FROM A SITE VISITOR: i seek a sadguru, finding your site i read of different teaching methods, different appraoch, different yoga. I have study teachings of hinduism, buddhism,even islam,now find advaita vedanta. How to find in all this the sadguru who is for me? Anwar
F.: If this is sounding like some kind of “qualifying process,” Anwar, it is. The readiness is all, and trying to move a seeker along a path that s/he is not ready to travel could prevent the journey from being completed at a more appropriate time.
To allow you to (1) “test the Advaita waters” in order to assess your readiness and to (2) assist you in understanding natural living vs. supernatural or unnatural living and to (3) see if that is even of interest to you, other considerations will be offered.
First, are you seeking to gain, or are you willing to begin a process of de-accumulation? Those embroiled in dogma, identified as they usually are with their bodies and minds and personalities, are seeking to gain. Ultimately, they desire to gain not only eternal continuity but also eternal reward (as opposed to eternal punishment) as well.
The Realized Advaitin that points toward the no-concept, non-dual Reality will never tell you how to “gain heaven” and “avoid hell.” That teacher will tell you that heaven and earth and hell will fade away at the same rate of speed as the manifested consciousness fades away someday.
That teacher will also ask you, in one fashion or another, what you think you see when “anwar” stands before a mirror. If the reflection is seen to be something other than the real, then the teacher will ask WHO thinks he is witnessing the reflection. Then, the teacher will ask, “WHAT is it that is witnessing the supposed witness?”
If that sounds “far out,” compare that with the millions who eventually exclaim to a relationship partner, “I don’t even know who you are!” or the millions of persons who someday admit, “I don’t even know who I am.” Those statements are familiar to millions, if not billions. Why should the same pointer be considered “far out” when an Advaitin teacher tells you, “You do not know who you are” and “Persons do not know who they are”?
To continue with the “qualifying,” is there presently so much fear of loss and desire for gain that the prospect of losing yourself (your self) is anathema?
Did the words of “louise” that were posted recently—specifically, “the true identity is the background or awareness in which both of these states (happiness and unhappiness) happen”—strike an inner cord with a message of freedom that resonants yet, or did those words sound unreasonable?
What have you wanted in the past from those religions you studied? Are you willing to no longer want in the present? If so, some version of the Advaita Teachings might be for you.
As for natural living vs. supernatural or unnatural living, this consideration is offered: to put “your search” in perspective, and to narrow the focus of that search, understand that the relative existence of humankind originally unfolded in a natural manner that was not unlike that of birds and animals today:
the basic physiological needs for survival were addressed and then the rest of the existence was passed by engaging in often pleasurable activities.
Anthropologists suggest that in some of the more accommodating regions of the planet, only 2.5 hours per day were involved in survival activities. The rest of the day involved relaxing and playing. Such was the case with humankind for most of its history until the last 5000 years when concepts began to dominate and control persons.
Now, examples of humankind’s historical style of living can only be observed in the animal kingdom. With a third-floor balcony overlooking a terrace that leads down to a lake, a day does not pass without witnessing ducks, herons, squirrels, and other wildlife living naturally…spending a little time finding food and then relaxing and playing.
Their workload is limited. Yesterday, ducks were witnessed as they fed in the water and on land. They were seen while bathing. They were seen as they sat along the shoreline, napping with their heads beneath their wings. They were seen at play.
They modeled all-natural living, unencumbered by any of the frustrations that follow the domestication of persons who are programmed to work to accumulate and then work even more to maintain their accumulation of property and their accumulation of images and personas.
What of you? What was your day like yesterday? If it was encumbered—if its activities were driven by programming and desires to gain and fear-based avoidance—then your involvement with various religions has not provided freedom and peace. Are you ready, therefore, to re-examine everything from a totally different perspective? Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
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