The Bird's Way
The Bird's Way is about the direct path to Self discovery. Siddharameshwar Maharaj and his two most well-known disciples, Nisargadatta Maharaj and Ranjit Maharaj all taught the Bird's Way. Siddharameshwar Maharaj's teacher, Bhausaheb Maharaj, taught the way of meditation or the Ant's Way. The way of meditation is a long arduous path while the Bird's Way is a clear direct path of Self investigation, Self exploration, and using thought or concepts as an aid to understanding and Self-Realization. Sometimes this approach is also called the Reverse Path.
What Reverse Path indicates is the turning around of one's attention away from objectivity to the more subjective sense of one's Beingness. With the Bird's Way, first one's mind must be made subtle. This is generally done with some initial meditaion on a mantra or phrase which helps the aspirant to step beyond the mental/conceptual body, using a concept to go beyond conceptualization. The Bird's Way is deeply rooted in Advaita Vedanta philosophy which is also called the Spiritual Science of the Self, or Adhyatma.
When one's mind is subtle it becomes easy to understand the teaching about Self Knowledge. The Bird's Way involves listening. This means listening to the teachings of a realized Master as well as the studying of texts on nonduality and Vedanta philosophy. In Vedanta philosophy emphasis is put on what is called the three-fold verification. The three-fold verification is a means for evaluating spiritual teachings and teachers as well as recognizing for oneself what your own actual experience is. The three-fold verification is to examine a teacher or teaching and verify if what is being said is in accordance with (1.) ancient teachings about nonduality, (2.) is it in agreement with what realized saints and sages or a Sadguru have said throughout history, and (3.) is it verifiable in your own direct experience? With these verifications as a tool for guidance, it is very easy for aspirants to discern if they are on a path that will lead to Self-Realization.
What is offered here is a timeless path of understanding and realization through the teachings of several of India's greatest saints. Through the books of Siddharameshwar Maharaj, Ranjit Maharaj, Saint Samartha Ramdas, and Nisargadatta Maharaj, this path is being laid out clearly for spiritual aspirants. See the Digital Blackboard for excerpts from these books to get an introduction to the teachings of Self-realization and Final Reality.
