According to Paramhansa Yogananda, consciousness is not the product of brain activity: it is the fundamental reality without which thinking as a conscious activity could never take place. Consciousness works through the brain, but doesn’t require a brain to exist. It was consciousness that produced the brain, as it produced everything else in existence — even the apparently insensate rocks.
Question from david snowdon: Believers in the Vedanta and Buddhism are not unlike atheists regarding end of life: it is dissolution of the self. The ‘awareness’ is not ours, it is God. I feel that the non-fundamental mind is being violated — the joke is on us. Your thoughts?
Question from Ryan: Good evening. This question actually stems from an experience nearly 20 years ago when I first took up a personal meditation practice. Once while in deep meditation my visual field went totally white and as my concentration increased I felt as though I was travelling back in time. I have no other way of explaining it, really. What happened to…
Question from KCD: Namaste. I have been attracted to teaching of Paramhansa Yogananda. Recently, I have also been looking into the teachings of Meher Baba. But one thing that took me aback was his teaching that before the Creation, God was in an unconscious state and did not know He was God! And then there arose a “whim” for God to seek self-knowledge.…
Question from Karen B: Please can you explain the meaning of the words to the chant “Deliver us from delusion”? Blessings, Karen
Question from Rajat: Hello and a happy New Year to everyone at the Ananda family, I would like to know the reason why spirituality advises not to listen to rock/metal/pop/jazz music or songs. I am on a spiritual path and would like to ban anything which affects my journey. Currently, I listen to rock and metal songs which keep me motivated to do…
Question from jayantkumar dhruv: Hindus worship images and icons of stone, clay, and metal. Is not this practice of idolatry contrary to the teachings of the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita ?
Question from Rakesh: Do we incur negative karma even if we hurt someone unintentionally? A woman whom I broke up with has landed with a mental breakdown. She is almost destroyed out of pain. Will I have to face the consequences for this?
Question from preety: Pranam and Salutation. What is the difference between God and absolute consciousness please? Thanking you for dissemination of knowledge.
Question from Mike: How did Master or Kriyananda define the Christian concept of communion, and the terms body and blood? People I’ve discussed this with (both Christian and non) seem confused, or really don’t know.
