The Essence of Enlightenment: Vedanta, the Science of Consciousness Paperback – January 7, 2015

James Swartz often criticizes other teachers and their teaching. Although not criticizing the person, but the teaching. According to James, it is part of the vedanta tradition to oppose and criticize wrong ideas. Hopefully this is in line with such an attitude. In other words, nothing personal.In fact I like James. I spent 3 years listening to his teaching daily. I organized a seminar with him and we worked together creating several illustrations for vedanta teaching. His teaching changed my life equally transformative as when I discovered yoga and meditation 40 years ago. He is a good teacher, with great humor and has a talent for teaching advaita vedanta to a western audience. Also he avoids or at least tones down, the guru circus so common. He comes across as a friend and guide. His teaching clarified for me a lot of confusion in the spiritual world and was a huge relief.His basic idea, as I understand it, is that enlightenment is not an experience, but an understanding. I am already enlightened, so I cannot do anything to become something I already am. There is no awakening, because consciousness never slept. This cuts through the dominating dualistic spiritual materialism in most of the spiritual world of chasing exotic experiences to make my personal ego special. What a relief to get rid of that idea, which was the foundation of most of my spiritual search.According to James, moksha is much more accessible than previously thought. All you need to do is crack the logic, understand the teaching and voila: Moksha!! Normal enlightenment time according to James is 2-3 years! Well, I am there now. I understand the teaching fairly well, but I am not enlightened. I realize that enlightenment or moksha is a much more subtle process. Understanding the logic is just the beginning of advaita vedanta.Nobody is going to tell me that when yogis sit in caves for years and years that they do not experience anything besides endless boredom. Of course it is an experience. And probably they are blissed out of this world and prefer such an existence 1000 times to an ordinary life of searching for happiness here and there. Enlightenment is an experience beyond the mind. The intellect cannot go there, but intuition can. The way to get there is through meditation, a teacher, ethical training, sadhana and becoming thoroughly qualified. It is the third stage of the teaching, the integration or the nididhyasana phase. James is good on the two first phases, sravana and manana, listening and reflection, but seems to stop there, and claims moksha is achieved when you get that far. Then you can drop vedanta and go on living your life happily.It is strange how James can deviate so much from his own teacher Swami Chinmayananda. According to James there is no awakening, no special states of experience, no path, nothing to be gained and no destination. Here is what his own teacher writes:« Seeking is fulfilled only in gaining the sought. In its great Awakening, only when the ego merges into the Infinite Self, where nothing else exists, in the State of Aloneness is the goal reached, the destination arrived, the Supreme State of Total Satisfaction gained. In this Awakening alone, can all seeking end.» From Swami Chinmayananda commentaries on Astavakra Gita. p. 241.It is obvious that James only takes one to the doorstep of Vedanta. In that, he does a good job. But he does neither introduce nor encourage or personally exemplify the nididhyasana phase which many teachers equals with intense meditation, sattvic lifestyle and other qualifications of an enlightened person mentioned in the scriptures again and again. There seems to be a great awakening and experience in the end of the rainbow of the spiritual search after all, but is not an experience in the normal sense. It is much more subtle, and beyond experience. It is a turning away from the world, seeing there is nothing there and embarking on an inward journey of much greater depth than James seems to present.It is bad taste to critizise ones own teacher. I am very grateful for his teaching and I might misunderstand, but reading more of the works of his own teacher Swami Chinmayananda and his teacher Swami Sivananda, it is clear that there are huge discrepancies, where what James presents is an apple fallen quite a distance from the original trees. For the serious vedanta student, check it out for yourself and make your own judgment. There seems to be much more to vedanta and moksha than students of James is being presented. There is the third stage of the teaching of integration for those who are ready.

This is an absolute masterpiece. A book to be read and re-read many times. James Swartz succeeds in explaining the teachings of (traditional) Advaita Vedanta in a clear, rationally structured and very readable way, now and then interspersed with humoristic remarks and real-life examples to make the theory more digestible, for Vedanta is not an easy topic. This is not your average holiday reading - unlike books by people like the so-called neo-advaitins ('pseudo-advaitins' might be a better term) or Eckhart Tolle (with all due respect for the latter). This is not a book to be read just once. It's a manual, a study book.One of the aims of James Swartz was to write a book that was more apt for non-native English speakers (like me) than its predecessor, 'How to attain enlightenment', and he really succeeded in this goal. This doesn't mean, however, that it is less profound than 'How to attain enlightenment'. I think both books are highly recommended for sincere students of advaita; reading both can only deepen the understanding. Without any doubt, both books are the very best I've read about this fascinating topic. I dislike using the term 'a must', but I gladly make an exception in this case. So: it's a must !!

This is one of three excellent books that any serious student of Vedanta should read. The first, is this book by James Swartz. Swartz has done incredible and tireless work introducing Vedanta to a western, 21st century audience. Not only is this book important as an introduction to gaining self-knowledge, but so are his numerous talks available on his website and on YouTube. Next on the list is a book simply titled, "Vedanta" by the Indian author and Vedanta student, D. Venugopal. Venugopal's book uses much more sanskrit and scriptural references than Swartz, but when you're ready for it, serves as an invaluable resource and overview of the Vedanta tradition. Right up there with Venugopal's book is "Self-Knowledge - The King of Secrets" by Ted Schmidt. Schmidt, a student of Swartz, has taken learnings from Swartz, Venugopal and multiple traditional Vedanta teachers, and combined them in an elegantly written "textbook" for Vedanta students. All three books are rooted in the same tradition and "The Essence of Enlightenment" is as good as it gets for anyone seeking an intro to self-knowledge and Vedanta.

Prior to this book I read Huxley's book on perennial wisdom. Huxley does a better job of explaining the relationship of Buddhism and Christianity to Vedanta. But rightly so, this author asks readers to give up various dharmas which are works related. I really like the tone of the writing, which shows a heart for people on a path. As a perennialist the saving knowledge which the author teaches can be found in all authentic religions. But it's not always easy to find. You need to look for it. However, Vedanta does make it easier to find.

This book is like a very big meal. Best consumed in small bites. Chew mindfully. Then move on. I found the content thoroughly satisfying and I have been looking (a seeker) for a very long time. A very short way into the book, it became apparent why I have been confused. I am still identifying with an object known to me, even in meditation. I'm a bit perplexed as to why it has taken me so long to come across pure Vedanta. If I had known about this in my youth, I would not have wasted so much time plodding the paths and knocking on doors. But of course, perhaps I didn't waste my time and was instead being primed. Thank you, James Swartz, for all the years of dedicated work you have done, and for passing it on to me.

Jeez, this is the hardest book I’ve come across post yoga teacher training ...its not on the reading list and I don’t know who, when, why it came to me to buy it... there’s something missing for me to connect with how he writes which then creates a gap in my ability to connect with what he writes. ( if you get where I’m coming from) there’s no doubt he knows his stuff and for a while I thought I was with him, then I lost it again. I’ve not heard of him or Vedanta ever before and need to re read even a paragraph and sometimes read it out loud to get it! Aaaagggghhhh!!!!! I’m not giving up!

This is a big book. I did not read it all. Maybe i will start again. I am not a hindu, but for everyone who is interested in Vedanta this is a must read, because it shows the psychology and mechanics of the old teachings.

Confused, opinionated Vedanta.Listen to Swarmi Sarvapriyananda on youtube instead. :)

For a student of Vedanta and Non-duality an excellent read.

A wonderful read to pony those who think they have arrived to the things they have missed .. It's a rocky road and this just might save you from being a causality