|
|
|
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED: F.A.Q. 12
|
|
ADVAITA QUESTION: What is Advaita? ANSWER: Advaita is just another name for Yoga, for
a harmonious, unified experience of life. If we understand Yoga (Unity) we also
understand Advaita (Undividedness) and vice versa. Yoga believes in the absolute unity of Life. From this
perspective, reality consists of intelligent energy, or Consciousness.
Consciousness has the capacity to ascend or descend on the scale of experience
in any number of ways and to any conceivable or inconceivable level. The
highest point in this scale is absolute unity of experience (Advaita or Yoga)
and the lowest, dis-unity or duality (dvaita or viyoga). When our consciousness appears incapable of recognising the
unity of all life, when we seem unable to experience peace inside ourselves
or between us and the World, when we are torn between different aspects of
reality, when our consciousness is on the verge of drowning in an endless
torrent of distinct, separate and often contradictory sense perceptions,
feelings, or thoughts, we experience dvaita (disunity). When, on the other hand, we experience unity in our heart,
when we are at one and at peace with ourselves, we experience Advaita
(undivided experience). Then our consciousness, freed from the shackles of
disunity, moves upwards in an experience of elation or "high". It
is an experience that is always new and at the same time like an old friend
or a long-forgotten treasure. This unexpected surge of happiness fills our heart with a
sense of wonder, astonishment and awe at our own experience, causing us to
forget the divisive barriers between ourselves and the World. In that state,
as happiness bursts our self-imposed limitations and rushes to meet the
World, we feel like embracing the World because we feel one with it. And the
"higher" we feel, the more open we become to the World. Now, if we allowed this experience to unfold and grow so
strong as to overwhelm our mind and render it incapable of interfering, then
nothing could prevent us from continuing our journey of ascent to instantly
reach the Highest Consciousness, or for Consciousness to reach Its Highest
Point of Experience. Since Consciousness is One, since the whole of reality
consists of Consciousness and nothing else, this would of course constitute
an experience of Unity, of Absolute, Infinite Undividedness or Undivided
Oneness (Advaida). This is the definition of Advaita. It is also the
definition of Yoga. The Highest Experience, therefore, is that which Consciousness
has of Itself as an Infinite, Unified Ocean of Intelligence and Bliss. From
this perspective of Absolute Unity, there is no other Reality apart from
Consciousness Itself. An essential point to assimilate as a minimum requirement
for authentic Spiritual progress is that: (a) Consciousness is the Only
Reality and (b) Consciousness is That which is aware of Itself. Since
Consciousness is the force whereby we elevate ourselves to higher stages of
experience, we cannot gain access to those higher states unless and until we
have understood the nature and function of Consciousness. In this context, the two main functions or powers of
Consciousness or Self-Aware Reality, are: Unity and Awareness. Unity is that
power whereby Consciousness holds Itself and Its Contents together in a
unified act of awareness. Awareness is the power whereby Consciousness
experiences Its own unity and that of the multitude of Its contents, whatever
these may happen to be at any moment in time (or instance of experience). The reality of the just described facts is clearly reflected,
for example, in human language. Both the Latin-derived English word
"Consciousness" and its Sanskrit counterpart, "Samvid",
bear the same connotations. They are also similar in structure. Thus, they
both consist of a prefix (con-, sam-) suggestive of fulness or wholeness as
in complete (sampurna) and unity as in conjoin (sambandh), etc. and a basic
stem (sciousness, vid) that denotes knowledge or experience (from Latin
scire, Sanskrit vid, to know, experience, be aware). Since spoken language is
but an outer expression of inner thought processes, it follows that all
thinking beings implicitly admit that Consciousness (Samvid) is the totality
of knowledge or experience - and the awareness thereof - either in an
individual conscious entity, in a group of such entities, or in the Universe
as a whole. Moreover, Consciousness is not only the totality of experience
but also the unitive force that brings this experience about. What must be clear
therefore is that, far from being a mere abstract notion, Consciousness is
the very essence of being as without Consciousness we would be quite
incapable of awareness, experience and ultimately, life. Having acquired some conception of what is meant by
Consciousness, we may now briefly analyse its relation to Yoga. Regardless of
what Yoga is taken to mean in the West, the fact is that in the Sanskrit
language, the term "Yoga" is capable of a wide range of meaning
being often employed in contexts that lie well outside the scope accorded to
it by non-Sanskrit speakers. In this sense, Yoga has three basic levels of
meaning:
1. Universal Unity. We have already observed that
Consciousness is the only Reality. To be sure, this is a bold statement
which, as the Key Teaching of Yoga, clearly puts our tradition in a unique
position among the World's great religious and Spiritual systems. The
legitimate question that arises here, is whether this statement is true and
by what means this truth may be verified. Without entering upon a detailed philosophical, religious, or scientific
analysis of the matter, we can easily establish our position as follows.
