Self-Realization Beyond Birth and Death – Alfred Julius Emmanuel Sørensen (Sunyata Bhai)

California November 1980

https://www.academia.edu/171734223/Self_Realization_Beyond_Birth_and_Death_Alfred_Julius_Emmanuel_S%C3%B8rensen_Sunyata_Bhai_

Sri Wuji is still a little dazed and distrait after weeks of dissipation in wordiness and in what he calls food-fuss and silly birth-death celebration. Is it 19 or 90? he asks regarding the candles on the birthday-cake, but there were no candles at all on the cake, only in large letters : “Sunyata: Ego-free Inner-standing”. However, instead of visible candles, there were present 90 loveable egojies-, all enlightened, though only a few of them aware of being luminous in Self radiant Light. We quoted Ramana Maharshi: “You who wish to celebrate the birthday, seek first whence was your birth? One’s birthday is, when he enters THAT which, transcends – birth and death, the Eternal Being. To seek one’s Self and merge in the Self, that is wisdom”. Sri Wuji adds, Thou art thy Self the object of thy search. Ego-oblivion is Self-awareness – Grace-awareness. The waves on the Pacific Ocean are very close to the Sea. The Source and i are a non dual.

Sri Wuji suggests that in 1990 we may have 1 solitary candle to celebrate the First century. He has invited Magrethe Behin, the Queen of Danes – and Indira Behin – “Empress of India”. Also Prince Peter of Greece and all the other Greek Royalty, including the Queen of Spain and Sister Lila, also Svetoslav Roerich and Ranika Devi, and Tagore. There will be Masterjis and Saints galore, so You will be in a good company. Place and exact time will be intimated later on. Do not forget the date: 27 October 1990 in gracious Wuness. There will be Amrit and celestial music -, Unbroken Perfection is in and over all”, so Tagore quoth to us at Dartington Hall and Sri Narayana wrote us – “All is right that seems most wrong to egojis.” Wu!

John Blofeld has been here again from Bangkook. His autobiography “The Wheel of Life” was born in Turiya Niwas and Karuna Kutir – in Himalaya. – where also Lama Govinda’s books were written. These friends, are now again our neighbours here in Mill Valley and there are dozens of guys and girlies, who have been blessed by Sanskrit Sat-names on that holy ridge crest in Himalaya, by Gertrude Emerson Sen “Christened”, “Crank Ridge”. Some of these brethren now consider them Self to be Ball-bearing Cranks, helping the Wheel of Swa Lila to move softly – and silently. Saints and Sanyasis swarm here on our golden shores – and we have chaotic, dynamic meditation, re-birthing cliniques and Samadhi tanks – for instant Samadhi, though not yet for Sahaja-Samadhi- or for Atyasrami fellows. Sri Rajneesh in Poona begets most of the Swamis with Sat names. Kriyananda we met in Delhi and Vasista Guba and we rejoice in his Dharmic play here in Swa Lila.

Sunyaji is a good God-Father to many graceful God-children: Kailash in Tasmania, Sunyata in New Zeland, Julia Ananda in Germany, Joyji in Belgium, Joshua in Sausalito and Torbjorn in Greenland. Also in England, Asia and Africa are many grown up children in second, third or fourth childhood. “Unless ye again become childlike, ye can in no Way re-enter the inner realm of Grace.” So said the Christ-conscious Joshua ben Joseph -. So the new intuitive, mind free and ego-free Race emerge and multiply on our little spinning globe. A Wuji biography called: “Sunyata – Ego free Inner-standing” is being printed in Chicago. There Sri Wuji is called Mr. Nobody – or “The Man of Tao”.

Wu ha da! Says Honesse Wuji.

Karuna Love, grace and gratitude from Viking Bhai Emmanuel in Sunya and Sri Wuji in the invisible Real. Wu.

Source from old paper collection of letters (1950s,1960s,1970s) sent by
Alfred Sorensen known as Sunya Bhai to my father Radhey Shiam –
Compiled & Notes by _Rama Kant s/o Lsh Radhey Shiam
– Author of – ‘Song of Life,’The Book of Life’, ‘Quotes of Life’, ‘Nature and I’ and ‘My Soul, My Mother Ganga in English and ‘Haiku Paheliyaan’ in 2 Vol., ‘Haiku Ramayana’, Vedhai Haiku Uttar Ramayana’, ‘Mukri Haiku Paheliyaan’ and ‘Adharma Uvachaa’ in Hindi

