An Error of the Advaitans
(A leading explorer of this approach to spiritual life is Maitreya, formerly called Baskar, who was an earlier generation sannyasin. He now gives satsang in his own right. His commune routines, etc are very similar to Pune One. His main base is in New Zealand. Here is one of his explorations of the topic.)
“Advaita or nonduality is the highest flowering of Indian spiritual philosophy; it is the quintessential mystical understanding. Advaita is as far as the intellect and concepts can go in the direction of truth. After advaita, not much more can be said.
The core advaita insight is: consciousness is all there is, therefore I am That which I seek. Advaita recognizes that there is one primordial source to all life; therefore all of existence is made from that source, and that source is God, or consciousness-at-rest. Without an understanding of advaita, spirituality remains confused and dualistic.
The leaders of the philosophical school of Advaita Vedanta are some of the most sophisticated intellectuals of India, an ancient mystical land where an evolved and conscious civilization once flourished.
Advaita’s problem lies in its application. Bridging the chasm between nondual logic and direct experience is the challenge that advaitins often fall short on.
Many advaitins attempt to gloss over the separate reality of the body and material world with concepts about oneness and nonduality. Sometimes they insist that they don’t exist as individuals in a material world. The absurdity of this belief reflects the limitations of logic. The material world does exist and is essential to create the experience of separation. A buddha is hungry in his belly, not yours.
Advaita’s problem dissolves with a dose of pragmatic authenticity. Understanding that reality is multidimensional relieves advaitins of their misguided beliefs about the functional aspect of being human.
Direct experience of the absolute realm of non-Being is available only to those few souls who have access to the seventh body of God. Such fully enlightened people are rare; about a dozen are alive today.
Even they cannot stay in that arcane realm for very long and, when they return to a functional state of consciousness, they experience themselves as embodied awareness again.
My direct experience is always that God is the only doer in me. My body, brain and nervous system are totally in His hands. I have no trace of personal volition at all. Yet I exist mostly in an embodied reality where my body is apparently separate from other bodies.
This separation of bodies is absolutely necessary for the leela, the divine play, to have meaning and intensity. When I dissolve in non-Being, there is no trace of anyone to claim: ‘I am That’, or even to think anything at all. When I return from non-Being, just the fragrance of that total dissolution lingers around me for a while. Then I exist as embodied awareness again.
This dance ensures that the mystery that is God always remains mysterious. No one can articulate the subtlety of non-Being, since all sense of Being dissolves and there is no one present to remember the dissolution.
Clinging to absolute concepts about truth is not helpful; it limits you. There is no need to dress up your reality with absolutist jargon. The relative world of matter is also real; it exists as the first body, or realm of God. The universe is transitory; it is born and is destined to die; yet it is the fundamental reality in which we live. Denying the reality of the world leads to subtle anti-life attitudes.
Only the absolute realm of God is eternal. In this sense only the absolute realm is real. But every realm of God is real in the sense that it exists and is made from His ultimate reality: the uncreated eternal void of awareness, or consciousness-at-rest.
Beloved advaitins, you are on the right track: advaita is the truth. Just remain true to your own experience. There is no need to decorate your experience with limiting absolutist concepts about your non-existence.
It is better to be pragmatic. You can verify that you are embodied consciousness and that God is the only doer. This frees you from ego burden and allows you to play your part in life without denying the reality of the world.
God’s creation of existence is complex. Understanding its multidimensional complexity deepens the experience of being embodied consciousness.
God’s vision for the new dawn of civilization includes work, meditation and celebration within the context of advaita’s understanding: consciousness is all there is, therefore I am ultimately That which I seek.
The application of advaita is much more transformative than the repetition of absolutist beliefs; the application of advaita leads to freedom from ego through conscious surrender: Not my will, but Thy will be done.
Western teachers are coming into their time. They bring a fresh vitality to the ancient wisdom of India and the East.”
Maitreya
Funny how this “God” bloke sounds exactly the same as a clapped out pseudo-intellectual, rather than a being with any new insight into life. And Maitreya’s version of “God” has been completely wrong before – He gave Maitreya information that the world would end in 2000 and several times after till people got sick of hearing it. Then He told Maitreya that Europe would be hit by bio-terrorist attacks. When was that – 2006 or something.
Sorry Maitreya, I don’t buy any of this nonsense. If you’ve got something to say, just say it without all this gushing “God spoke to ME” fanfare.
Oh that’s right, “God” not only wrote your book but he even edited it too. I’d forgotten about that. Thanks for the LOLz.