First, the statement in question is supported by the three universally
accepted criteria of knowledge: scriptural evidence which is the
testimony of Self-Realised Yogis, reason or logic and direct Yogic
experience. (For a more detailed definition of these, see Yogic Criteria of Knowledge.) It also
offers an elegant answer to a number of fundamental questions concerning
reality. And it concords with the unity of life. Second, any attempt to
refute our position would run into a very serious problem. Our opponent would
be forced to posit the existence of a reality or substance other than
Consciousness and to explain the exact nature and function of such reality as
well as its relation to Consciousness Itself. This is a task which, to our
knowledge, nobody so far has been able to satisfactorily carry out. That
Consciousness is a creative force, can be seen from the fact that it
generates thought and action, the two most fundamental ingredients to life.
By contrast, it is not apparent how physical or biological matter can give
rise to Consciousness. In short, while our position not only concords with
Yogic experience but also answers a deep psychological need present in all
humans for a unified experience of life, the opponent's position evidently
generates more problems than it purports to solve. In religious terms, this Spiritual truth of Consciousness as
the only Reality means that the World is created by and has its existence
within the One Universal Consciousness, or God's Mind. In Yoga, God is not a
personal deity - although He may assume such a form for the benefit of
genuine Seekers. In the experience of Enlightened Yogis, God is an Infinite
Universal Being Who holds within Itself all beings and things as
manifestations of Its own Creative Intelligence. For this reason, the
Sanskrit-speaking Yogis of India traditionally refer to God as Shiva,
meaning That Which holds everything within Itself as the Reality upon Which
all things depend and in Which all things rest (from Shi, to lie,
rest) and by Whose power everything moves (from Va, to move). At the highest level, then, Yoga is Universal Unity. It is the
Universal Being's Awareness of Its Own Oneness and Uniqueness. There is only
one Universal or Supreme Being. And the Awareness the Universal Being, Shiva,
or God has of Itself as Infinite Oneness and Unity, is itself Unity, that is,
Yoga. However hard people may try, however many passages they may
quote from the Bible or other books, however many tricks they may employ from
religion, philosopy, psychology, logic, physics, mathematics and what not,
they will never find a Truth higher than this. The Highest Truth is
God's Awareness of Himself as a beginningless, eternal, unique, infinite,
all-embracing and all-encompassing In fact, Yoga is not "just" the Highest Truth, it is
the Only Truth. Indeed, anything that represents a deviation or
distraction from Yoga or the Universal Being's Awareness of Its Own Unity, is
necessarily less than the Truth. Whatever we do, whatever we say, whatever we
feel, think, or experience, cannot be Reality unless and until it is based
on, and experienced from, the position of the Highest Truth, from the very
Heart of the Universal Being Itself. This is why all our experiences
come and go whereas the only eternal and real Experience is the
awareness of ourselves as the Universal Being. Once we have attained this
Experience, once we have become this Experience, that is, we have
become one with Shiva or God, nothing can be real except ourselves as
Universal Unity. 2. And so we arrive at the second level of meaning, that is,
of Yoga as a means whereby the human Soul attains complete On this level, therefore, Yoga is any activity by which the
individual Soul comes closer to, or becomes aware of, or unites itself with,
the Universal Soul. Or, from a different perspective, that activity through
which the Universal Soul brings Itself closer to Itself, becomes aware of
Itself, or unites Itself with Itself. In consequence, genuine Yoga is a
purely Spiritual endeavour that does not necessarily require any of the
physical practices that are passed for Yoga in the West. 3. And now, the third and last level of meaning. As mentioned
earlier, the Sanskrit term "Yoga" may be employed to denote a
