Is Non-Duality Dangerous?
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In this episode, Chandresh discusses the topic of non-duality. Non-duality has become a topic that many spiritual seekers find very attractive and exciting, but is this path for everyone? If you walk down this path without proper guidance or education, it could be dangerous. Nonduality is a philosophy that says everything in the universe is inseparable. Everyone is connected with this oneness consciousness. Listen to this episode to find out why something so beautiful like oneness consciousness could be so dangerous if not handled with love and awareness. Please send us your questions after listening to the episode. We hope it brings you more clarity and guidance to find and cultivate the right spiritual path for you.
Have any questions or curiosities about your spiritual journey? Email Chandresh at askcb@leelagurukul.com.
Episode Transcript
The countless phases of the moon are a reminder to show up as you are because the stars will fall for you no matter what. We are never fully into any experience, we never embrace our roles unapologetically. There's always a background noise asking us to adjust our existence just a little bit so that we can adjust to the system around us. As a result, we miss too many stars, too many rains, too many full moons, too many moments of awareness. When we start to show up as we are, we start honoring, celebrating, and living our truth. And that's when the known and the unknown dimensions of the universe start to support us. Take a deep breath, relax, and ask yourself, how will I show up today? I am Chandresh Bhardwaj, and this is Leela Gurukul.
Namaste, everyone. I hope you are feeling safe, relaxed, and grounded wherever you are. And I hope the year 2022 brings you immense calmness, clarity, and courage each day in every possible way. The topic of non-duality is something I come across frequently. There are different reasons why somebody would be attracted to non-duality. And hopefully, by the end of this episode, you'll feel more confident and clear whether this is the path for you. And if it is, when and how you should be walking into it. This is episode for all those who sometimes want to escape the noise, cut down all the drama, and just find peace in the solitude where there is no ego, no identity, and simply you. Non-duality is also known as non-self, or in Sanskrit, Advaita, or also the experience of this oneness consciousness. The teaching of non-duality is very simple. It says that there is just one consciousness in existence and you, I, the trees, the mountain, we all are inseparable part of it. And when we start to see the world through this non-duality lens, your suffering, your ego, your desires, all their drama can gently automatically diffuse itself because there is no separation between you and me.
I've shared many stories of Buddha and other teachers in this episode, to where you'll absolutely see the glimpses of non-duality, but that's Buddha. He could walk into non-duality and celebrate it to joyfully. But what about people like you and me who are very much into this world, and we are trying to witness our desires, temptations, ego, greed, and all those elements that make us human? What shall we do?
So, first thing that I would love to mention here, the people I have come across, who start to feel attracted toward non-duality, many of them start to go into it after some heavy experience in life. It could be a breakup, death of a loved one, or even a relapse on the journey of recovery from substance abuse, or it's something so shocking and so disappointing that they feel they don't want to be in this world anymore. And they find ways so that they could continue to live in this human life, and yet so detached from everything and everyone. There is no one-size-fit-all formula in spirituality, just like you cannot be teaching high school stuff to a first grader, and you cannot teach MBS stuff to a high schooler. The same way, there is a right time and space for non-duality to step in.
Everyone wants to experience this idea of non-self. It's obviously very seductive to the soul, and it also feels perfect escape from our problems because there is this spiritual label blanket that gives us a very good in society. And we all know that we celebrate people who are not into this material world, irrespective of how they're showing up in the world. We just celebrate the idea of spirituality that's thriving in poverty. And the marketing experts of many gurus, they know it, and that's why they keep projecting a very nonmaterial glimpse of their guru. So the gurus could be traveling in private jets, but in public, they always display this energy that I hate money. I don't need it. And yet there is immense infinite money in the bank accounts.
The point here is there is nothing wrong with the money. In tantra, we celebrate the abundance, not just the material wealth but also the social wellbeing, financial wellbeing, mental wellbeing, all kinds of abundance. But when you are constantly sold this idea, that being in a poor financial state will always keep you pure and awakened, that's when you are corrupted. And that's when all these taboos, be it about spirituality, money, sex, death, they limit our experience of life. And this is why you may come across people who could be attracted toward the non-self, and if they're attracted toward it at a wrong time, you'll see them struggling big time in relationships and in business.
In everything we are doing on a day-to-day basis is somewhere a search or hunger for that non-duality, but it has to happen in the most organic way. It has to happen with love and playfulness. It cannot happen out of force. And if by the end of your life, you feel you are miles apart from that non-duality, that's okay. You tried your best. And maybe this was the dharma, the purpose of your life to travel only that far. And in next life, if that happens, a next life, maybe you'll be able to travel further miles depending on your actions, intentions, thoughts.
