Wisdom of the Masters

Samaneri Jayasara

These podcasts are designed to provide listeners with teachings from great spiritual Masters & to create a meditative mood so that the meaning can go deep & enter your heart. These podcasts are not monetized & are purely for educational & spiritual purposes. If you enjoy & benefit from these recordings you are welcome to contribute to the daily running costs of our hermitage to support the nuns. Donations/gifts for this purpose can be made via PayPal: https://paypal.me/VivekaHermitage or WISE: wise.com/pay/me/margarets448 vivekahermitage.com www.youtube.com/c/SamaneriJayasara/featured

  1. Ajahn Maha Boowa ~ Absolute Freedom

    6D AGO

    Ajahn Maha Boowa ~ Absolute Freedom

    This reading for contemplation/meditation about the nature of the citta has been excerpted from several discourses given by Acharya Maha Boowa.Ajahn Maha Boowa or Bua (1913–2011) was one of the most revered Thai Forest masters of the 20th century, a direct disciple of Ajahn Mun Bhuridatta. Known for his uncompromising practice and penetrating insight, he dedicated his life to the realization and teaching of the Dhamma in its most direct, experiential form.Ajahn Maha Boowa emphasized the centrality of the citta (heart-mind)—the luminous, knowing essence underlying all experience. Through rigorous meditation, he described how defilements (kilesas) obscure this innate clarity, and how disciplined mindfulness and wisdom can dismantle these obscurations layer by layer. His teachings often highlighted the distinction between the knowing awareness and the phenomena that arise within it, pointing practitioners toward a direct recognition of the unconditioned.He spoke vividly about the battle with the kilesas, encouraging fearless investigation of craving, self-identity, and attachment, and stressing that true freedom lies in complete release from these forces. Ajahn Maha Boowa's guidance combined fierce determination with deep compassion, urging practitioners to verify the Dhamma for themselves through sustained practice rather than mere intellectual understanding.Through his teachings and the establishment of Wat Pa Baan Taad, he helped preserve and revitalize the Thai Forest tradition, leaving a legacy of profound meditative instruction centered on direct realization of Nibbāna.Further information about this tradition and teacher can be found here: https://forestdhamma.org/_______________________________🙏 May whatever goodness arises from these readings/offerings be for the benefit of all sentient beings.🔆 Thank you to everyone who has written to inquire about offering a donation or gift. You are welcome to do so, and all offerings will go towards supporting monastic requisites and overheads at Viveka Hermitage.There are two options to donate using this email address: vivekahermitage@gmail.com with PayPalor using this link: https://paypal.me/VivekaHermitage Alternatively, donations can also be made via 𝐖𝐈𝐒𝐄 - you can use this direct link:https://wise.com/pay/me/margarets448or please contact us on the email above for account details if you have problems.

    40 min
  2. Al-Niffari ~ Stand in Bewilderment ~ Sufi Mystics

    FEB 24

    Al-Niffari ~ Stand in Bewilderment ~ Sufi Mystics

    Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār al-Niffarī (c. 10th century) was a little-known but profoundly influential early Sufi mystic, best known for his enigmatic work al-Mawāqif wa’l-Mukhāṭabāt (“The Standings and the Addresses”). Living during the formative period of Islamic mysticism, he left no biography of his own; what survives is his dense, visionary prose, which later mystics regarded as spiritually radical and difficult.Al-Niffarī’s spiritual insight centers on the experience of divine encounter beyond concepts and language. He describes mawqif (a “standing” before God) as a liminal state where the self dissolves and God directly “addresses” the seeker. His writings emphasize the paradox of divine proximity and incomprehensibility, insisting that true knowledge of God arises not through doctrine or reasoning but through annihilation of the ego (fanāʾ) in the overwhelming presence of the Real.He also explores the limits of language and consciousness, using cryptic, almost aphoristic statements to suggest that ultimate reality cannot be grasped by ordinary thought. In this sense, al-Niffarī anticipates later apophatic and nondual currents in Sufism, influencing thinkers such as Ibn ʿArabī and later mystical traditions.Today, al-Niffarī is regarded as a visionary mystic whose writings point to a direct, transformative encounter with the Absolute—beyond theology, beyond identity, and beyond the boundaries of speech itself.________________________________Music: Licensed music from Pixabay - 'No-Mad'Duduk whispers - Oud healing music - Louay AlAwam🙏 May whatever goodness arises from these readings/offerings be for the benefit of all sentient beings.🔆 Thank you to everyone who has written to inquire about offering a donation or gift. You are welcome to do so, and all offerings will go towards supporting monastic requisites and overheads at Viveka Hermitage.There are two options to donate using this email address: vivekahermitage@gmail.com with PayPalor using this link: https://paypal.me/VivekaHermitage Alternatively, donations can also be made via 𝐖𝐈𝐒𝐄 - you can use this direct link:https://wise.com/pay/me/margarets448or please contact us on the email above for account details if you have problems.