process, situation, or device that joins, binds, or keeps things together or
whole, including any thing, action, etc. whereby a person realises, and is
united with the object of, his intention or desire: the harnessing of horses
or other animals of traction; the mixing of various materials; an agreement
between two persons; co-operation; protection; safe keeping; insurance; the
astronomical conjunction of celestial bodies or constellations; the
arithmetical addition of numbers; the grammatical connection of words
together; the use of substances held to possess healing properties; a feat of
magic; the application or concentration of thoughts; devotion; Spiritual
search after Truth, etc. Although we cannot here do more than sample the
truly impressive variety of meaning of which the word Yoga is capable, it may
be regarded as sufficient for the purposes of our present consideration. What becomes evident, is that it would be neither unreasonable
nor inconsistent with the linguistic evidence, to extend this already vast
spectrum of conventional meaning to all phenomenon, activity, process,
device, situation, or intention, involved partly or wholly in producing or
preserving a state of unity or wholeness between two or more objects or
beings or within the same one object or being. In this sense, any instance of
magnetism, gravity, cohesion, attraction, contact, fusion, or assimilation,
may be legitimately termed Yoga or Unity. Thus, the force or forces that hold
the Universe together or uphold the process by which a raindrop falls to
earth, joins the sea with a stream and finally returns to the sky with the
mist and clouds, must be admitted to be aspects or manifestations of Yoga as
defined above. In terms of everyday life, Yoga, Unity, or Advaita may be
experienced, for example, when we lie down to rest and physically feel at one
with our bed. When we dream, we experience unity with our mind. When we go
into a deep, dreamless sleep, we experience unity with our Soul. When we
awaken from sleep in the morning, we rest in that inner unity for a while. We
then collect our thoughts and remember, in another act of unity, the tasks
that lie ahead for the day. When we open our eyes, we make contact or unity
with the outer World. When we look in the mirror, we make contact or unity
with the reflection of our external appearance. When taking a shower or bath, we make unity with water. When
we dress, we make unity with our clothes. When we sit down, we make unity
with the chair we sit on. When we eat or drink, we make unity with the food
or liquid we ingest. When we listen to the radio, to the birds singing or the
wind blowing outside, we make unity with the sounds we hear. When we go out
of the house, we make unity with the street we walk on. We inhale, and make
unity with air. At work, we again experience unity in the harmonious
co-operation with our colleagues and the production of work. When we speak,
we unite different speech sounds into words, words into sentences and
sentences into a coherent conversation. Again, thinking of somebody we love,
talking to him or embracing him is an act of unity with that person just as
thinking of God is unity with Higher Truth, although the latter case would
take us to a higher level and hence belongs to Yoga proper, that is, Yoga as
a means of higher experience. On the present level and in strictly human terms, unity may be
experienced on three basic sublevels: physical, mental and Spiritual.
Physical unity refers to purely physical contact with another body or
physical object with minimal or no emotional or intellectual involvement.
Mental unity is that which concerns primarily our emotions and thoughts,
especially when two minds feel or think the same as in non-verbal, intuitive
or telepathic communication. Spiritual unity is the situation or condition in
which two Souls experience each other directly, that is, without the
mediation of the mind. In the light of these considerations, what must be beyond
dispute, is that Unity - whether we call it Yoga, Advaita or anything else -
is a reality that pervades all levels of existence, from the Supreme
Principle to subatomic particles, as the very foundation and essence of life.