Today, August 13, marks the 42nd death anniversary of this revered holy man. It is a touching coincidence that, in a letter written in November 1980, Sunya Bhai expressed his heartfelt wish to live for one hundred years and celebrate his birth-centenary with Rabindranath Tagore, Magrethe behin, the Queen of Danes, Queen of Spain, Indira Gandhi, and the Queen of Denmark,Prince Peter of Greece, Svetoslav Roerich, Ranika Devi and Saints/Masterjis. This extraordinary aspiration reflected his universal vision, his childlike joy, and the deep friendships that transcended nations, cultures, and generations.
He also mentioned his autobiography in this letter, entitled Sunyata – Ego-Free Inner-standing, which was being printed in Chicago. Although he had no desire in life, he lived ego-free, death-free, and body-free. He has always quoted, “I have nothing to say.”
Destiny, however, had another design. On August 13, 1984, Sunya Bhai left his mortal body following a road accident, and his cherished dream of celebrating his hundredth birthday remained unrealized. Yet the true measure of a life is not its length but its enduring influence. Though he did not reach his centenary, the light of his wisdom, compassion, and spiritual presence continues to illumine the hearts of seekers around the world.
-Rama Kant-

Horticulture to Himalayan Silence: The Global Spiritual Journey of Alfred Julius Emmanuel Sørensen (Sunyata Bhai)

https://www.academia.edu/170603836/Horticulture_to_Himalayan_Silence_The_Global_Spiritual_Journey_of_Alfred_Julius_Emmanuel_S%C3%B8rensen_Sunyata_Bhai_
Truth, God, Reality and integral Consciousness is one-, a non-dual one-, and our ego-consciousness is a due mode in the duly blinkered part-play within the integral One. What we call facts are not truth. The actual is not the real. Knowledge is not wisdom. Power corrupts egojis and is not integral strength-. Peace is not joyous ease (Ananda). Lust and liberty are not the freedom of no desire. Yog is not Self controlled spontaneity – but awakening into integrality is a kind of gratuitous grace-. The God-head, the Christ, the Comforter, or ‘ghostly Spirit’ are but word-symbols, concepts and (imposed?) abstractions to us until we realise, experience and live it- integrally. Wu!

This autobiographical meditation by Alfred Emanuel Sorensen (Sunya Bhai) traces the gradual unfolding of a life rooted not in an intellectual search for truth but in the spontaneous maturation of integral awareness. Recalling his early encounters in England with Theosophy, J. Krishnamurti, Sufism, Vedanta, Taoism, and the spiritual wisdom that “made our Asia mild,” Sorensen distinguishes between superficial acquaintance through books and lectures and the transformative realization born of direct experience. He argues that authentic spiritual understanding is not the product of analytical study, memory, or accumulated knowledge, but of “integral reading”—a contemplative mode of awareness in which consciousness itself becomes the medium of understanding. Knowledge, in this sense, is existential rather than conceptual; it is lived, not merely learned.
Rejecting the conventional role of teacher, preacher, or spiritual authority, Sorensen maintains that genuine realization carries no impulse to convert, instruct, or save others. Instead, truth expresses itself naturally through effortless presence, echoing the Taoist ideal of non-doing (wu wei) and the silent radiance of awakened consciousness. His reflections on India reveal a profound appreciation for the continuity of its spiritual traditions. Although he visited numerous ashrams, caves, and holy places associated with saints, sages, and realized beings, he emphasizes that liberation is never dependent upon external proximity to a master. The true pilgrimage is inward, where the Self alone is the source of realization.
Drawing extensively upon the life and teaching of Ramana Maharshi, Sorensen presents Advaita Vedānta as an immediate state of non-dual awareness beyond the egoic notions of “I,” “me,” and “mine.” Ramana, he suggests, did not merely teach non-duality; he embodied it completely. In such integral consciousness, there is no separation between knower and known, no duality between seeker and sought, and no need for psychological self-assertion. Silence itself becomes the highest language of truth, transcending conceptual thought and verbal instruction.
The autobiographical narrative deliberately avoids sensational spiritual experiences, miracles, or esoteric claims. Instead, it portrays enlightenment as the quiet continuity of consciousness that remains unchanged from childhood through old age. Concluding with the principle of swadharma, Sorensen affirms that every individual must realize truth through his or her own authentic path. The essay thus offers a profound critique of intellectualism and spiritual ambition, presenting integral awareness as a lived reality characterized by humility, inward freedom, self-abidance, and the effortless expression of universal consciousness.
Source from old paper collection of letters (1950s,1960s,1970s) sent by
Alfred Sorensen known as Sunya Bhai to my father Radhey Shiam –
Compiled & Notes by _Rama Kant s/o Lsh Radhey Shiam
– Author of – ‘Song of Life,’The Book of Life’, ‘Quotes of Life’, ‘Nature and I’ and ‘My Soul, My Mother Ganga in English and ‘Haiku Paheliyaan’ in 2 Vol., ‘Haiku Ramayana’, Vedhai Haiku Uttar Ramayana’, ‘Mukri Haiku Paheliyaan’ and ‘Adharma Uvachaa’ in Hindi

