The One Basis

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You will become a true Adwaithin (a man with non-dual vision) when you realize that “I and I†are one or that “you and you†are one.

 

There is a small story to illustrate this. When a guru was sitting and teaching his disciples, one day he said, “Guru Brahma, Sishya Brahma, Sarvam Brahma.†Meaning, “the guru, the disciple, and everything in the Universe was Brahman to God.â€

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every day, one disciple was accustomed to greet the guru respectfully on his arrival, but after this particular event, he did not do so, and he never got up from his seat. The guru questioned him on this strange behaviour, and the disciple replied that the previous day, the guru said that everything is Brahman and therefore there was no difference between them.

 

Then the teacher thought that what he had said had come back to him like a boomerang and he wanted to teach the student a good lesson. He went to the board and wrote “Guru Brahma†as two different words. He also wrote “Sishya Brahma†and “Sarvam Brahmaâ€.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you look at these three, though Brahma is occurring as the same in all the three, the guru, sishya and sarvam are different. Only when these three words also become One, can you say that all are One. Thus, until you are able to experience this Oneness of all in practice, the student will remain a student and the teacher will remain a teacher and there is no escape from the need for the student having to respect the teacher. The basis is One but the containers are different.