This fact is of particular importance in view of the objection that has been
raised time and again, to the effect that the Yogis' insistence upon
Consciousness as the only reality may be conducive to an attitude of
irresponsible indifference to the World. As we have just demonstrated, Unity is an all-pervading
function of Consciousness which is Itself an all-pervading reality. As a
Spiritual process, Yoga concerns itself with the expansion of Consciousness,
of the awareness of the Unity of all life. Now, if Self-Realisation or
Enlightenment - the end result of Yoga - is a conscious expansion of
awareness, intelligence and knowledge at all levels, which it must be in
order to constitute a truly non-dual, all-inclusive reality, then it must
also be an expansion of interest and compassion. It follows from this, that
Fully Enlightened Consciousness as defined here, while grounded in Absolute
Reality, is aware of, and cares about, relative aspects of reality, including
body-mind structures, both "its own" and those belonging to
"others". This fact becomes obvious if we consider that an Enlightened
Yogi is not a limited physical body but an unlimited field of intelligent
energy (or active intelligence) that has the capacity to interact with other,
similar or dissimilar fields of intelligence in ways and on levels that are
not always immediately apparent to outsiders. In general, it may be said that
even when externally appearing to be inactive or even indifferent, Yogis are
in fact available to men on levels of consciousness where help, protection
and guidance really matters. Indeed, it must be beyond dispute that without
the help and guidance of Yogis, the World would be a very different place. The real issue is not the insistence upon Consciousness as the
only reality, but the incomplete realisation (Spiritual, mental and physical)
of its implications. This is evidenced by an occasional apparent detachment
from or "rejection" of the World in the incipient stages of
Spiritual endeavour as opposed to the World-embracing attitude of Fully
Enlightened Consciousness. The former therefore can only be a temporary phase
in a process that ultimately leads to the latter and must be understood as
such by the discerning minds. In the same way as a person, when tired, will temporarily
withdraw from the World and go to sleep in order to better enjoy the World
upon waking, so also, a genuine follower of Yoga will detach himself from the
World only for the purpose of embracing a Higher Reality which, once thus
embraced, enables him to accept the World in a way he was previously
incapable of. If the results are less than satisfactory, it is not the approach
but the would-be Yogi who is not genuine or in more charitable terms, not fit
or ready for higher stages of experience. But then the same may be said to
apply equally, if not more so, to the outside critics who imagine themselves
in a position to pass judgement on Spiritual matters on the basis of someone
else's (or their own) misunderstandings. There is one last, but no less important, reason why the
objection in question must be dismissed as unfounded. Those who are
disappointed by some Yogis' apparent lack of concern for the problems of the
World, are free to seek assistance from a Higher Power. If we expect Yogis to
help us, then surely we must expect the Deity or God Force to be even more
capable and willing to offer assistance. If, on the other hand, even God
seems unable or unwilling to help, it would be unreasonable to criticise the
Yogis for the same perceived failure. The truth of the matter is that,
bluntly put, God is neither a nanny nor a string puppet and cannot be
reasonably expected to act like one. Logically speaking, it cannot be God's
intention for humans to be childishly dependent on Him. As the ancient
scriptures declare: From the Gods down to a blade of grass, the World is
created for the benefit of the Soul, until Supreme Knowledge is attained.
What the Spiritually inexperienced perceive as obstacles, may in fact be
means of attaining final independence or emancipation. The whole issue then, may be reduced to three fundamental
principles:
Generally speaking, problems of the kind just considered can
only arise out of an insufficient knowledge of reality that leads to gross
misinterpretations of situations and facts, not excluding the teachings of
Yoga itself. For example, the notion of the World as an illusion, is an apt
illustration of this situation. The original and authentic Yogic teaching is
not that the World is an illusion but that it is like an illusion:
first, because it ultimately consists of Consciousness, being created by the
Universal Being not from some physical substance but out of Consciousness
Itself, in other words, seemingly "out of nothing" as if by magic -
which is why, in Yoga, the Creator who is normally referred to as Ishvara or
Shiva (God) is also called the Great Magician (Maha Mayin): This Whole World
the Divine Magician projects out of Unmanifested Reality...etc.; second,
because ordinary perception of the World is limited and distorted and hence
"illusory" (though not the World itself) - one only needs to think
of the multitude of projections the Spiritually untutored mind superimposes
on reality; and third, because it captivates the spectator in much the same
way as a magician's feat, rendering him oblivious to a higher reality. It is therefore imperative not to be deceived by external
appearances or by the opinion of those who are incognizant of Spiritual
matters. It will be helpful in this context to have some understanding of the
mechanism through which incorrect information comes to be circulated as
authentic Spiritual knowledge. The fact is that as an all-pervading Reality
and Inner Soul of all things, the Supreme Being is already present everywhere
in different and inumerable forms and shapes. In consequence, It cannot be
expected to descend even more to man's level. That is not the purpose of the
Universe. Its intention and purpose is to point to a Higher Reality by
striving for which, man can elevate himself to the Supreme Being's own level
of experience. The root of the problem is that, although Truth is
communicated to man quite directly and clearly, literally every moment of his
life, it usually reaches him in ways and by channels that are less than
direct and clear, due to his undeveloped capacity of Spiritual perception.
