This digital assistant of Vedanta.nl was created with the help of Andre Vas to give precise and practical answers to questions related to life wisdom and Vedanta. Ask any question related to spirituality. These may also be personal questions.
The digital assistant searches through all available sources at lightning speed. Sources include texts by Swami Paramarthananda, Swami Sarvapriyananda, James Swartz, Andre Vas, Neema Majmudar, the Sanskrit Lexicon written by Simon de Jong and all texts available on this website.
The internet in general is not searched, to avoid incorrect and vague answers.
About the Vedanta NL digital assistant
How does it work?
The digital assistant works on the basis of a RAG system that extracts relevant context from the sources mentioned above and uses it to generate appropriate answers. Similar to a search engine that merges one or more relevant topics into a coherent paragraph, taking into account the context of your question. For example, if you search for “what is meditation?”, it will collect all the information about meditation, definitions, practices, guides, do’s and don’ts, etc.
Disclaimer: AI gives you knowledge. A living teacher touches your heart, changes your outlook on life, and can actually set you free.
Examples of questions and answers
Who am I?
According to Advaita Vedānta, you are pure consciousness (cit), the timeless, boundless being (sat) in which all phenomena – thoughts, emotions, the world – seemingly take place. Here is a concrete explanation, step by step:
1. You are not what you think you are
You identify with your body, mind and roles (“I am a man/woman”, “I am successful”, “I am sad”), but these are temporary phenomena that come and go, like clouds in the sky.
Example: Are you an atheist in deep sleep? No. Does your personality disappear with dementia? Yes. This proves that these identities are not essential. (From: “Let go of everything that comes after ‘I am’…”)
2. You are consciousness itself
Consciousness (ātmā) is unchanging, inactive and problem-free. It is not an object that you can perceive, but that which makes all perception possible.
Metaphor: Just as a film projector needs the screen to appear, thoughts and the world need your consciousness to “exist”. You are the screen, not the film. (From: “I am the boundless in which everything seemingly takes place…”)
3. Why don’t you see this immediately?
Ignorance (avidyā): Your attention is held hostage by the fascinating world and thoughts.
Identification (ahaṅkāra): The “I-feeling” clings to changeable things (body, emotions), making you feel limited.
Example: When you say “I am depressed”, you project a temporary state of mind onto your true nature. Depression belongs to the mind, not to you. (From: “All problems of the mind… become my problem when we identify with them…”)
4. How can you be sure of this?
Direct experience: Even now, there is a timeless presence that observes all changes. That presence does not age, never tires and is always fresh.
Practice: Realise that every thought (“I am X”) is an object that appears in you. You are the space in which it arises and disappears. (From: “I only experience myself…”)
Conclusion:
You are not the body-mind complex, but the unchanging consciousness that encompasses all experiences. Vedānta helps you to know this (not believe it), so that liberation (mokṣa) is not something you have to achieve, but recognise as your true nature.
“It is the famous ‘I am what I seek’.”
Meditation question: Can what I am ever change? If not, what always remains the same? 🌟
What is time?
What is time according to Advaita Vedanta?
1. Time is a projection of Māyā
Time is an apparent reality, just like space, that arises from māyā (the illusory power of consciousness). It is a concept that only exists within the relative experience of the mind.
Example: Just as a dream world has its own “time” that only applies in the dream, you experience time in the waking state as something real, when in reality it is a mental construct.
2. Time is dependent on consciousness
Without consciousness, there is no time. Everything you experience as time — past, present, future — appears in consciousness, but is not consciousness itself.
Metaphor: Just as a film only exists on the screen (consciousness), but the screen itself is not a film, so time appears in you, while you are timeless.
3. Time is Brahman, but Brahman is not time
Shankaracharya says: “Brahman is real time (Kāla).” This means:
Everything arises in time, but Brahman (the Absolute) is the source of time.
If you disregard all measurable time (hours, minutes), only timeless consciousness remains.
4. Time is a mental sequence
The human mind thinks linearly:
“First this, then that.”
But in reality, there is only now — a timeless “being” from which time seems to arise.
Conclusion:
Time is a mithyā (apparent truth), dependent on consciousness. You experience time, but you are not limited by it, because you are the timeless consciousness (nitya) in which time appears.
Practical insight:
When you see yourself as “40, 60 or 80 years old,” that is a story. Close your eyes and feel: “I am timeless.” That is the truth.
“There is no past or future, only an eternal NOW that appears as time.” — Essence of verse 37 in the knowledge base.
Would you like to learn more about how time relates to space or māyā? Feel free to ask!