Advaita Vedanta (IAST Advaita Vedānta; Sanskrit: अद्वैत वेदान्त [əd̪ʋait̪ə ʋeːd̪ɑːnt̪ə]) is considered to be the most influential and most dominant sub-school of the Vedānta (literally, end or the goal of the Vedas, Sanskrit) school of Hindu philosophy. Other major sub-schools of Vedānta are Viśishṭādvaita and Dvaita; while the minor ones include Suddhadvaita, Dvaitadvaita and Achintya Bhedabheda. Advaita (literally, non-duality) is a system of thought where "Advaita" refers to the identity of the Self (Atman) and the Whole (Brahman).

The key source texts for all schools of Vedānta are the Prasthanatrayi—the canonical texts consisting of the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutras. The first person to explicitly consolidate the principles of Advaita Vedanta was Shankara Bhagavadpada, while the first historical proponent was Gaudapada, the guru of Shankara's guru Govinda Bhagavatpada.

According to Śankara and others, anyone seeking to follow the philosophy of Advaita Vedānta must do so under the guidance of a Guru (teacher). The Guru must have the following qualities (see Mundaka Upanishad 1.2.12):

Ramesh S. Balsekar (May 25, 1917 – September 27, 2009) was a disciple of the late Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, a renowned Advaita master. From early childhood, Balsekar was drawn to Advaita, a nondual teaching, particularly the teachings of Ramana Maharshi and Wei Wu Wei. He wrote more than 20 books, was president of the Bank of India, and received guests daily in his home in Mumbai until shortly before his death.

During his early life, Ramesh always felt he was enacting some role in a play that must, and would, end soon. Deep within, he believed that there had to be more to life than merely getting ahead of the other man.

The answer came soon after his retirement when he had an encounter, which soon led to daily meetings, with the well-known sage, and his Guru, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. For Ramesh the total understanding that 'no one does anything' happened in 1979. Ramesh began translating most of the daily talks held by Nisargadatta Maharaj. He himself began teaching in 1982. The 'command' to talk was given by his Guru, he says. He began his talks or 'conversations' with smaller groups and gradually, the number of visitors who came to listen to Ramesh began to grow. Since then, he has written many books and held several seminars in Europe and the USA. He continued to give discourse and answer questions in his Mumbai home until shortly before his death.

Jeffrey Douglas Foster (born January 16, 1977) is a retired American professional basketball player who spent the entirety of his 13-year career with the Indiana Pacers of the NBA.

Foster was born in San Antonio, Texas and graduated from James Madison High School in San Antonio in 1995. In senior year, he joined the varsity basketball team in high school. He attended Southwest Texas State University and finished college nine credits short of a degree in finance. With the Southwest Texas State Bobcats, Foster averaged 12.8 points and 10.2 rebounds in his junior season and was part of the All-Southland Conference Second-Team in 1998.

He was selected 21st overall by the Golden State Warriors in the 1999 NBA Draft out of Southwest Texas State University, but his draft rights were immediately traded to the Pacers in exchange for Vonteego Cummings and a future first-round draft pick.

Foster was part of the Pacers' 1999–2000 Eastern Conference championship team, though he played only 19 games that year as he was fourth on the Pacers' depth chart at center behind Rik Smits, Sam Perkins and Zan Tabak. In his second season he played in 71 games, gaining a spot in the rotation as the Pacers rebuilt for the future. He averaged 3.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game while averaging only 16.2 minutes per contest.

Rupert Spira is an English studio potter. Born in 1960 he first studied pottery with Henry Hammond and later with Michael Cardew at Wenford Bridge Pottery from 1980 to 1982. His early work was reminiscent of these early influences being in a very traditional Bernard Leach style. This work is mostly practical in nature taking the form of teapots, functional vases and other culinary ware.

He later moved to set up his own pottery in Shropshire where his style changed from a functional to a more minimalistic style. While he continues to make and sell functional pottery he is now known for his more recent studio pottery. His best and most recognizable work contains poems, both self written and by Kathleen Raine the celebrated British poet. The poems are either scratched into the glaze in the sgraffito style or written as embossed letters either in a square block or in a single line across the surface of the vessel. These works vary in size from prayer bowls only a few centimetres across through to huge open bowls 50 cm or more in diameter. He is also known for his cylinders which are often made as part of a series and while beautiful in their own right were made to be exhibited as a group. These also vary in scale from a few centimetres in height through to the largest being a meter or more high. He works mainly in simple white, off white and black minimalistic colors but he does also occasionally make deep redly glazed bowls and very distinguishable yellow tea sets.