The following quotations, drawn from poetry, mysticism, and spiritual philosophy, present a comparative study of mysticism and reveal the universal language of spiritual realization. They express a common vision of the journey from the finite self to Ultimate Reality. In Silentium!, Fyodor Tyutchev teaches that the deepest truths of the soul are beyond words and can only be preserved in silence. Lascelles Abercrombie’s Epitaph suggests that true freedom and perfection arise only through the symbolic death of the ego. The Sutta Nipāta points to liberation through the realization of emptiness and the abandonment of self-centred perception. Shakespeare’s The Phoenix and the Turtle celebrates a perfect union in which duality disappears and love transcends all distinctions. Francis Thompson’s The Mistress of Vision portrays spiritual awakening as the death of the lower self, revealing the hidden unity of all existence. Meister Eckhart teaches that genuine prayer begins when all personal desire ceases, while the Buddha-inspired saying urges us to stop pleading and instead awaken to the Light already surrounding us.
Despite their diverse origins, these voices converge on a universal mystical insight: truth is discovered not through intellectual knowledge or worldly achievement, but through silence, self-emptying, detachment, and direct experience. Their shared message is that the dissolution of the ego unveils an indivisible Reality where wisdom, love, beauty, and freedom become one.
Together, these quotations emphasize that true wisdom lies not in accumulated knowledge or outward achievement but in self-knowledge and inner realization. They urge us to look beyond the ego, intellectual pride, and the illusion of personal agency, discovering the deeper reality of the Self through inward experience and spiritual awakening.

Silentium

Speak not, Be hidden and conceal
The way you dream, the thought you feel,
Deep in the silence, let them rise
Akin to stars in crystal skies-
That set before the night is blurred.
Delight in them and say no word-.

How can a heart expression find?
How should another know your mind?
Will he discern what quickens you?
A thought once uttered is untrue!
Dimmed is the fountain –head when stirred
Drink at the Source and speak no word.

Live stilly in yourself alone.
Within your soul a world has grown,
The magic of veiled thought that might
Be blinded by the outer light-,
Drowned in the noise of day, – unheard
Take in the song- and speak no word!

Epitaph

Sir, you should notice me: I am a man.
I am good fortune : I am satisfied,
All I desired, more than I could desire,
I have : Everything has gone right with me,
Life was a hiding place that played me false.
I crouched ashamed and still was seen and scorned:
But now I am not seen. I was a fool,
And now I know what wisdom dare not know:
For I know nothing. I was a slave and now
I have ungoverned freedom and the wealth
That cannot be conceived: for I have nothing.
I lookt for beauty and I longed for rest,
And now I have perfection: Nay, I am
Perfection: I am nothing, I am dead.
—————————————————————

Where is the life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
“My long sickness of health and living now begins
To mend, and nothing brings me All things”
(Timon of Athens)

Alertly seek the realm or nothingness, and aided by the thought: Naught Is—– thou wilt cross the flood ……….
(S.Nipata)
 
So they loved, as love in twain
Had the essence but in one,
Two distinct, division none,
Number there in love was slain.

Hearts remote, yet not asunder;
Distance and no space was seen
‘Twixt the turtle and his queen;
But in them it was a wonder-.

Property was thus appall’d
That the self was not the same.
Single nature’s double name
Neither two nor one was called.

Reason in itself confounded
Saw division grow together!
To themselves yet either neither
Simply were so well compounded.

Either was the others mine……

Beauty, truth and rarity, grace in all simplicity
Here enclosed in cinders be.

Death is now, the Phoenix nest
And the Turtle’s loyal brest in Eternity doth rest.

Leaving no prosperity: – ‘Twas not their infirmity,
It was married chastity.

