Future of Nonduality

[Guest guest]

Thanks for your message Jerry. Advaita (Nonduality) is revitalized in every

generation by the Sages who live in Awareness.

 

You speculated that Nonduality at some point would become a religion. It

might be true but Advaita (Nonduality as practiced in India) has never been

really a religion, although it has that religious orientation. Advaita is

essentially viewed as one of the philosophical systems within the Hindu

religion that has its origins in the Vedas (Upanishads) which according to

historical accounts were written about 3000 to 4000 years ago.

 

The themes of Nonduality can also be found in Buddhism and even in

Christianity in a variety of ways and although I am not a religious scholar

many experienced people say that this unifying orientation is present in all

major religions.

 

Advaita (Nonduality) as a philosophical system has never shown any interest

in influencing the world, etc. as all such things exist only in relationship

to the observer, the actor. Hence the main focus has been to enquire into

the existence and nature of the observer itself who perceives the world.

When the observer disappears, along with it goes the world as well. as

something separate from the observer, oneself.

 

Great sages such as Ramana Maharshi have exemplified that compassion and

nonviolence are the natural expressions of Self-Realization. Seeing the same

Awareness in All, one cannot help but spontaneously confirm the uttering of

saints that "Ahimsa Parm Dharma" - that Nonviolence is the Primal Principle.

With that feeling of compassion at the center of our being we can move

freely in accepting others and loving others without regard to what

philosophical system or religion or race or gender they belong to. In my

view that is true Advaita or Nonduality.

 

Love to all

Harsha

 

 

 

umbada [umbada]

Saturday, March 24, 2001 9:08 AM

nds; hs; iam

[NDS] Future of Nonduality

 

 

This letter speaks about trends in nonduality, about the future of

nonduality, and about the future of Nonduality Salon.

 

I detect a trend in the evolution of nonduality email lists. There is a

movement toward specialization. I predict that in the coming year there

will an explosion in the number of nonduality lists as people migrate to

the ones that appeal to their specific interests and to the moderators

that are most appealing to them.

 

My vision since May of '98, when the I AM list was started, has been to

see so many email communities created that no one would be able to keep

up with everything. That vision came to pass a good year or so ago. For

example, I to about 60 nonduality email lists; true, some are

dead or half-dead, but I barely scan the rest of them.

 

Now there seems to be another wave of nonduality email list formation on

the horizon. I call it the wave of nondual specialization. It's going to

bring in a flood of new people and its going to create distance between

some of us who are very close right now. Like they say: it's all good.

 

I predict this trend will precipitate more in-person retreats and more

community interaction. In fact, we are already seeing more of that. In

time, this combination of internet and in-person mingling of nondual

people will influence the consciousness of the world.

 

How much time will pass before nondual perspective is as well-known and

understood (if not always applied in life) as something like the Golden

Rule? Probably 400-500 years from now. The reason it will take so long

is that the nonduality phenomenon is largely generational. Most of us

are Baby Boomers. If one accepts that Baby Boomers are those born

between 1937 and 1962, it would include well over 90% of the members on

this list.

 

The work we do may not be matched in intensity or in the number of

people involved, for generations. Our entire generation is setting

groundwork for this millenium, and nonduality is simply the cap upon

this spiritual generation. We have to acknowledge everyone from Timothy

Leary to Krishnamurti, from Elvis to Da Free John, from Jack Kerouac to

Gene Poole, from John Coltrane to Byron Katie. This is our generation,

man. I haven't even mentioned anyone yet.

 

I don't think there will be too many future generations as intense and

powerful as ours. A few generations, a hundred years or so, may pass

before another generation takes up the torch we now carry. They will

make an impression upon the world. Then another few complacent

generations will come to pass before another generation of nonduality is

born.

 

I am also quite sure that the nonduality movement in our generation has

only just begun and we have a long way to go. Our generation will be

around for another 50 years or so, and we will, and are, influencing

many from the upcoming generations. However, nonduality will never burn

as brightly as it is in these days and in the next 50 years during which

time the flame will continue to intensify and climb.

 

In time, nonduality will be commonly known and there will even be a

world religion known as nondualism. What that means is that these are

the best of times, because we're not caught up in the -ism. These are

the best of times. And in the days of nondualism as religion, there will

still be small groups like ours and they will talk of the days at the

beginning of the millenium when there was no -ism and everyone was naive

and so celebratory of our simple, simple nature.

 

And so, this is a long roundabout way of saying that I am in the process

of creating a few specialty lists. The first one is called NDS-Guru

Talk. I invite anyone and everyone to join. Here's the description:

 

This is a place to send reports of Satsang/Guru experiences, and

to announce upcoming Satsangs, retreats, workshops, intensives,

gatherings, discussion groups.

 

Also, let us know of any 'new', or little-known nondual

Gurus/teachers.

 

Also, if you would simply like to make yourself available to

meet other nondual type people, feel free to let it be known

here.

 

Subscribe at NDSgurutalk/join

 

There will also be lists on activism, nondual perspectives, The Matrix,

nonduality and marginalization, guiding your children toward the

nondual, and other areas. I invite anyone to start lists on these

subjects before I get to it. The more variety of moderators, the better.

Or start your own list on your own specialty. If you need help starting

a list, let me know!

 

Please don't worry about there being too many lists. Don't hold back.

Give your all. Everything will look after itself. Structures and

organization will form in ways we can't see right now. This may all

sound like noise, but I prefer to see these points of activity as lights

that draw all varieties of moths. And I have not lost sight of the

purpose of those lights, which is to burn the moths to death.

 

Thanks for listening,

Jerry

http://www.nonduality.com

 

 

 

 

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