CONTEMPORARY NON DUALITY Dispelling the Myths and Misleading Teachings of Contemporary Non-duality (Neo-Advaita and Neo-Buddhism) by Non Duality Magazine Books Namaste ( ) Glad to see you bringing in the wisdom of the Buddha, Sankara and other sources (even down to modern perceptual psychology) in order to shed more light on authentic spirituality, free of various delusions, attachments and aversions. Sincere heart-minds all resonate in appreciation for the truly wholesome/holy life of which you write beyond mere cleverness, sophistry, apathy, callousness, or depersonalization syndromes bizarrely masquerading as "enlightenment." (Ah, "the karmas of jivas!") May all be awake to the Self of all selves, the Life of all lives, the Openness-Emptiness-Fullness of our True Nature. Timothy Conway. May 31st 2014. The rest are still being edited. Bahujanahitaya Sutta For the Benefit of Many People Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Sutta 140 Monks, any monks who explain not-Dhamma as not-Dhamma are practicing for the welfare of many people, for the happiness of many people, for the benefit of many people, for the welfare & happiness of human beings & devas. They amass much merit and help this True Dhamma to remain." § "Monks, any monks who explain Dhamma as Dhamma are practicing for the welfare of many people, for the happiness of many people, for the benefit of many people, for the welfare & happiness of human beings & devas. They amass much merit and help this True Dhamma to remain." 1. THE ARISING OF THE NEW ADVAITA "If all is One, then nothing is wrong." Charles Manson. Toward the end of the early 90s, teachers of a new approach to Advaita, now being termed Neo-Advaita,began springing up all over the world, and along with that, I began to see the same pattern play itself out over and over again, as follows: A. The spiritual aspirant would have a glimpse. B. He or she would mistake this for Enlightenment. C. Then they would set up shop and begin teaching, often by writing about their personal experiences. D. Then begin charging others for this information that often times they'd gotten for free. E. Then the teacher would fall from grace or be exposed in some way, often by his or her student(s).[1] F. Some would apologize, take time off, and set up shop again somewhere else, only to repeat the same pattern over again. However, there are many who never fall from grace because disgruntled students who see through the facade just move away and are replaced by new innocent faces. That is why some contemporary non-duality teachers last so long. So most are never exposed and those few students who do eventually see behind the mask have by that time so much of their lives, time and money invested. They may have such high status in the community that they often end up colluding with the false teacher. But let's look at some of the reasons why modern people are so fascinated with neo-advaita. Obviously, it does fulfill some role, or it would not be so popular at a time where interest in conventional religion, especially in the west, is on the decline. In terms of these contemporary non-duality teachings themselves, certain aspects can actually be quite helpful, up to a degree, like stepping-stones that may lead to legitimate insights and deeper paths or truths. Contemporary non- dual teachings can get one"s foot in the door. They may also be helpful to someone who is disgruntled, or looking for something new or fresh. To someone who may have unresolved authority issues, or who is unable to meditate, study the scriptures. But a practice like "being in the now" or "mindfulness", or "being present", or simply "aware", is nowhere near enough and also ineffective. As are other pointers that many Western contemporary teachers use. But these simple, plain English terms are much easier to grasp for Westerners than the traditional Indian, Sanskrit, Pali, Chinese, Japanese and Tibetan ancient scriptures. It's usually easier for a Westerner to listen to a clear contemporary and ordinary-looking enlightened Western teacher who uses simple pointers such as awareness and so on. However, it's also easy to misunderstand crucial points based on words alone, since so many Sanskrit words are similar, such as karma and kama, which mean very different things. Kama, for example, usually means sexual desire as in the well-known kama sutras by Vatsyayana; while karma means action. Kamma in Pali also means action. Another reason is that it's also not easy to find or even have access to an authentic Indian guru in the West versed in the Upanishads and the Vedas, where as it's so easy to find many hundreds if not thousands of Neo-Advaitin teachers advertising themselves on utube, Face book, or promoted on countless other non-duality websites. And if you do find a traditional guru, there may be