“A master cannot give you love. He can only introduce you to the fact that you are love.”
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I first had contact with Dolano when she spent her days in Osho’s Ashram taking care of two majestic swans. Years later I visited her house by the river and was about to be sent away – she was feeding her cats – when she changed her mind and took me inside for a cup of tea. She is a very independent, idiosyncratic woman, offering her own style of teaching programme not far from her master’s ashram in Pune.
– John David
Questions and Answers
You have given us a profound discourse on awakening. When you meet a passion for awakening, what would your short advice be?
Seekers often have curious ideas about the enlightened state. Please describe your typical day and how you perceive the world.
Sri Ramana said that Self-enquiry is the most direct route to realising the Self. What do you say about Self-enquiry? How to conduct Self-enquiry?
It appears essential to meet a guru and stay with that guru. Who is the guru? What is the guru’s role? How to recognise a true guru?
Sri Ramana proposed the fundamental question, ‘Who am I?’- Who are you?
What about vasanas, the tendencies of the mind? Must these be removed before Self-realisation can become permanent? Is it enough to achieve a sattvic (calm and peaceful) state of mind and to know one’s vasanas so that they no longer bind? How to remove the vasanas?
It has been suggested that the mind must be destroyed for liberation to occur, Do you have a mind? Sri Ramana used the term manonasha to describe the state of liberation, meaning destroyed mind. How to destroy the mind?
Sri Ramana said that Self-enquiry is the most direct route to realising the Self. What do you say about Self-enquiry? How to conduct Self-enquiry?
Are there any qualifications for enlightenment? Is sadhana (spiritual practice) necessary? If yes, what form do you advise?
Many Western seekers come to India looking for enlightenment as if it is an experience, What is enlightenment?
Dolano’s teaching centers on a clear distinction between awakening and enlightenment. For her, the recognition of “who am I” is a profound awakening, but it is not yet the end. What matters after this recognition is the liberation of the mind. She describes the mind not as an enemy, but as a “beloved servant” that has become trapped in a wrong vision, identified with boundaries, appearances, and suffering. Enlightenment, in her view, is not a special experience but the natural outcome when this mind is fully liberated and no longer separates itself from Source.
A major theme in her teaching is that the seeker must mature to the point of authenticity. She speaks to people who are tired of spiritual collecting, exhausted by endless practice, and genuinely ready for truth rather than spiritual entertainment. She values meditation as an important preparation, because it helps the mind become quiet, mature, and cooperative, but she is blunt that technique itself does not bring final liberation. Self-enquiry becomes truly meaningful only when the seeker is ripe enough to consciously recognize their true nature.
Dolano also emphasizes that suffering comes from “boundary vision,” the mistaken identification with what is seen, felt, thought, and experienced. Liberation is the shift from this limited vision into boundlessness. She insists that true guidance does not create dependency on a master, but brings the seeker back to “the light unto yourself.” Her style is direct, humorous, and unsentimental. Again and again, she cuts through spiritual fantasy and points toward a simple truth: freedom is not about becoming special, but about coming home to what has always been here.
John David has been interviewing fourteen European Spiritual Masters. The result is a compendium of astonishing wisdom about the biggest secret of all times: the Nature of our True Self and how to realise it.
This book answers all questions of the spiritual search and is for everyone who has an inner passion to find out who they are.
Fascinating dialogues and stories of Ramana Maharshi recorded by Sri Gajapathi Aiyyer in the summer 1936, at Ramana Ashram.
Vichara offers a fresh and focused exploration of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi’s most profound teaching: Self-enquiry.
Sharanagathi explores Bhagavan’s direct and powerful path of dissolving the ego through surrender.
Biography
“Meditation prepares the ground, but only when you truly know who you are does the search come to an end.”
– Dolano
Awakening is the recognition of who you are; enlightenment is the flowering that comes when the mind is fully liberated.”
– Dolano
