The nature of Atman is pure consciousness, and though the phenomena are perceived to be taking place, in reality they are only aspects of consciousness. Consciousness is not affected by them. The Atman is 'hidden’ inside all of us, as a bee is hidden inside a lotus flower. It will be futile to seek it in the water or air outside.

(See also: Nirvikalp Samadhi, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Pure Consciousness:

See: Parashakti, Satchidananda, tattva.

(See also: Pure Consciousness, Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

TM is practiced for fifteen to twenty minutes twice daily while sitting comfortably with the eyes closed. In essence, the TM technique comprises the silent mental repetition of a simple sound known as a mantra, allowing the repetition to spontaneously become quieter and quieter, until it disappears and one is left conscious, but without thoughts. This is the goal of the inward stroke of meditation and is called pure consciousness (in Sanskrit: turiya or samadhi similar to Abraham Maslow's concept of peak experience). Alongside ...

See also:

Transcendental meditation, Transcendental meditation - History, Transcendental meditation - Effects of TM, Transcendental meditation - Procedures and theory, Transcendental meditation - Pure consciousness, Transcendental meditation - Stress, Transcendental meditation - Mantra, Transcendental meditation - TM and religion, Transcendental meditation - Criticisms and controversies, Transcendental meditation - Possible negative side effects, Transcendental meditation - TM-Sidhi Program and Maharishi Effect, Transcendental meditation - Publications on Maharishi's technologies, Transcendental meditation - Political activities of the TM organization, Transcendental meditation - Sexism and the TM organization, Transcendental meditation - Importance of Correct Buildings, Transcendental meditation - Notable practitioners, Transcendental meditation - Reference

Read more here: » Transcendental meditation: Encyclopedia II - Transcendental meditation - Procedures and theory

The Transcendental Meditation technique, or TM, is a form of meditation that originates from the Vedic tradition of masters that includes Guru Dev and the venerated Shankara, a part of the long history of India. It was introduced by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a disciple of Guru Dev, fifty years ago. It has become a worldwide movement, with more than five million people having learned the technique. The TM organization has founded an accredited university Maharishi International University, and at one point even had a political part ...

Including:

• Transcendental meditation - History
• Transcendental meditation - Effects of TM
• Transcendental meditation - Procedures and theory
• Transcendental meditation - Pure consciousness
• Transcendental meditation - Stress
• Transcendental meditation - Mantra
• Transcendental meditation - TM and religion
• Transcendental meditation - Criticisms and controversies
• Transcendental meditation - Possible negative side effects
• Transcendental meditation - TM-Sidhi Program and Maharishi Effect
• Transcendental meditation - Publications on Maharishi's technologies
• Transcendental meditation - Political activities of the TM organization
• Transcendental meditation - Sexism and the TM organization
• Transcendental meditation - Coercive methods
• Transcendental meditation - Notable practitioners
• Transcendental meditation - Reference

Read more here: » Transcendental meditation: Encyclopedia - Transcendental meditation

The Hong-Sau technique will help you to convert ego-consciousness into the complete awareness of who and what you truly are: a manifestation of Pure Consciousness.

(See also: Hong-Sau, Meditation, Meditation for Beginners, Meditation Techniques)

Tantra: Experimental duplication

TANTRA Science relies upon the practical realization of its teachings. Here we are not dealing with endless talking and argumentation but instead with engaging ourselves fully and thoroughly in an exceptional practice which can lead the practitioner to Freedom, Pure Existence, Super-Consciousness, Beatitude and super-normal powers (SIDDHIS).

Read more here: » Tantra Yoga: Experimental duplication

Experiencing Everything As Consciousness During Samadhi

76. The body of the Yogi attains very subtle state of the pure Brahman. By causing the body made of the elements to be absorbed in a subtle state in the form of the Paramatman or the supreme Deity, the body of the Yogi gives up its impure corporal state.

From "Kundalini Yoga" by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad: Experiencing Everything As Consciousness During Samadhi

The Purusha or the Self is beyond Prakriti. It is eternally separate from the latter. Purusha is without beginning or end. It is without attributes and without qualities. It is subtle and omnipresent. It is beyond mind, intellect and the senses. It is beyond time, space and causality. It is the eternal seer. It is perfect and immutable. It is pure consciousness (Chidrupa).

The Purusha is not the doer. It is the witness.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Purusha: Vedic Philosophy - The Purusha

Hinduism: Do God and the Gods in Hinduism have Gender?

 Esoterically, it must be admitted that none of the Gods has a wife. Their consorts are not to be considered as separate from them, but as aspects of their being, as their shakti or power. The Mahadevas who live in the Third World cannot be likened to men and women who live on the earth. They exist in perfectly evolved soul bodies, bodies which are not properly differentiated by sex. They are pure beings made of pure consciousness and light; they are neither male nor female.

Read more here: » Hinduism: Do God and the Gods in Hinduism have Gender?

The sages who gave us the ancient Vedic mantras and hymns were evolved beings who had either attained or come very close to a state of pure consciousness. In their meditations they heard perfect words and sounds - sublime mantras, sacred wisdom arising from within. They passed this sacred wisdom on to their disciples by singing it.

In those days all the scriptures were sung, and the rishis and sages understood that chanting the sacred word was an offering to God for the well-being of the earth and all its creatures. They knew that the human voice chanting sacred mantras has healing power and that these pure sounds actually replenish the universe, create harmony, and keep the universe healthy.