Yoga recognises three fundamental forms of Spiritual Revelation or
Transmission of Higher Intelligence as accountable for the great diversity of
Spiritual and religious traditions in the World:
As most religious and Spiritual traditions in existence today
are not direct communications of a Higher Intelligence but are man-made, even
the initially genuine ones having passed through many hands (and minds), they
may safely be assumed to belong to the second and third classes described. As
for those belonging to the first class, they nowadays are extremely rare and
normally unavailable to uninitiated outsiders. This in itself is an alarming
thought. However, since Spiritual intelligence acts like a force that
attracts another Spiritual intelligence, a genuine Spiritual Seeker will
sooner or later find the Truth no matter how many mountains of un-Truth lie
on top of it. As for the rest, they evidently are not yet ready to receive
the Truth and will unfortunately have to wait until they have reached a
higher degree of Spiritual maturity. This is just the way things are. What is
of interest to us is that the first level of transmission or revelation is
conducive to Unity or Non-duality (Advaita) whereas the second and third
levels invariably lead to dvaita (duality, division, disunity). This, however, must not be taken to mean that duality is
always and in all circumstances negative. The World of multiplicity can be
quite enjoyable. On this point, the sacred texts of Yet for the World to exist in the form known to man, duality
is an essential ingredient. We must be able to perceive difference in order
to see the World as it is. There cannot be anything wrong about duality or
multiplicity in itself, since the Universal Being Itself willed it to be so.
Indeed, if nothing else, multiplicity can have an aesthetic value. The
problem arises if and to the extent that we perceive duality to the exclusion
of Unity. Just as there wouldn't be much use in registering different points
of perception in the absence of the capacity of unifying them into one
coherent picture, the perception of distinct and separate things without the
capacity for experiencing everything against the background of the
all-pervading, unifying essence of all life, would be a rather limited and
unsatisfactory experience. It is one thing to perceive and appreciate variation in
colour, sound, taste, or any other sensory data that enable us, for example,
to enjoy the golden orb of the Sun glowing against the blue expanse of the
Sky, the different notes in a tune or even shape our own individuality and
personality from different feelings and thoughts. It is quite another to
define ourselves exclusively in terms of difference from others and the
World. The fact is that Consciousness is an intelligent force that needs its
freedom so that its capacity for experiencing happiness, that is, for being
its true, happy self, may unfold and find expression. There can hardly be
anything more productive of psychological disharmony and imbalance than
constant repetition of rigid, difference-centred thinking, which is what
standard thinking is. Such thinking invariably leads to neurosis and other
psychological conditions unless it is tempered by a broader and more unitive
worldview. Indeed, psychological conditions are so prevalent in modern,
materialistic society that they often become the driving force behind what is
officially promoted as "harmless" artistic expression, emotional
commitment, political conviction, religious faith, professional ambition,
economic interest or strategic necessity. It cannot be entirely a matter of
chance that an ever-growing number of people from all social and cultural
backgrounds are attracted to the unique teachings of the absolute unity of
life that Yoga offers. In the majority of cases, the reason is primarily a
psychological and only secondarily a Spiritual one. It is clear from what has gone before, that there is no
intrinsic necessity for duality, differentiation, or multiplicity to result
in a restriction of Consciousness. Consciousness is by definition a free and
independent intelligent energy. As such it has the capacity to experience
both unity and disunity simultaneously. What disunity and its consequences
are is well-known to all. What is now urgently needed is Unity. The human race
can only have a future in unity and co-operation. This is why Yoga (Advaita)
as the Spirituality of Unity must and will become the Spirituality of the
Future. As an expression of the Universal Being's Infinite Will-Power, Yoga
will no doubt succeed in its noble task of unifying and uplifting the whole
of Mankind. For this reason we hereby invite you to join the World Yoga
Movement for Unity (see F.A.Q. 25: How to become
a Yogi ). |