaceful and Wrathful Ones. It is the best-known work of Nyingma literature, known in the West as the Tibetan Book of the Dead.  Translated by Adam Pearcey 🔆 These podcasts are not monetized. If you benefit from these podcasts and would like to support our nun's hermitage, there are two options to donate - via Paypal using this email address: vivekahermitage@gmail.com with PayPal or using this direct link: https://paypal.me/VivekaHermitage or become at Patron at: https://www.patreon.com/jayasara 🙏 May whatever goodness arises from these readings/offerings be for the benefit of all sentient beings.

A selection of Thoreau's verses taken from "Walden" and various Journals written by him.  Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) was an American philosopher, poet,  a leading transcendentalist, and environmental scientist whose major work, Walden, draws upon each of these identities in meditating on the concrete problems of living in the world as a human being. He sought to revive a conception of philosophy as a way of life, not only a mode of reflective thought and discourse. Thoreau’s work was informed by an eclectic variety of sources. He was well-versed in classical Greek and Roman philosophy, ranging from the pre-Socratics through the Hellenistic schools, and was also an avid student of the ancient scriptures and wisdom literature of various Asian traditions. 🔆 These podcasts are not monetized. If you benefit from these podcasts and would like to support our nun's hermitage, there are two options to donate - via Paypal using this email address: vivekahermitage@gmail.com with PayPal or using this direct link: https://paypal.me/VivekaHermitage or become at Patron at: https://www.patreon.com/jayasara 🙏 May whatever goodness arises from these readings/offerings be for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Guest Wei Wu Wei, a 20th-century Taoist philosopher, discusses non-dualism, Taoism, Zen, and Buddhism. Topics include the relationship between time and the universe, the nature of perception, entering nirvana, non-objectivity, the illusion of the seeker, and the illusion of bondage and liberation.

This is a selection of reflections taken from Lusseyran's  books "And There Was Light" and "Against the Pollution of the I."  Jacques Lusseyran (19 September 1924 – 27 July 1971) was a French author and political activist. Blinded at the age of 7, at 17 Lusseyran became a leader in the French resistance against Nazi Germany's occupation of France in 1941. He was eventually sent to Buchenwald concentration camp because of his involvement, and was one of 30 of his group of 2000 inmates to survive. He wrote about his life, including his experience during the war, in his autobiography "And There Was Light". 🔆 These podcasts are not monetized. If you benefit from these podcasts and would like to support our nun's hermitage, there are two options to donate - via Paypal using this email address: vivekahermitage@gmail.com with PayPal or using this direct link: https://paypal.me/VivekaHermitage or become at Patron at: https://www.patreon.com/jayasara 🙏 May whatever goodness arises from these readings/offerings be for the benefit of all sentient beings.