Advaita - Non-Duality
Advaita is the philosophy of non-duality – translated into English it means ‘not two’.
The premise of Advaita is that, despite appearances to the contrary, there are no separate, individual entities. What appears to be the interaction of billions of different embodied beings, not just human, could be more accurately described as a singular, unfolding event or the Duet of One.1
This is not another dry philosophical premise. The philosophy of Advaita is a radical, elegant and profound attempt to describe, in words, the pinnacle of the realization and understanding available to a human being. Obviously, the realization that Advaita points us towards does not belong exclusively to yoga and meditation. This understanding or vision lies at the heart of all the great mystical traditions and if we reflect on the following statements, it is not hard at all to see, that in essence, they are saying the same thing.
In the Ocean of the world One only was, is and will be.2
I am the One who is, who always was and who is still to come – the Almighty One.3
Both of these statements clearly point us towards the understanding that the way the world appears to be doesn’t always reflect the underlying Reality hidden behind the appearance.
Advaita and Modern Science
For hundreds of years western scientific understanding confirmed our experience of being separate, distinct, and autonomous4 entities. We have grown up with the understanding of Newtonian physics or classical mechanics. This describes the interaction of objects, and forces, on each other – from planets and solar systems to you and me. It is common sense and predictable and, at the scale which we normally experience life, helps us accurately describe our experiences.
However, at much smaller scales classical mechanics fails to describe reality. We then move into the realm of Quantum Mechanics. Here the notion of massive objects - yes that includes you and me - behaving and interacting in predictable ways breaks down. In fact, the very notion of objects as we perceive them also breaks down. Objects at this scale are described as being neither particle nor wave; however, at times they will exhibit the properties of one or the other. This is brilliantly highlighted in Thomas Young’s Double Slit Experiment where light was seen to display the qualities of both particles and waves.
This experiment also highlighted how making an observation at a certain stage of the experiment leads to a different result if the observation were not made at all. This is a fascinating subject that can be further explored in John Gribben’s superb book – ‘In Search of Schrodingers Cat’.
What Quantum Mechanics highlights to us is that the notion of separate, discrete objects is not the complete picture or description of reality. David Bohm postulated the idea of the Unfolding Whole, that the whole Universe is a seamless whole and that this applies to all levels of being whether we perceive it that way or not.
It does not take too big a leap to consider that the mystical experience that has been recorded in all traditions is of the meditator, or aspirant, experiencing that perceptual shift so that they become aware of this Quantum level of their being. Due to our current perception and conditioning it can be easy to forget that the reality hinted at by the concepts of Quantum Mechanics and Advaita apply to us right here and now – they’re not somewhere else or of a different time.
Modern science is also changing rapidly in its attitude towards consciousness. According to the classical model, consciousness is a consequence of greater and greater complexity within the physical vehicle, that is, you and me. Consciousness is considered a product of matter. This gives rise to the idea and, even the feeling, of “my” consciousness.
Yoga and tantra point us in a different direction. They clearly ask us to question what our senses lead us to believe.
This universe comes forth from Brahman, exists in Brahman, and will return to Brahman. Verily, all is Brahman.5
We could replace the word Brahman with Consciousness.6 Here Consciousness is the source of all phenomena. Matter, the whole manifest Universe, is an appearance or effect within Consciousness.
There’s a beautiful image within the Hindu tradition of Vishnu (Consciousness) lying asleep. During his sleep he dreams the entire Universe and all the characters that unfold within it. He is convinced that he is each of the characters within the dream and he completely forgets his fundamental identity as Vishnu, or Consciousness.
It is important to note that Advaita, as well as Yoga and Tantra, do not require us to buy into any particular belief system. They encourage us to practice and enquire so that we may realize in our own being That which is pointed to by the myths and symbols contained within so many religious traditions.
Shakespeare points us in the same direction when he says;
We are such stuff as dreams are made on…. 7
Each and every one of us is Vishnu totally identified as each and every one of us. Consciousness is interacting with itself in infinite different ways, truly the Duet of One.
And this leads us into another fundamental area of Advaita and its relevance to us in daily life.
Advaita and Compassion
Advaita cautions us to step back, from time to time, to examine and question our certainties. All our concepts and assumptions need to be challenged. They have to be if our vision is to broaden.
We would like to feel that we are compassionate beings, and that we have the potential to be even more so. However, Advaita offers us a more challenging compassion. We live in times where positions and opinions are becoming more extreme, entrenched and widely disseminated. It feels good to the ego to think that we’re on the side of the right. There’s no doubt that it can be very reassuring to believe we are part of a solution and that others are part of the problem. However, this attitude divides us, from each other and within.
We have to ask ourselves: who is it that we judge to be right or wrong? Who are we to judge that each character in Vishnu’s dream is either good or bad?