Truth may seem but cannot be,
Beauty brags, but ‘tis not she.
Truth and Beauty buried be.
(From Shakespeare’s “The Phoenix and the Turtle”)

“Die, for no other way cans’t live —–
When thy seing blindest thee
To what other mortals see,
When their sight to thee is sightless,
Their living death, their light most lightless
Seek no more-.
When to the new eyes of thee
All things by immortal power,
Near and far, Hiddenly-,
To each other linked are
That thou cans’t not stir or flower
Without troubling a star,
O seek no more …….”
(Francis Thompson)

“When I pray for aught my prayer goes for naught”.
When I pray for nought, I pray as I ought-.
When praying for someone, I pray at my weakest.
When praying for no one, I pray at my strongest
And when I want nothing and make no request,
I am praying at my best!
God is nearer to me than I am to yourself”.
(Meister Eckhart)
 
“Do not complain and cry and pray, but open
Your eyes and see, for the Light is all about
You, and it is so wonderful, so beautiful,
So far beyond anything that man has ever
Dreamt of or prayed for-, and it Is, forever and ever!”
(Siddhartha Gautam Buddha)

‘A man has many skins in himself, covering the depth of his heart. Man knows so many things, he does not know himself. Why, thirty or forty skins or hides, like those of an ox’s or a bear’s, so thick and hard covers his soul go into your own ground, and there experience your Self. Fools regard themselves as awake- and so personal is their knowledge, so cocksure their ignorance, so blinding their conceit of agency. Man, proud man, drest in a little brief authority most ignorant of what he is most assured, his glassy essence, like any angry ape, plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven as make the angels weep-?’ or is it ears? Wu!

Source from old paper collection of letters (1950s,1960s,1970s) sent by
Alfred Sorensen known as Sunya Bhai to my father Radhey Shiam –
Compiled & Notes by _Rama Kant s/o Lsh Radhey Shiam
– Author of – ‘Song of Life,’The Book of Life’, ‘Quotes of Life’, ‘Nature and I’ and ‘My Soul, My Mother Ganga in English and ‘Haiku Paheliyaan’ in 2 Vol., ‘Haiku Ramayana’, Vedhai Haiku Uttar Ramayana’, ‘Mukri Haiku Paheliyaan’ and ‘Adharma Uvachaa’ in Hindi

https://www.academia.edu/168897744/Simply_to_Be_Ramana_Maharshi_on_the_Self_and_Non_Doership_Alfred_Julius_Emmanuel_S%C3%B8rensen_Sunyata_Bhai_

Ramana Maharshi stated: “Sometime I stayed with my eyes closed and, when I opened that people said I had come out of my blessed Samadhi, but I never knew the difference between meditation and non-meditation -, blessed or otherwise. I simply lived – a tranquil witness to whatever happens around me. I never felt called upon to interfere actually. I could never feel any urge to be anything except to be. I awared that all and always been done by HIM, by the self alone, though we poor puppets of Maya feel ourselves so (ego) Important as the doer, the action at the reformer of everything.

Source from old paper collection of letters (1950s,1960s,1970s) sent by
Alfred Sorensen known as Sunya Bhai to my father Radhey Shiam –
Compiled & Notes by _Rama Kant s/o Lsh Radhey Shiam
– Author of – ‘Song of Life,’The Book of Life’, ‘Quotes of Life’, ‘Nature and I’ and ‘My Soul, My Mother Ganga in English and ‘Haiku Paheliyaan’ in 2 Vol., ‘Haiku Ramayana’, Vedhai Haiku Uttar Ramayana’, ‘Mukri Haiku Paheliyaan’ and ‘Adharma Uvachaa’ in Hindi

This is how he describes his death-experience: “As I approached the steps leading up to the entrance into the rock, a strange thing happened: I had the feeling that everything was being sloughed away, everything I aimed at or wished for – or thought. The whole phantasmagoria of earthly existence fell away or was stripped from me, an extremely painful process. Nevertheless something remained. It was as if I now carried along with me everything that had happened around me and within me. I might also say: it was with me and I was it. I consisted of all that, so to speak. I consisted of my own history and I felt with great certainty: This is what I am. I am this bundle of what has been and what has been accomplished. The experience gave me a feeling of extreme poverty, but, at the same time, of great fullness: There was no longer anything I wanted, – needed – .or desired-. I existed in an objective form, I was what I had and had – lived-”.

But their descriptions of their death-experiencing – seem authentic and talley with that of Carl Jung and of Himalayan Jivan Muktis.