other types of cultural hindrances that are not suitable for Westerners, such as bowing down, worshiping the guru, surrendering to the guru (especially if they are male, and you're female), touching the guru's feet, and so on. There can be rites, rituals, and many kinds of unfamiliar exotic gods, goddesses, some even being elephants, monkeys. All of this and more can also cause internal conflicts, cognitive dissonance, especially for Westerners coming from a different cultural background of formal religion and ritual where anything like this can be an automatic turn off. Though contemporary non-duality may work for some very rare or special people, like Ramana Maharshi (who have done the majority of the work in many previous past lives), there are also so many stories of abuses prevalent today, with regard to Indian gurus that it's not so easy to trust someone no matter who they are or what lineage they come from, or even what kind of reputation they have, whether they be a monk, a lay person, or otherwise. A Western teacher may be more familiar, more accessible, even more humble in some cases, and easier to relate to on a personal level. However a problem seems to arise if the seeker gives up their traditional spiritual practice much too soon, because of being under the illusion that they have become "fully enlightened"[2] or have attained moksha (liberation). They say Moksha is the final liberation and freedom from rebirth into the realms of samsara Before we go any further, lets look at some of the differences and similarities with two of the main traditional schools, Vedanta and Buddhism. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THERAVADA BUDDHISM AND TRADITIONAL VEDANTA Traditional Vedanta advaita, non-duality, believes that everything is "one without a second" and that "pure awareness" is not dependent on anything at all. However there are some schools of Buddhism and even some teachers in the Thai Theravada tradition that sees this similarly. Ajahn Mun and his disciple Ajahn Maha Bua Ajhan Chah, Ajhan Sumedho, in this Thai forest tradition. They speak about consciousness, or awareness, "the one who knows" as being permanent or indestructible. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajahn_Maha_Bua. https://www.amaravati.org/dhamma-books/intuitive-awareness/ This is where it can get a little confusing because it can be understood as being no different from externalism, sassata ditthi or wrong view, as with advaita Vedanta, yoga, or non duality. Identifying with both subject and object as an eternal true self or an eternal ego. The Buddha didn't see it this way. See here. https://www.budsas.org/ebud/whatbudbeliev/111.htm This is a complicated subject but Theravada Buddhism doesn't use the word 'advaita' a Sanskrit term. but the Pali word Tathagata does point to one who has realized ultimate reality - Nibbana, Pali for Nirvana. Sometimes this is referred to - Tat- Sanskrit or 'That' in English. The Theravadin Buddhists also stress that the true cause of suffering is based upon various causes and conditions, known as dependent origination, paticca samuppada. Scripture The Vedas are not homogeneous and often conflicting since they came from many sources. Non-dualism, qualified non-dualism. Vedanta, neo Vedanta, kundalini yoga, tantra, mantra, yantra and so on. Many of these schools have interpretations of the Upanishads and the various sutras. Theravada Buddhism came from only one source, that being the Buddha and his tecahings are encapsulated in the Pali canon. Buddhism also isn't an off shoot of Vedanta, the Upanishads or anything else, as some say it is. Self/non-self Traditional Vedanta believes in an ultimate Self, known as Brahman or satchitananda:being, consciousness and bliss. The Buddha's antidote to sat chit ananda being consciousness and bliss, was dukkha -suffering, anicca- impermanence and anatta -not self. To illustrate how this is often misunderstood in contemporary non duality circles, there is a story about a contemporary non duality teacher who was giving a satsang (for a fee) and believed he was Brahman or satchitananda:truth, being consciousness and bliss. Then a seeker in the audience asked him for his Rolex watch and this teacher didn't know what to say. So the next day he went and bought a cheap counterfeit five dollar Rolex watch and put it on his wrist. This time he was prepared and when this same seeker asked him for it again, he gave him the five dollar Rolex watch. However, this seeker was a very clever and then asked him for his wallet and his BMW car keys and deeds to his house. This story points to one of the problems charging for the teachings and saying you are everything and why Theravada Buddhism doesn't have this problem with not self, anatta even though this is often misunderstood and can be very confusing.