There are many Gurus for Non-duality or Advaita as originated in India. The facts is that ALL religion speaks of this Truth that will end all suffering. The Truth is there is ONLY Awareness [Absolute]
Most people missed the simplicity, when they cannot reconcile the UNknowable Awareness with the known contents of Awareness [which make up the world]. The Subject IS Awareness and the world its objects. There is a fundamental duality of subject/object. At this point many are confused. As indicated in previous posting 'I AM' is the Awareness in which all objects of Awareness come and go. Lord Jesus say ' I AM in the world [Omnipresent Awareness],but not of the world [Objects in awareness]'
The Buddhist Diamond sutra gave us the hint, when it mentioned that all objects are False [illusionary] and therefore have no Objective Reality. That will leave us with the vast empty Awareness as the sole reality.
In the analogy with the mirror, Awareness is the mirror and the world is its myriad reflections. There is only the mirror and its reflections[illusion], the essense of which is the reflectivity of the mirror .
In buddhism this essnce of reality is called buddha nature or Bodhi.
In the Hindu tradition, this is summarised as:
The world is Maya [Illusionary]
Brahman is REAL
Brahman is the World [reconciling the APPARENT duality ]
In the Qu'ran the ONEness as Absolute is given in the teaching of Tawhid.
Another helpul analogy will be the Ocean [Awareness] and the waves on its surface [ forms similar to the objective world] The waves are the Expression of the ocean and the essense of both is water.
With this wisdom, one no longer live in seperation. Human beings,the mountains and river are but different sizes of waves all having water as the essense and arises momentary from the ocean and return to the ocean. { All comes from Allah and return to Allah }
So objects appear from awareness [emptiness] and return into Awareness in nano seconds creating a holographic world with empty space as The screen.
With this Wisdom, our friends and enemies are made up of the same essence as our very own body..Though we APPEAR separate, we belong to the expression of the one WHOLE inseperable awareness. If we take the human body as Oneness,then the limbs and fingers that extends out of the one body,though appear different are parts of the whole. Can the finger on one hand hate or love the finger on the other hand? Love and hate are relationships and it needs more than one to Tango.
In samsara, the individual wave, think one is seperated from other waves IGNOring the Ocean that connects all. The so call waves of one pattern dislike waves of another pattern and consider them hostile and develop hate.
This hostility can only be overcome with wisdom and all disputes be it social, religious, racial or political can then be seen as a gentle game of Solitaire. There is ONLY SELF concern just as one take care of one's body.
The surface roughness of the Ocean does not disturb the peaceful depth of the Ocean [Awareness]. This is Nirvana [Patient Abiding in the uncreated.]
From the POV of the dreamer [Awareness], nothing happens. But from the point of view of the dream characters, dramas of joy, peace, war, hatred and tragedy continue to unfold [In what we consider waking life]
The Dreamer on awakening recall the dream, but fully aware that nothing happen. The dreamer and the Dream is one as the dance and the dancer is one.
The dream is samsara and awakening is Nirvana. The dreamer as Awareness is ever present and is the witness when the dream unfold. When the dream is over, IT recall the dream as IT was PRESENT during the dream as the Witness. Even when all that is in the dream vanished into thin air, Awareness goes no where. Jesus say, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end [of the worldly dream] The ocean remain even when its surface become calm and waveless.
Awakening can be Instant, but liberation require time to allow wisdom to replace the former erroneous habit for thinking of one as a separate Individual.
This latest post is dedicated to Elsie, a friend of Ben2