    10 min
  3. Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity ~ A Soul of Silence ~ Christian Mystics

    FEB 16

    Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity ~ A Soul of Silence ~ Christian Mystics

    Readings of passages from the text 'A Soul of Silence' by Μ. M. AM. du Couer de Jesus, O.D.CSaint Elizabeth of the Trinity (Élisabeth Catez, 1880–1906) was a French Carmelite nun and one of the most luminous contemplatives of the modern Christian mystical tradition. Entering the Carmelite monastery in Dijon at the age of twenty-one, her short life was inwardly intense and theologically profound, centered almost entirely on the mystery of the indwelling Trinity.Her core spiritual insight was radical in its simplicity: God dwells within the soul as living Presence, and the task of the spiritual life is to become consciously united with this indwelling God through silence, recollection, and loving surrender. Elizabeth spoke of becoming “a praise of glory,” meaning a life so surrendered that it reflects God’s own life from within, without self-assertion or resistance.For Elizabeth, contemplation was not an escape from suffering but a way of inhabiting it from the inside. During her final illness, she understood pain as a place of communion, where the soul could consent ever more deeply to divine life. Her spirituality emphasized interior stillness, self-forgetfulness, and an unwavering trust in God’s presence at the heart of ordinary experience.She left behind letters, retreats, and prayers of striking depth, written in clear, almost crystalline language. Canonized in 2016, Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity is remembered as a teacher of inner silence and divine intimacy, offering a vision of holiness grounded not in extraordinary experiences, but in abiding awareness of God already present within.________________________________Music: Solitude - ambient music - Clavier-MusicWith thanks to Clavier for sharing his gift of music for this channel. You can find this track and more on his Spotify and YouTube channels here:👉 https://youtu.be/2yrqI-9l2kg?si=dr-2I-Tp0szRzDGw👉 https://open.spotify.com/artist/33E9vDqkOnIuX4JKWEhGRr?si=dK9l88y9QoiNjEMsaZYfuA🙏 May whatever goodness arises from these readings/offerings be for the benefit of all sentient beings.🔆 Thank you to everyone who has written to inquire about offering a donation or gift. You are welcome to do so, and all offerings will go towards supporting monastic requisites and overheads at Viveka Hermitage.There are two options to donate using this email address: vivekahermitage@gmail.com with PayPalor using this link: https://paypal.me/VivekaHermitage Alternatively, donations can also be made via 𝐖𝐈𝐒𝐄 - you can use this direct link:https://wise.com/pay/me/margarets448or please contact us on the email above for account details if you have problems.

    30 min
  4. Sri Ramana Maharshi ~ Pure Consciousness

    FEB 7

    Sri Ramana Maharshi ~ Pure Consciousness

    These profound teachings on the nature of pure consciousness as taught by Sri Ramana Maharshi were taken from various sources/texts, including, 'Talks with Ramana Maharshi,' 'Day by Day with Bhagavan' and 'The Maharshi’s Gospel'.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 Arunachala and the 63 Nayanmars was aroused in him and in 1896, at the age of 16, he had a "death-experience" where he became aware of a "current" or "force" which he recognized as his true "I" or "Self".Music: Arunachala Siva chant - produced by Ramana Maharshi Centre for Learning, Bangalore - India._____________________________🙏 May whatever goodness arises from these readings/offerings be for the benefit of all sentient beings.🔆 Thank you to everyone who has written to inquire about offering a donation or gift. You are welcome to do so, and all offerings will go towards supporting monastic requisites and overheads at Viveka Hermitage.There are two options to donate using this email address: vivekahermitage@gmail.com with PayPalor using this link: https://paypal.me/VivekaHermitage Alternatively, donations can also be made via 𝐖𝐈𝐒𝐄 - you can use this direct link:https://wise.com/pay/me/margarets448or please contact us on the email above for account details if you have problems.

