Core Teachings

The central teaching of Ramesh Balsekar is the understanding of non-doership. This is not a philosophical concept to be debated, but a direct insight into the nature of reality. Events happen, deeds are done, but there is no individual doer thereof. All actions are happenings through human organisms, much like a computer functions according to its programming without claiming authorship of its outputs. This understanding does not lead to passivity or fatalism. Rather, it liberates one from the burden of guilt, shame, pride, and anxiety that accompany the false sense of personal doership. Life continues to function spontaneously, but without the weight of personal involvement.

Ramesh taught a unique approach to the ego. Unlike many spiritual teachings that emphasize "killing" or "destroying" the ego, Ramesh advocated for its "conversion." The ego is simply a concept, a sense of being a separate individual doer. It cannot be killed because it doesn't exist as a real entity. What can happen is that the ego—this sense of being a separate doer—can realize its own non-existence. Self-realization is nothing but the ego realizing that it has never been a doer. The functioning continues, decisions appear to be made, but the understanding dawns that there is no individual entity making those decisions.

The question of free will is one that troubled Ramesh deeply before his understanding. His teaching on this matter is beautifully paradoxical and liberating. "Understand that nothing happens unless it is God's will and do what you like. What can be simpler than that?" This apparent paradox dissolves when one realizes that the very sense of "wanting" to do something is itself part of the divine functioning. The individual has no choice in what they want—desires arise spontaneously. The brain-body organism functions according to its programming (genes plus conditioning), responding to situations as they arise. There is no separate entity controlling this process.

Understanding non-doership is not merely an intellectual exercise—it has profound practical implications for daily living. When the false sense of personal doership falls away, several consequences follow naturally: • Freedom from guilt and shame about past actions • Freedom from pride about past achievements • Freedom from anxiety about future outcomes • Natural compassion toward others (they too are not doers) • Acceptance of whatever life brings • Peace in the midst of activity This peace is not something achieved through effort—it is what remains when the burden of personal doership is seen through.

"Consciousness is all there is." This statement encapsulates Ramesh's teaching on the nature of reality. The phenomenal world—all that we see, hear, think, and experience—is an appearance in Consciousness. It has no independent existence apart from Consciousness. The individual, the world, time, space—all are appearances in the one Consciousness that alone is real. This is not to say the world doesn't exist, but rather that its existence is not separate from Consciousness. Understanding this, the search for enlightenment or liberation is seen to be unnecessary. There is no individual who could become enlightened. There is only Consciousness, playing the game of seeking and finding.

A cornerstone of Ramesh's teaching is the acceptance of God's Will or, as he often put it, "Thy Will be done." This is not passive resignation or fatalism. It is the recognition that everything that happens is part of the cosmic functioning, and that the individual organism is simply an instrument through which this functioning occurs. With this understanding comes a natural acceptance of what life brings—not because one has cultivated acceptance as a virtue, but because there is no one separate from life to accept or reject anything. The result is not indifference, but a profound engagement with life free from the suffering that comes from fighting against "what is."