1476- What is Advaita, or nonduality?

Advaita and the analogy of hand!

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Advaita means nondual or "not two." This oneness is a fundamental quality of everything. Everything is a part of and made of one nondual conciousness. Often the question arises, "If it is all one thing, why don’t I experience it that
way?" This is confusing oneness for theappearance of sameness. Things can appear different without being separate.

Just look at your hand for a moment. Your fingers are all different from each other, but are they separate? They all arise from the same hand.
Similarly, the objects, animals, plants and people in the world are all definitely different in their appearance and functioning. But they are all connected at their source—they come from the same source.

This one Being that is behind all life has an infinite number of different expressions that we experience as different objects.

To continue with the hand analogy, your fingers are all made of the same substance. They are made up of similar tissues, cells,atoms, and at the deepest level, subatomic particles. Similarly, when your experience of
reality becomes more subtle, you discover that everything is just different expressions of one field of nondual Being.
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 Non-duality is the supreme truth of the existence, not being mutually exclusive- like light & shade, long& short, black & white, that can only be experienced in relation to each other. There are no opposites, only relationships.

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Atma and paramatma are one and the same. That is non duality/ adwaita. Tat sat- That (Brahman/ Paramatma) alone is the only truth. If that is understood, then the physical world is apparent reality i.e an illusion (jnana yoga).

Then whatever is being done with a prasada bhava (karma yoga) , agaami karma will not bind us but to suffer only prarabda karma. Once what is (Sat)real is understood, karma yoga is adopted, then Bhagavannaama smarana (bhakti yoga) will take care of the moderm man, a man in hurry.

If lot of time is available then rajayoga is available. In which mind is disciplined by practising ashtanga yoga (of sage Patanjali) - 1.yama(ahimsa, satyam ,asteya, brahmacharya and aparihraha) 2.niyama (saucha, santosha, tapas, swadyaya and eswarapranidana) 3.asana 4.pranayama 5.pratyahara 6.dharana 7.dhyana and 8.samadhi I.e the eight steps of - following moral codes, self purification, posture, breath control , withdrawing the mind from the senses, concentration, deep meditation and union with the object of meditation.

To become a graduate from lkg, it takes 20 years. To reach even spiritual heights, it takes time. No pain, no gain!
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Relativity and Adwaita

"Relativity can only begin when you have two. (The field of duality -sapeksh).
If there is no-two then the question of relativity does not arise.
The realm of the absolute is described as nirpeksh - not relative.
That the very concept of Space becomes relevant only when you have two. Some form of separation is only possible if there is not-one (then we can operate in the field of duality). Hence the very concept of space is taking for granted that there is more than one. Modern Physics is progressing towards this kind of thinking but is not anywhere near such lofty ideas. It cannot dismiss the very concept of space. All it has done at the moment is to say space and time cannot be separate and there is nothing like absolute space or absolute time. (both are relative).

Special Relativity theory came about due to one very unique property observed in nature. This property relates to something almost 'magical' about light. If we rush at great speed - say at the speed of light - and catch up to a beam of light we find that it is still travelling away from us at the speed of light! It is this unique speed of light that seems to remain the same - no matter how fast we race towards it or away from it - it remains the same.

It is this almost 'magical quality' of constancy of speed of light that translates with simple mathematics into the ideas that space and time can no longer be rigid and independent but have to be malleable and inter-related. Hence the use of the word relativity. (space and time are no longer absolute and rigid but are elastic). Just a little bit more mathematics then shows up as the famous equation E = mc2. (matter is equivalent to energy). This theory was further refined (and called general relativity) which went on to say that even the gravitational pull we observe is nothing more than a geometric twisting of this space/time.

Physics today does not talk 'Advaita' but slowly and surely it is moving in that direction. (We have replaced absolute space and absolute time with absolute 'space/time'!)
regards
jay
Vivekananda Centre London "

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