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Manipura
USA
870 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 18 2009 : 12:08:50 PM
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I'm not sure where to post this so I'll just start another one.  I'm having this very interesting experience, that's been going on for the past month or so. It seems that every time I turn a corner, I run into something to do with advaita. Teachings, classes, this forum, books - suddenly it's nonstop, all-you-can-eat advaita. I'm engaged with seekers who are not only on the same path of nonduality, but are reading the same books. It's kind of amazing. I feel like I have so much to learn, but the cool thing about advaita is that it begins with the premise that "I am that", which, when fully embraced, means there's not much difference between the novice and the seasoned practitioner. (Is there such a thing as an "expert advaitan"? Would that be someone who's better at being That?)
So tell me, do you think that there's something in the air, and that advaita is coming to the fore as a spiritual movement? Is advaita coming to be recognized as a spiritual tradition of philosophical elegance as well as one of experiential benefits? Or has it always been so prevalent, but often missed because it hovers so close to the truth? Am I encountering it everywhere I turn simply because I'm looking for it? Are any of you having similar feelings that it's suddenly impacting your life in a big way? |
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cosmic
USA
821 Posts |
Posted - Jul 18 2009 : 6:55:51 PM
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Hi Manipura,
Your timing is curious. Lately, I've been having experiences of non-dual awareness and feel that a major shift is underway. As this is happening, teachers like Mooji are having more of an impact on me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsrB...ture=channel
Listening to him has been opening something up inside. Daily AYP practice has cleared a lot of debris, so that this opening can occur.
quote:
Originally posted by Manipura
So tell me, do you think that there's something in the air, and that advaita is coming to the fore as a spiritual movement?
It looks to me like more people are experiencing That. I think it's coming to the fore in that sense (not so much as a spiritual movement).
Peace
cosmic |
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Etherfish
USA
3615 Posts |
Posted - Jul 18 2009 : 8:06:54 PM
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When you run into the same signs all the time it is your inner guru guiding YOU to what you need. It is not for everybody. If everyone were to aspire to advaita, I think it could be detrimental because they could get on a long, long side-track of thinking they don't need basic practices like meditation. It IS possible to go very far on the path with just bhakti, but it is very rare, and I believe most people could go farther with basic practices. It's like someone discovering they can levitate and move one foot forward. So they get out of the car that was travelling to their destination.
Now if you continue twice daily practices AND study Advaita, then nevermind. |
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Manipura
USA
870 Posts |
Posted - Jul 18 2009 : 8:52:59 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Etherfish
When you run into the same signs all the time it is your inner guru guiding YOU to what you need. It is not for everybody. If everyone were to aspire to advaita, I think it could be detrimental because they could get on a long, long side-track of thinking they don't need basic practices like meditation. It IS possible to go very far on the path with just bhakti, but it is very rare, and I believe most people could go farther with basic practices. It's like someone discovering they can levitate and move one foot forward. So they get out of the car that was travelling to their destination.
Now if you continue twice daily practices AND study Advaita, then nevermind.
I'm not aware that advaita is pure bhakti without meditation. This is more of a neo-advaita thing, and for that matter they're not too big on self-inquiry either. But advaita itself is not anti-meditation. I don't think of advaita as a study so much as a practice, with the study being an adjunct to the practice. |
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Etherfish
USA
3615 Posts |
Posted - Jul 18 2009 : 10:58:22 PM
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| So Advaita practice would include twice daily meditation? And what else does the practice consist of? |
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Manipura
USA
870 Posts |
Posted - Jul 19 2009 : 06:26:16 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Etherfish
So Advaita practice would include twice daily meditation? And what else does the practice consist of?
Spinal breathing pranayama, samyama, and self-inquiry. :) For me, anyway. There's not an "official" advaita practice, a set of activites that you can point to and say, "He is an advaitin because he does x, y, and z." The practice is more of an ongoing recognition that a separate "I" is an illusion, that the world is a projection of the mind, and therefore also an illusion, that separation and duality is an illusion, that Brahman consciousness is all that exists, and we are that. Which is very difficult to master, so that's where the study comes in. But without meditation and other deep body/psyche practices such as those taught at ayp, the study of advaita is merely a mental exercise, without much benefit. |
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grihastha
USA
184 Posts |
Posted - Jul 19 2009 : 12:53:37 PM
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To chime in here, yes! There is either something in the air, or the path that Yogani is showing us, as he expands upon it, is leading us to advaitin conclusions.
Having been a bhakti-suffused devotee of Ma following my own self-inspired Tantric path, I now find myself on the brink of taking refuge as a Vajrayana Buddhist - a bit of a shocker, really. I went looking for Ma and I keep finding the Void. It's all a huge surprise. |
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Tam Phap
Canada
37 Posts |
Posted - Jul 19 2009 : 7:58:54 PM
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Hey Cosmic,
Have recently discovered Mooji... through this site I am sure... have been watching a number of his vids on YouTube. I appreciate the clarity of his answers. One of his quotes that really resonates with me: "As far as the search for truth is concerned, 98% of our thinking is"rubbish. The remaining 2%...is garbage. Throw it all out and be empty! Truth cannot be caught by intellect alone - grace is needed. Satsang is the call of grace."
Metta,
Phil
quote:
Originally posted by cosmic
Hi Manipura,
Your timing is curious. Lately, I've been having experiences of non-dual awareness and feel that a major shift is underway. As this is happening, teachers like Mooji are having more of an impact on me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsrB...ture=channel
Listening to him has been opening something up inside. Daily AYP practice has cleared a lot of debris, so that this opening can occur.
quote:
Originally posted by Manipura
So tell me, do you think that there's something in the air, and that advaita is coming to the fore as a spiritual movement?
It looks to me like more people are experiencing That. I think it's coming to the fore in that sense (not so much as a spiritual movement).
Peace
cosmic
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Konchok Ösel Dorje
USA
545 Posts |
Posted - Jul 19 2009 : 8:53:31 PM
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| Your aspirations shape your path. This is fundamental. The first truth. If you seek liberation, you will find the path. If you seek the liberation of all beings, you will find the path. |
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jerryk
Canada
1 Posts |
Posted - Jul 20 2009 : 12:30:23 PM
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| It's more prevalent, thanks especially to blogs and YouTube and no doubt social networking. |
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cosmic
USA
821 Posts |
Posted - Jul 20 2009 : 6:10:38 PM
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Hey Phil, wonderful Mooji quote. It's amazing once you realize what he's doing in the dialogues...
Peace brother  |
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chinna
United Kingdom
241 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2009 : 5:11:19 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Etherfish
So Advaita practice would include twice daily meditation? And what else does the practice consist of?
Strictly speaking, there is no advaita practice, and no practitioner.
The beautiful Ashtavakra Gita summarises the advaita life.
Anything we might do whilst apparently waiting to realise this could only qualify as 'entertainment' (Nisargadatta) rather than advaita practice.
All we can do is chop wood, make tea for visitors, go for a walk. Advaita practice is ordinary life, without unnecessary self-concern, without the self-preoccupation of 'practice'.
Any practice, such as self-enquiry, is just the burning out of the self-preoccupation which leads to 'practice'. Stirring the fire with a wooden stick, as Ramana put it.
chinna |
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something in the air....