Source from old paper collection of letters (1950s,1960s,1970s) sent by
Alfred Sorensen known as Sunya Bhai to my father Radhey Shiam –
Compiled & Notes by _Rama Kant s/o Lsh Radhey Shiam
– Author of – ‘Song of Life,’The Book of Life’, ‘Quotes of Life’, ‘Nature and I’ and ‘My Soul, My Mother Ganga in English and ‘Haiku Paheliyaan’ in 2 Vol., ‘Haiku Ramayana’, Vedhai Haiku Uttar Ramayana’, ‘Mukri Haiku Paheliyaan’ and ‘Adharma Uvachaa’ in Hindi

Spiritual Awakening: Insights from Carl Jung’s Memoirs -Alfred Julius Emmanuel Sorensen (Sunya Bhai)
https://www.academia.edu/167362162/Spiritual_Awakening_Insights_from_Carl_Jung_s_Memoirs_Alfred_Julius_Emmanuel_Sorensen_Sunya_Bhai_

In his autobiography Carl Jung frequently uses the many-faced word-symbols ‘God’-, as an intimate experience and a Grace that came upon him and influenced his whole, dharmic life-span, and to S-, and also in his “The Undiscovered Self”, he confess, that to him, this Self is a symbol, or arch-type, of what is also called Christ-, i.e. the indwelling, immanent and omnipresent- Em-man-uel, whom we Are, but, as egos, are unaware of Being-.

It is the undiscovered mystery-, the ineffable Grace in mystic awareness. The mature, integral awakening into conscious Self-awareness, is the secret of ananda-grace and is what the erudite theological Meister Eckhart terms “The birth-, or awakening, of Christ in the Heart-cave (Hridaya Guha).

Source from old paper collection of letters (1950s,1960s,1970s) sent by
Alfred Sorensen known as Sunya Bhai to my father Radhey Shiam –
Compiled & Notes by _Rama Kant s/o Lsh Radhey Shiam
– Author of – ‘Song of Life,’The Book of Life’, ‘Quotes of Life’, ‘Nature and I’ and ‘My Soul, My Mother Ganga in English and ‘Haiku Paheliyaan’ in 2 Vol., ‘Haiku Ramayana’, Vedhai Haiku Uttar Ramayana’, ‘Mukri Haiku Paheliyaan’ and ‘Adharma Uvachaa’ in Hindi

Evil obsessions and possessiveness, however, will exhaust themselves, and if we spit against the Sun, or Sunya, our spittle may well return to our own sweet face. We cannot help the dharmic results of fellow-pilgrims, actions, but we can minimise the evil somehow, by not feeling hurt or hate-full “Judge not – The vengeance is Mine – sayeth the Lord! ”. The Eternal dharma is more “just than are wilful, desire-full and frustrated egos”.

Source from old paper collection of letters (1950s,1960s,1970s) sent by
Alfred Sorensen known as Sunya Bhai to my father Radhey Shiam –
Compiled & Notes by _Rama Kant s/o Lsh Radhey Shiam
– Author of – ‘Song of Life,’The Book of Life’, ‘Quotes of Life’, ‘Nature and I’ and ‘My Soul, My Mother Ganga in English and ‘Haiku Paheliyaan’ in 2 Vol., ‘Haiku Ramayana’, Vedhai Haiku Uttar Ramayana’, ‘Mukri Haiku Paheliyaan’ and ‘Adharma Uvachaa’ in Hindi

Echoes of Sacred Friendship: Crank’s Ridge, Himalayas -Alfred Julius Emmanuel Sorensen (Sunya Bhai)

https://www.academia.edu/165820079/Echoes_of_Sacred_Friendship_Crank_s_Ridge_Himalayas_Alfred_Julius_Emmanuel_Sorensen_Sunya_Bhai_

Radhey Shiam
Bhai Ji

A belated Dipawali greeting and early Yule blessing from your Viking Bhai and Sri Wuji – . Grateful thoughts go to friends at joyous ease in the pure Akasha Ether, while Viking runes are indecipherable to most egojies. Our Betty has kindly and efficiently typed some for you. As Sunya-Love is Prem and Karuna, it is not only personal or ego-oriented but can radiate word-freely, effort freely and ego freely to many and to our Self in All – not very satisfying to egos, but “One man loved the pilgrim soul in you.”

Our herb is now winged Paramhansaji in Poona, and Albert – now Anand Raj has gone there again with is cosmic ocean Viharo, and our Godchild Joy Ji-. Ramana Maharshi pronounced our Sat name “Sunyata” – which is similar to Emmanuel.

Source from old paper collection of letters (1950s,1960s,1970s) sent by
Alfred Sorensen known as Sunya Bhai to my father Radhey Shiam –
Compiled & Notes by _Rama Kant s/o Lsh Radhey Shiam
– Author of – ‘Song of Life,’The Book of Life’, ‘Quotes of Life’, ‘Nature and I’ and ‘My Soul, My Mother Ganga in English and ‘Haiku Paheliyaan’ in 2 Vol., ‘Haiku Ramayana’, Vedhai Haiku Uttar Ramayana’, ‘Mukri Haiku Paheliyaan’ and ‘Adharma Uvachaa’ in Hindi