In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna is distraught at finding himself in a position where he will have to fight and kill people that are dear to him. Krishna tries to shake Arjuna from his despair by basically asking him “Who do you think it is that is doing all of this?!”
This leads us into the contentious subject of free will. We almost unquestioningly believe we are in control of our actions, as are others. Advaita, and the deepest teachings of all spiritual paths, challenge us to question this assumption.
If this is an unfolding whole, as described by Bohm, more of a seamless wave expressing rather than myriad separate particles bouncing into each other, then who is it that chooses their thoughts, their feelings or their actions?
This is in no way a cop out. Does this mean we do not act in life as we feel compelled to? No, it’s not a case of inaction, but more a case of questioning the ownership, or agency of action.
This, according to writers such as Balsekar, is what is truly meant by the ego – the individual completely assumes they are in control of their life and can do whatever they want. Awakening is nothing but the realization that this understanding and assumption is illusory. We can describe the spiritual path as a process in which we are sitting on a rollercoaster and our hands are gently, but firmly, prised from holding onto a steering wheel that doesn’t serve any purpose anyway. In the awakening to the insight of Advaita it’s the illusion of volition or control that is destroyed not anything solid or real.
We are still called to live our lives fully and act in whatever way we feel is right for us and the wider world. We must, however, also realize that the same sun will rise on those that feel compelled, or even, inspired to do things that we will disagree with or that may seem completely opposed to what we feel is right. Does this mean that one person is less a part of Vishnu’s dream just because their part in the play seems in opposition to ours and what we consider right? No.
Another image that can help us understand comes again from Hindu mythology. It is of the stirring of the Ocean of Milk.8 In this myth the gods, devas, invited the demons, asuras, to help them to stir the ocean so that they can recover the amrita (called the Elixir of Immortality – meaning the knowledge or realization of our Essential Nature that lies hidden behind our current sense of identification). They use a rope (actually, a snake; however, it serves the purpose of a rope) wrapped around a pillar that stands within this ocean with the gods and the demons pulling at each end as in a tug of war. This rotation stirs the ocean of milk and the whole of Creation is born and the amrita is drawn to the surface.
From this play of opposites, the pull from one side to the next, the play of life unfolds. In this drama (our lives) there is the possibility of Self-realization, the discovery of amrita. However, both sides have to pull. If there was only one side and one side pulling there would be no churning. No manifestation and no possibility of self-realization.
Duality doesn’t end with the removal of one or other side. It ends when we see that the gods and the demons are not two – they are non-dual – fundamental parts of the One.
This isn’t easy. As most of you will know, the practice of Yoga and meditation leads to feeling more deeply – the heart opens, and at times the world can feel so painful. There is so much suffering that we may feel driven to act, to do something to lessen or to stop this suffering.
Yet we would do well every now and then to check where we’re acting from. Is it from a place of wisdom and compassion or is it hate and aggression?9 As Martin Luther King said, “Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
Here we can see that we can live in the understanding of Advaita – non-dualism – yet at the same time, feel deep compassion. One doesn’t exclude the other.
Conclusion
So how is Advaita relevant to us in the early 21st century?
It challenges us to respect the place of everything and everyone in the play of Life and to truly understand what it means to have compassion and kindness that is unconditional. This deepening of vision begins to change the very foundations of our relationship with ourselves and others.
We all know the sense of awe we feel when we look into the sky on a clear night. There’s an even greater wonder to witness when we look for deeper truths within. Advaita offers us a clear vision of the mystery of our own existence. Without doubt, it challenges our concepts and assumptions. However, as our understanding deepens, we find we don’t need to cling to our pet theories and models so tightly anymore.
Living Advaita allows us the chance to realize in our own being what Jesus meant when he stated
The father and I are one 10
Advaita opens us up to the possibility of truly knowing that life has only ever been the play of One, we just couldn’t see it.
1. From the book title The Duet of One by Ramsesh Balsekar. One of the finest, and most accessible, writers on Advaita of the 20th C
Astavakra Samhita commentary by Swami Nityaswarupananda. Published by Advaita Ashrama.
Revelation 1:8 Holy Bible. New Living Translation.
This refers to the notion or experience of free will and we will return to this later.
The Chhandogya Upanishad Chapter III 14.1 from The Upanishads translated by Eknath Easwaran.
Or God, or Source - the word we choose isn’t so important; it’s what the word points to that matters.
The Tempest, Act 4, Scene 1 by William Shakespeare.
I’ve not gone into the full detail of the story as it’s not the place. However, it’s a great myth for highlighting the role of opposites in the play of life.
Yet at the same time let’s be understanding with ourselves - we live in intense times and sometimes we will react, perhaps in haste and unwisely.
John 10:30 Holy Bible NLT edition
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