Study. Practice. Enquiry.
We study the teachings carefully, practise what they point towards and return again and again to our own experience.
विवेकख्यातिरविप्लवा हानोपायः ॥
Viveka-khyātir aviplavā hānopāyaḥ
“Unwavering discernment is the means.”— Yoga Sutra 2.26
The Yoga Sutras point towards viveka — the capacity to discern clearly.
For us, this is at the heart of enquiry: learning to distinguish what we assume from what we actually experience.
- Study gives us the teachings.
- Meditation gives us a way to experience.
- Enquiry asks us to look at ourselves.
Three movements, one enquiry.
These three movements are at the heart of how we explore the teachings.
Study
We engage with the foundational texts of India to understand their meaning, context and relevance.
Study gives us a framework through which to understand the questions that the traditions have been asking for centuries.
Practice
We explore these teachings through meditation and contemplative practice.
Practice allows what we study to move beyond intellectual understanding and into lived experience.
Enquiry
We turn our attention towards our own experience.
Through observation, reflection and questioning, we investigate what we actually see — rather than simply accepting an idea because it has been taught.
The Question
The Vijnana Bhairava Tantra begins with a question. The questioner has heard the teachings, yet she continues to question:
अथवा न निवृत्ते मे संशयः परमेश्वर ।
adyāpi na nivṛtto me saṃśayaḥ parameśvara
“Even now, my doubts have not dissolved.”
किं रूपं तत्त्वतो देव...
kiṃ rūpaṃ tattvato deva...
“What, in truth, is the nature of Reality?”
The question is not a failure to understand.
It is the beginning of enquiry.
Bringing Understanding into Life
Study is not separate from life.
meditation is not separate from life.
What we explore through study and meditation can be brought into the way we act, relate, respond and see.
Understanding becomes meaningful when it begins to shape how we meet experience — not only when we are sitting in meditation or studying a text.
The practice continues in the midst of life.
See for yourself.
Ultimately, the teachings invite us to see for ourselves.
Where does an idea become an experience?
What happens when we observe the mind without immediately following it?
What becomes visible when we become quiet?
These questions need to be explored.