Beyond The Mind

David Frawley is the author of many books on the spiritual traditions of India and is one of the few Westemers ever recognized in India as a Vedacharya or teacher of the Vedic Tradition.

Beyond the mind presents the essential knowledge and insights taken from his in depth studies free of any technical terms for the benefit of the broader audience of all those interested in the fundamental issues of human life. Beyond the mind is a profound examination of the nature of the mind and of what we call reality. It raises fundamental questions as to the nature of the self and the nature of the world. It is a provocative challenge to all that we commonly dimension of being in which alone may be the solution to our present personal and collective problems.

Mr. Frawley has synthesized the fundamental truths of the heart of all spiritual teaching and placed his findings before the reader as a unified whole.

Each meditation in beyond the mind bears careful study and though on the part of the reader while application of the fruits of such contemplation will certainly lead the reader forward on his or her own path whatever it may be.

David Frawley is a superb bridge builder and an original mind who constantly look fro new ways to make the ancient wisdom accessible and relevant to modern student. He is steeped in India’s traditional knowledge without having discarded the best of our western heritage. I look forward to every new publication form his pen because I know I will learn from and be inspired by it.

David Frawley has long been known to out readers as a writer of great knowledge and profound insight into the teachings of our Hindu tradition and their practical application in the pursuit of self realization. With his command of the Sanskrit language and personal experience over years of spiritual practice Mr. Frawley has demonstrated his apprehension of deep spiritual truths in this many books and articles much to the benefit of the earnest seeker.

In beyond the mind he has departed somewhat from his usual scholarly approach to share with a more wide spread audience the benefit of his reflections and insights. Drawing upon the teachings of such greater masters as Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi, J. Krishnamurti and Swami Vivekananda and such schools of thoughts as Advaita Vedanta Sankhya Zen Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism Mr. Frawley has synthesized the fundamental truths at the heart of all teachings and placed his findings before the reader as a unified whole.

In many ways beyond the mind reflects Mr. Frawley’s own search and the various chapters are meditations or contemplations on the eternal verities rather than scholarly expositions on the writers and writings he has studied in the course of that search. Yet each sage has left an indelible print on the author’s mind as can be seen from the chapter in Part II entitled the fundamental question where Mr. Frawley points out the central most core of all teachings the enquiry into the source of one’s own being out I as taught by Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi. This vital theme recurs throughout the book often interwoven with the complementary teachings of J. Krishnamurti each meditation bears careful study and though on the part of the reader while application of the fruits of such contemplation will certainly lead the reader forward on his or her own path whatever it may be.

In the words of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi all paths and practices converge upon the same goal just as the one fundamental question is the last to be answered while at the same time being the very Goal itself who am I ? Who is meditating, practicing, questioning, and doing? When this is found all is found and as Mr. Frawley reiterates throughout the book when this is found paradoxically all is found and when all is found, all disappears together with oneself into the one that lied beyond the realm of mind thought or words.

There is an eternal spiritual science based on the discrimination between spirit and matter the sacred and the profane the divine and the undivine. On a psychological level it is the science of discrimination between the perceiver the inner and the outer the conscious and the unconscious subject and object the self and the non-self.

This science of discrimination is perhaps the classical form of world spirituality. It is the original basis of ancient Hindu philosophy not as a mere theory but as the practice of direct perception and clear observation grew and foundation the systems of Sankhya Yoga, Vedanta and Buddhism in Persian Zoroastrianism and in the mystical essence of the Judeo Christian Islamic tradition. However in these systems it tends more toward dualism or monotheistism rather than the monistic view of the world embodied in the Indian systems.

This system is not ultimately a form of dualism. It is a path of pure unity that negates falsehood and duality. It is therefore not a discrimination between two aspects of reality but discerning reality from illusion which is necessary to arrive at truth.

This spiritual science is also presented mythological in stories of the battles between the forces of light and darkness the gods and the demons. It is hidden in the sun and fire worship of ancient cultures the religion of light and enlightenment particularly in the Vedic culture of India that goes back to the dawn of human history. It is the cultivation of our timer light and its discrimination from the darkness of fear and desire.

We find this same science of consciousness prominent in modern Vedanta with teachers like Ramana Maharishi Swami Rama Tirtha or Vivekananda Aspects of it occur in most forms of insight meditation most notably Buddhist Zen or Vipassana as it is the essence of the knowledge whereby thought is understood and transcended. This science also occurs outside of defined spiritual traditions as it transcends any formal limitations. In this regard a similar approach is found in such non traditional modern teachers as J. Krishnamurti.

In a deeper sense this science of consciousness is not a system or science at all. It is the system of no system the science of the spiritual which is the negation of materialistic science. According to its deeper view all name from number quantity and system apply only to the outer the unreal and superficial side of life and as long as we believe in these things as reality we live in illusion. This science of consciousness is the sense of the Atman or Purusha the true conscious subject who is one with all in whom we discover our inherent ability to transcend all mechanism awareness of the eternal that is beyond all time karma image or identity.