(See also: Chanting, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Mantra meditation involves channeling one's consciousness from a low level to a high level of purer thought. "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and God was the word." Word, sound, and mantra, are all integral parts of the manifest cosmos. By constantly meditating on a chosen mantra, one is, in due course, released from the compulsory round of births and deaths.

The word 'mantra' is a mix of the root 'man' meaning 'to think' and 'tra' meaning 'to protect or free'. Repeated regularly, a mantra awakens and expands one's consciousness. Once we comprehend that everything in nature is energy, we realise that a mantra too is pure divine energy encased in the vacuum of sound structure.

(See also: Meditation Techniques, Meditation, Meditation for Beginners, Meditation Techniques)

In most religious scriptures, Shabd or the Word is referred to as the creator of the universe. It is a current from the ocean of pure consciousness that is characterised by ethereal and sublime sound vibration.

It is the all-pervading manifestation of God, the radiant sound current, and it is the connecting link between God and His creation. All the powers of nature depend on and work through Shabd.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

There are some people who do little, but make others do a lot. Brahman, the pure Consciousness, too, is actionless - but in Its presence, everything else works.

Observe an infant. It does little other than kick about, cry and laugh but it spurs everybody into willing action. The mere presence of an infant brings joy. What makes a baby so lovable, a source of joy for all?

(See also: Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Vedic Yoga and the Three Gunas

The Vedas present a vast pantheon of deities (devatas) on many different levels, often said to be innumerable or infinite in number. One of the main early efforts to classify the Vedic Gods (as in the Brihad Devata of Shaunaka) was to reduce them to the three prime deities for the three worlds.

Agni or Fire on Earth (Prithivi)

Vayu or Wind in the Atmosphere (Antariksha)

Surya or the Sun in Heaven (Dyaus)

These three deities are three aspects of the One God or the Purusha, the supreme consciousness principle and higher Self that is pure light.

Read more here: » Three Gunas: Vedic Yoga and the Three Gunas

Ramnavmi

Lord Rama, an Incarnation of Lord Vishnu, who is measureless, who is of the nature of pure Consciousness and bliss, who is the consort of Sita, Master of Sri Hanuman, and the Lord of the three worlds, who took His birth at His own will in order to establish righteousness, destroy the wicked and protect His devotees.

Ramnavami or the birthday of Lord Rama falls on the 9th day of the bright fortnight of the month of Chaitra (March-April).

From Hindu Fasts & Festivals by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Ramnavmi: Hindu Worship - Ramnavmi

Vijñāna is Sanskrit for consciousness. This page considers the Buddhist concept. Specifically, a vijnana is a single moment of conceptual consciousness. It has two components: the awareness itself, and the object of that awareness (which might be a perception, a feeling etc.). Normal mental activity is considered to consist of a continual succession of vijnanas. Vijnana is contrasted with jnana, or pure awareness free of conceptual constructs. Vijnana - Vijnana in buddhist teachings. Including:

• Vijnana - Vijnana in buddhist teachings
• Vijnana - vijnana as an aggregate
• Vijnana - vijnana in the pratitya samutpada
• Vijnana - Different vijnanas
• Vijnana - Alayavijnana
• Vijnana - Amalavijnana

Read more here: » Vijnana: Encyclopedia - Vijnana

In early Hindu philosophy, turiya (also called caturtha) is a state of pure consciousness, or the experience of ultimate reality and truth. It is a fourth state of consciousness that underlies and at the same time transcends three common states of consciousness: (i) the state of waking consciousness (jagrata), (ii) the state of dreaming (svapna), (iii) and dreamless sleep (susupti). Turiya - Advaita concept. The first two states are defective as experiences of reality and truth because ...

Including:

• Turiya - Advaita concept
• Turiya - Dvaita Vaishnava concepts

Read more here: » Turiya: Encyclopedia - Turiya

Avadhut is a term from the spiritual traditions of India. An avadhut is a mystic who has risen above body-consciousness, duality, and worldly concerns. The term is described in one text as one who is free from the consciousness of the ego, roaming free like a child over the face of the earth. An avadhut does not identify with the body, mind or emotions. Such a person is said to be pure consciousness in human form. The nature of the avadhut is the subject of the Avadhut Gita, the authorship of which is traditionally ascribed to Dattat ...

Read more here: » Avadhut: Encyclopedia - Avadhut

Jnana in Sanskrit means "knowledge", and is often interpreted to mean "knowledge of the true self". In the Vedanta school of the Hindu religion, to know Brahman as one's own Self is jnana. To say, "I am Brahman, the pure, all-pervading Consciousness, the non-enjoyer, non-doer and silent witness," is jnana. To behold the one Self everywhere is jnana. Jnana yoga is one of the four bas ...

Read more here: » Jnana Yoga: Encyclopedia - Jnana Yoga

In Vajrayana Buddhism, Akshobhya (Sanskrit for "Immovable One", Jp. 阿閃如来 Ashuku nyorai) is one of the Five Wisdom Buddhas, a product of Adibuddha who represents consciousness as an aspect of reality. By convention he is located in the east of the Diamond Realm and is the Lord of the Eastern Pure Land Abhirati ('The Joyous'), although the Pure Land of Akshobhya's western counterpart Amitabha is popularly far better known. His Shakti is Locana and he is normally accompanied by two elephants. His color is blue and attribut ...

Including:

• Akshobhya - Origin
• Akshobhya - Doctrine
• Akshobhya - Iconography

Read more here: » Akshobhya: Encyclopedia - Akshobhya