Nondualism - Reflections of the Self - Why Does Oneness Appear as Many? 02

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Nondualism - Reflections of the Self - why Does Oneness Appear as

Many? Part 02

 

If we place a candle inside a pot with many holes, there appear to be

many lights. Although there is just one flame, the pot creates the

illusion of many flames. The maya, or illusion of the world, creates

the false impression of duality. God is worshipped in many lands by

different names, but there is only one all embracing God. Variations

of name and method of worship serve the variety of human attitudes

and cultures. Brahman, the universal divine principle, is expressed

by individuals and groups according to their understanding, but

Brahman is one.

 

" So the conception of Brahman also will depend on each one's

equipment and experience, but that does not mean there are so many

different Brahmans. A man is called daddy, son, uncle, grandfather,

cousin, nephew, and husband but that does not make him more than one

individual " Baba

 

Understanding the unitive principle of nondualism seems at first a

formidable task. the path of spiritual understanding from duality to

non duality is a difficult journey. We embark on the adventure

believing we are separate and distinct from all others. The beginner

does not know where or how to fine God, and so he believes God is not

present. The vary fact of God's omnipresence blinds the aspirant to

the reality.

 

" God is everywhere, he is everything, so it appears as if he is

nowhere, and he is not in anything! For to know him, you have to

identify him as someone foreign and something unique " Baba

 

Worldly people believe it necessary to struggle against others to

survive in a hostile world. Their egoism causes them to identify with

their transitory bodies and personalities. Theitr attachment to form

blinds them to the divinity within. In this state, they have yet to

discover immortal atma.

 

" Your won illusion causes you to see the diversity of the world. When we make an

attempt to realize and understand the real situation and the nature of the atma,

then the diverse names and forms that you see in the world will no longer

trouble you. You will be able to fix your attention on the divine aspect, which

is one and not many " Baba

 

Good or bad, beautiful or ugly, these are our own judgements. God is the creator

of it all, and is all. He manifests through the myriad of opposites. we cannot

have day without night; we cannot have the sweet without the bitter. Our task is

to accept the manifestions of God's will without passing judgement or

questioning his wisdom.

 

" When divinity is immanent in everything, conscious and unconscious, in every

form of being and becoming, how can a thing be condemned as bad or commended as

good? Water quenches thirst and drowns people. Fire give light and warmth, but

also burns and reduces things to ash. Sound terrifies and also thrills. They are

all three divine. Divinity is insctutable " Baba

 

As we grow in understanding, we recognize the independence of all people. We

cultivate love for family, friends, and community. In the concluding stages of

the transformation, we see that God is within each person and everything. God is

the inner motivator in us, as he is in all ithers and all things. Finally, we

realize self as a wave upon the ocean, not different from others or from the

ocean of God. The delusion of separateness, which arises from attachment, is

cast off.

 

" Advaita (nondualism) means all this is atma, then why this apparent variety?

Variety is the picture drawn by the delusion that you are the body, that you are

the " Character " the drama has cast on you " Baba

 

We all climb the spiritual trail toward nondual vision. Jesus at first described

himself as " the messenger of God " . Later he described himself as " the Son of

God. " . Finally his knowledge of unitive experience led him to declare, " I and my

father are One. "

 

A similar analogy occurs in the Islamic Sufi tradition. First the pilgrim sees

that he is in the light. Next he realizes that the light is in him. Finally he

can say, " I am the light "

 

Continued...Nondualism - Reflections of the Self - God With Form Or Without

Form? Part 03