    12 min
  5. Philo of Alexandria ~ Pure Being

    FEB 1

    Philo of Alexandria ~ Pure Being

    Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 BCE – c. 50 CE) was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher and mystic who lived in Alexandria, one of the great intellectual centers of the ancient world. Deeply rooted in the Hebrew Scriptures and equally fluent in Greek philosophy—especially Plato and the Stoics—Philo sought to show that true philosophy and authentic revelation were ultimately one. Philo’s distinctive contribution lies in his mystical interpretation of Scripture. Reading the Torah allegorically, he taught that beneath its literal narratives lies a spiritual map of the soul’s journey toward God. Biblical figures such as Abraham, Moses, and Jacob symbolize inner states of awakening, purification, and union. For Philo, the highest purpose of human life is not ethical conformity alone, but direct experiential knowledge of God. Central to his mysticism is the idea of ecstasy (ekstasis)—a state in which the soul transcends discursive thought and is lifted beyond itself into divine illumination. In this condition, the ordinary mind falls silent and the soul becomes receptive to God’s presence. Philo insists that such knowledge cannot be grasped by reason or language, but is given through divine grace when the egoic self is relinquished. 🙏 May whatever goodness arises from these readings/offerings be for the benefit of all sentient beings. 🔆 This podcast is not monetized through advertising and the like. Thank you to everyone who has written to inquire about offering a donation or gift. You are welcome to do so, and all offerings will go towards supporting monastic requisites and overheads at Viveka Hermitage. There are two options to donate using this email address: vivekahermitage@gmail.com with PayPalor using this link: https://paypal.me/VivekaHermitage Alternatively, donations can also be made via 𝐖𝐈𝐒𝐄 - you can use this direct link:https://wise.com/pay/me/margarets448or please contact us on the email above for account details if you have problems.

    26 min
  6. Professor Sri Raghavan Iyer ~ The Great Breath

    JAN 20

    Professor Sri Raghavan Iyer ~ The Great Breath

    Reading of excerpts from Dr Raghavan's essay 'Consciousness and Existence'. The full text can be found here: ⁠https://theosophytrust.org/⁠ Professor Raghavan N. Iyer (1930 -1995) was an internationally known philosopher, political theorist, and spiritual practitioner who devoted his life to the intellectual and spiritual uplift of human society. The only Rhodes Scholar from India in 1950 to Oxford, he secured First Class Honors in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and later earned a D. Phil. Degree in moral and political philosophy. He was professor of political philosophy at the University of California, Santa Barbara for 21 years.His message is that a renewed humankind is now emerging, and his writings address the causes of the global situation, the nature of this evolution, and the manner in which individuals can participate fully in this collective transformation.Dr Iyer was a practitioner and member of the Theosophical Foundation and wrote that: "Initiation into Theosophical metaphysics is more than an intellectual or moral enterprise; it is a continuous spiritual exercise in the development of intuitive and cognitive capacities that are the highest available to humans, a process that includes from the first a blending of the head and the heart through the interaction of viveka and vairagya, discrimination and detachment. 🙏 May whatever goodness arises from these readings/offerings be for the benefit of all sentient beings. 🔆 Thank you to everyone who has written to inquire about offering a donation or gift. You are welcome to do so, and all offerings will go towards supporting monastic requisites and overheads at Viveka Hermitage. There are two options to donate using this email address: vivekahermitage@gmail.com with PayPalor using this link: ⁠⁠⁠https://paypal.me/VivekaHermitage⁠⁠⁠ Alternatively, donations can also be made via 𝐖𝐈𝐒𝐄 - wise.com/pay/me/margarets448

    42 min
5
out of 5
174 Ratings

About

These podcasts are designed to provide listeners with teachings from great spiritual Masters & to create a meditative mood so that the meaning can go deep & enter your heart. These podcasts are not monetized & are purely for educational & spiritual purposes. If you enjoy & benefit from these recordings you are welcome to contribute to the daily running costs of our hermitage to support the nuns. Donations/gifts for this purpose can be made via PayPal: https://paypal.me/VivekaHermitage or WISE: wise.com/pay/me/margarets448 vivekahermitage.com www.youtube.com/c/SamaneriJayasara/featured

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