Q&A - 3

[Guest guest]

* Many times, people present Advaita in a question and answer format.

Here, I will attempt to do the same. I recommend that nobody ever take

what is said here as authority, as I am no authority. What I offer here is

only for consideration, for the opportunity for you to examine these

questions and answers yourself and see if they make sense. In the process,

much learning may take place, because in the view of jnana yoga, only

through questioning can we arrive at truth. Only through constant

questioning is ignorance cleared up. *

 

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Q: What is Advaita, or Nonduality?

 

A: Advaita is an ancient spiritual truth that was discovered by human

beings long ago. It definitely predates Christianity, probably predates

Buddhism, and in fact most likely has been known in one form or another

since the dawn of time. In historical times it found full fruitition in

the country of India, and spread throughout the East. Just lately, it is

beginning to take tenuous root in the West as well.

 

Advaita is commonly translated to mean "not-two," but I prefer to think of

it as meaning "not divided," as that makes more sense in English. As a

perspective, it can be looked at as saying "All is One," but it also can be

seen to be saying "One is All" with equal validity.

 

Advaita states that the essential nature of reality itself is one single

thing, one eternal, timeless Fact that has the nature of pure, luminous

consciousness, but no definable attributes. This thing is known in

Hinduism as Brahman, or just "That." Some call It "The Absolute." It has

no attributes itself, but is the cause of all observable attributes (and

the cause of observation itself).

 

Advaita Vedanta (a branch of Hinduism) sees It as hidden or obscured or

covered over by the observable universe, or "maya," which is said to be

essentially unreal and a creation of the mind. Yet maya is also Brahman,

for otherwise there would be two things - maya (illusion) and Brahman

(reality). This apparent paradox is only apparent; yet another creation of

the mind.

 

Different religions of India see the maya (visible world)/Brahman (Ultimate

Reality) relationship differently, but there is a common saying: "Truth is

one; sages call it by various names." The underlying theme of any true

Advaitic religion or philosophy is unity. All things are That. There is

nothing else.

 

In the West, quantum physics has seen the reality of Brahman and left it

unnamed. Certain particles have been discovered that act differently when

observed than when they are not observed, causing no end of puzzlement to

Western scientists. Scientists have traditionally ignored the observer,

focusing only on the observed. But the observer cannot be ignored anymore,

because the observer *is* the observed.

 

Brahman is the cause of all things; All things arise within Brahman, and

all things subside again within Brahman, as waves arise and subside on the

surface of the ocean. Only the human mind creates the subject-object

relationship, creates duality where there is only unity. Brahman is beyond

time, beyond the notion of space or distance, beyond the idea of causation

or "action-reaction."

 

A glass jar is not a jar, but is glass. Yet the human mind introduces the

"jar" idea, and so we see a piece of glass in a particular shape and

arbitrarily call it "jar." Such also is the nature of reality. We see

division, but in actuality everything is composed of only one "substance,"

which is Brahman.

 

Various perspectives on Advaita are constantly simplifying, simplifying.

The human mind tends to build layer upon layer of ideas and superimpose

them upon the Reality, which is actually ultimate simplicity. The "jar"

analogy was an example, but it goes a lot further than that. What is an

"automobile?" An arbitrary mental classification for a mass of parts fit

together in a particular way. How about a "skyscraper?" The mind creates

more and more dualities, more and more separation rather than unity, and

yet underlying all of it is Brahman, the simple substance which is both the

glue that holds the universe together, and the universe itself.

 

Brahman cannot be seen, for it is the cause of all seeing. It cannot be

heard, because it is the cause of all hearing. It cannot be perceived,

because it is the cause of all perception. However, it can be known.

Traditionally, the way to know Brahman is to clear up the ignorance that

obscures it. The question "Who am I?" is a common starting point. Many

will reach the conclusion "I am not a body," because the body dies. "I am

not the mind," because the mind is constantly changing. Once everything

else is negated, once the mind ceases to create arbitrary dualities, only

Brahman remains.

 

I have said Brahman cannot be seen, but Brahman can be "been." In other

words, one must have the knowledge of Brahman as a sense of being, the

sense "I am" or "I exist." Nobody can deny that sense, it is present even

in the lowest forms of life on Earth. Even a bacterium knows on a primal

level that it exists. This existence is Brahman, and to go into that

existence and rest in it is the beginning of knowing Brahman. To simply

*be* without further complication, and to rest in that state for awhile, is

to know Brahman.

 

Various Eastern religions have provided various yogas (Buddhism calls them

Dharmas), or paths, to arrive at the knowledge of Brahman. This knowledge

is not mental, but is beyond the bounds of space, time and causation

entirely. In fact, in knowing Brahman directly, space, time and causation

vanish entirely, and there is only the perception of the One, pure Being

Itself. There is the Hindu term "Sat-Chit-Ananda," meaning "Absolute

Being-Consciousness-Bliss" or "Absolute Being-Knowledge-Bliss" that

describes the state of knowing Absolute Unity. Yet even if that unity is

not known, it still exists eternally. In coming to know Brahman, nothing

is gained that was not already eternally present. Only ignorance is lost;

the subject-object duality is lost; there is no more "I" or "me" or "mine,"

and also no more "you" or "yours." There is no more saying "I am this," or

"I am that." There is only simple, pure Being, luminous existence free of

division or duality.

 

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"Truth is One; Sages call It by various names."

 

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