Greetings Reader -

A friend of mine recently asked me a question: "What is the teaching that had the biggest impact on your spiritual life?"

My friend is a person.

I wouldn't blame you for thinking that I'm stating the obvious: I'm a person, you're a person, everyone we know is a person.

But how do we know that our experience of individual personhood is real and not just an illusion?

Respected members of the scientific community think this is a reasonable question. And many of those who work in the field of neuroscience think that the answer is, "It's just an illusion."

Science, believe it or not, is based on assumptions: if this is true then that must also be true . . . until we have reason to believe that 'this' is not true, in which case we know longer think that 'that' must be true.

The process of self-realization is a science. So, we can ask, "What must be true in order for my experience of being a person to be real?"

In Sanskrit, the word tattva is used to indicate a specific feature of or truth about reality.

So, let's tweak our question a bit: "What specific feature of reality must be true in order for my experience of being an individual person to also be true?"

The most sound and complete answer to this question that I've ever heard was the answer to the my friend's question: "The teaching that had the biggest impact on my life was the teaching that reality itself is a person and that my own experience of individual personhood was derived from the individual personhood of the complete Absolute Reality of which I was a part."

In other words, in order for Absolute Reality to be complete, which it must be by definition, then it must include the attribute of individual personhood. If personhood is a feature of reality and if I am a part of reality then my experience of personhood must be real.

This was the teaching that provided the biggest "a-ha!" moment for me that verified my experience of individual personhood and solidified a spiritual worldview that remains the foundation of my yoga and meditation practice.

It's also a corollary teaching derived from a synthesis of duality and non-duality called acintya-abheddābeddha-tattva - the inconceivable truth of simultaneous oneness and difference - that was introduced in the 16th century by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu .

Sri Chaitanya's synthesis of duality and non-duality is one element of comprehensive philosophy of bhakti-yoga, the yoga of devotion. His impact on modern spirituality, however, remains largely unrecognized; most Western practitioners of yoga and meditation are unfamiliar with the extraordinary nature of his teachings.

Therefore, starting next week, I'm offering a special Thursday evening series:

Thursday Night Bhakti Satsang

Divine Madness: The Remarkable Teachings of Sri Chaitanya

14 classes - Live via Zoom

Starting on April 4 @ 8:00 pm EDT

Tuition: By donation (recommended minimum donation: $108)

Replays: All classes will be recorded and available for replay.

The proposition that reality itself possess individual personhood gives rise to many other questions, such as what the nature of that personhood is, what the relationships between the personal parts and the Personal Whole might be, the difference between qualitative Oneness and quantitative difference, and how duality and non-duality can both be features of reality, to name just a few.
In this series, we’ll explore the basic elements of Chaitanya’s teachings, the scriptural foundation of his philosophy, the many questions that arise from his teachings, and the distinctive features that differentiate Chaitanya’s devotionalism from other schools of thought.

Most importantly, we’ll examine the relevance of Chaitanya’s philosophy to the needs of contemporary society and explore ways to integrate his teachings into a contemporary spiritual lifestyle.

If you have any questions about this course, just reply to this email - I'm always happy to hear from you.

Hoping you're well in all respects,

- Hari-k