The problem is we feel that if 10 people are enlightened, I also have to be enlightened exactly as how they are enlightened. And by doing that, we do not honor our individual journey. My journey cannot be like yours. Yours cannot be like mine. Sometimes I hear from many of you about my spiritual journey. People tell me that we feel envy, that you have a spiritual guru in your father, and it makes us angry sometimes, that why we don't have a spiritual guru and father in the same role. The truth is maybe in this life, it was my dharma to serve all of you, and that's why I was sent to a family to not only go deeper in my own awareness but also learn the skills, the wisdom to guide you as well.
And the same mantra applies for you. You could be an accountant, an artist, a lawyer, a doctor, or working in a business, and that's your dharma. If you live that dharma with complete awareness, you will find plenty of creative and spiritual ways to not only find your truth, but to also help the society on a collective conscious level. It would be absolutely wrong if I constantly complain that why I do not have X, Y, Z, why my spiritual level is not as good as so and so person because then I'll not be honoring what I have. And the same goes for you. If you feel that you could have something and that could have made you extra stronger or enlightened, you miss out what you have, you miss out, what's already there waiting for you to expand in you, to evolve you.
And the point is non-duality is waiting for you. It's a destination. It's not the bridge. And when you start honoring it as a destination, your entire perspective on your spiritual practice will shift. So my friends and seekers who are practicing Om mantra, crown chakra meditations, attending random Kundalini meditation experiences, my request is to take a pause and disconnect from all these practices because you are trying to teach the MBA level of stuff to a high-schooler. It could get very frustrating. And you're trying to lift weights, but walking every day could be amazing for you. But if you keep lifting weight beyond your strength, you may break your muscles. You may get hurt. And that's why a lot of people who continue to experiment, to taste that non-duality, they do get hurt mentally, spiritually, emotionally, even financially. They start to feel damages on the spiritual path.
In tantra, we honor all the elements that are presented to us. The famous five elements, kaam, krodh, lobh, moh, ahankar. The English translation is sexual energy, anger, greed, attachment, and ego. There's no other tradition I know that honor these elements. Only tantra honors all of these elements. Why tantra honors this? Because tantra says that through these elements, you could finally understand the silliness of these elements, but there's a time, place, and experience for that.
You should not find sexual energy silly simply because I'm telling you. You should find it silly when you have indulged in it so deep, and you realize it doesn't give me anything, except that moments of pleasure, which are gone in few hours, and then again, I crave more. When you realize that anger has never solved any problem in your life, it has only multiplied problems, then you gain the understanding and wisdom that anger is something that I can use as a navigating force. It should not be dictating my mood. It's not put in my system to dictate my mood. Why am I so reactive to it? And same goes for your attachments, your ego. Same goes for your greed. When you start to honor these elements understand the play, the drama, the root of these elements, then the new gateways open up, and then you realize that there is this non-duality waiting there. And that experience of non-duality is not at all forced. It's not a fragile non-duality.
I come across people who are self-proclaimed enlightened beings, but that enlightenment is so fragile that if one morning they don't get their oat milk with coffee, they burst out. So it takes only one oat milk to get them out of that peace. And that's okay; that's human. But if you put yourself in this bubble and illusion that I'm so enlightened, that nothing can get me out of this space, but then it only takes a quick trigger from external world to get you out of it, it's a reminder. It's not a shame. It's not a judgment. It's a reminder that it's okay. Why are you in so much rush to reach there? You could be in this place of bliss, calmness, and clarity by simply doing one simple thing. And that could open the gateways of non duality. And this is the only way how you can safely and organically open up the powerful dimension of that non-duality, the non-self. When you stop romanticizing the idea of non-self and show up for your dharma, for your breathing, for your creativity every day, that's all it takes. In fact, I would request you to stick to a very simple spiritual meditation routine and do it for next six months. That will be 100 times more powerful than reading the most amazing 10 spiritual books of all time. I'll repeat again. Stick to something very simple in your spiritual routine and repeat it daily for at least six months, and you'll be far ahead in your journey than what you would be by reading a bunch of bests seller spiritual books. That's the power of consistency. That's the power of building relationship with your awareness.
And those of you who feel ambitious and willing to go deeper into this work of transcending, the sexual energy, ego, greed, attachments, I invite you to apply for the Leela Gurukul school. It's the school that's designed to work with curious seekers like you, the seekers who are excited about the idea of non-self, but also willing to do the work, to arrive there in the most organic, joyful, and playful way. The Leela Gurukul program Conscious Meditation is a 90-day program where three teachers, me and two of my amazing students, work with you to guide you, support you, hold you stronger every week.
Once you apply in the website, leelagurukul.com, the application comes to us. You schedule the call. You and I will get on a Zoom call and have conversation about why Leela will be a good fit for you, and how you and I can work together to make this journey fulfilling and joyful. I wish you all the best in your exploration of the non-self. May you arrive at it in the most joyful and playful way. That's all for today. Be safe, be well. May the teachings of tantra continue to guide you and heal you. And I hope Leela Gurukul helps you to unlearn the old and embrace the unknown mystical possibility unfolding for you. To support this podcast, share it among the seekers who are ready for the next step in their spiritual path.
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