Maitreya’s take on Advaita is basically an add placed in the hope of attracting a few customers who are seeking. As far as teachers of meditation go, Maitreya is someone who has done his homework. In sannyas days Baskar was a body worker in the ashram who I worked alongside in Koregaon park. I liked him. He was a fun guy to be around. Years passed and baskar, like so many of us went through a lot of changes. What made Baskar a wee bit special was that he really wanted to get enlightened, a contradiction in terms >I know but there you go. After some years of blowing his mind on psychedelic drugs, Baskar got his shit together and moved into years of deep mediation. Serious vipassana up in a Himalayan cave etc. I last ran into him a decade ago and he had a very clear meditative vibe about him that was tangible to an insensitive Scotsman like myself. He wrote a book which was, in my unenlightened opinion, awful. He began gathering a few seekers around him and a couple of weird stories centered around money. Recently Maitreya came to Ibiza to set up shop, but eventually settled for the Isle of Mann. I am on his mailing list and I think he, if I remember rightly, that he is considering returning to NZ.
I have about a dozen old sannyasin friends playing the role of guru these days. I reckon Maitreya is doing not to bad a job. A lot better than driving a tank in the name of democracy and that is for sure.
Last time I had written contact with Maitreya was centred around his opinion about Osho in retrospect. His response was humourous, respectful, wise and heartfelt.
It is easy to knock someone like Maitreya. The thing is, enlightened or not, he provides a service and some are willing to pay for it. He gives people to chance to play masters and disciples in a personal setting. Good for him.
so.. maitreya is a harmless baskartcase..mmm.. ‘azing
“The thing is, enlightened or not, he provides a service and some are willing to pay for it. He gives people to chance to play masters and disciples in a personal setting. Good for him.”
In that sense, many others are doing a similar service in the world dominated by need and supply. Disciples of Osho are in the forefront and have their spiritual kioks, the way Indians once had corner shops all over UK.
As long as there is no thought provoking quality in religiius leaders, best brains of humanity will avoid them. Those were really the times, when People like J Krishnamurti, UG Krishnamurti and Osho were sharing the peaks of human consciousness.. Waves are rising and falling… but seems like Tsunamis don’t come every day, every year or every decade.
@shantam..i think they come round more often than realized..i see it this way..the nature of enlightenment does not ..by any means ..cause one to feel Motivated to share their experience..much Less become a Master/teacher for who knows how many Morons!! the way i see it..there will always be mentally unstable ppl who think they are enlightened..there will always be ppl who know they are not enlightened but are entrepreneurial enough to declare themselves enlightened and capitalize on the idea. think of it..you dont need a product or a service..just declare yourself enlightened and go from there..
there would be no way to accurately find out..but my good guess is that Most who attain enlightenment dont talk about it..many Deny that they are..and why? bc who wants to deal with all the idiots who rally around them?? seriously!!..half looking for a savior and the other half looking to discredit or falsify the situation…
i think Master was either nutz or a martyr..who needs all the Nonsense that comes with offering to help others..most will not be helped in Any way..perhaps they will become even more lost..and those who are helped…could most likely help themselves anyway..as Masters sannyasin i am grateful He did choose to take disciples..yet..
so.. the reality as i perceive it is..that.we end up with a lot of bogus teachers..whether they Know they are bogus or not varies..bc some are just whacked ..and some are just snake oil salesmen..
enlightenment is a touchy subject..unenlightened ppl discussing enlightenment is like a bunch of virgins sitting around talking about sex..what does a virgin know about sex??
An enlightened chap once said that one way to spot the enlightened people is that they are often quiet and don’t say very much. Shantam seems to think that being enlightened entails being famous. It does not. This whole ranking Osho along Buddha and Christ is, in my unenlightened mind, a load of billocks. Osho was neither Buddhalike or Christlike. Why the need to draw comparisons?… and, if one really has to find a comparison, why not one that actually fits at least a little bit. On the ranch there was a casino and pubs etc…Buddha would not have dug that, as Christ would not have dug the cars and corny expensive watches that Osho was so fond of. Gurdieff would be a more fitting comparison, even though he was an alcoholic and philanderar who saw the error of his ways in later life. Why not say Osho was a unique spiritual teacher and be done with it?
Is it a coincidence that my wife won the lottery some years after meeting Osho?
Paramiti, Beautifully said.
Paramiti, Whether Master is bogus or real, whether disciple is sincere or a curious monger, one thing is fundamental, people want to Relate with something bigger, something higher, something which inspires us on the journey called Life.
Everybody has their own need, own speed own luggage to carry and one´s own unique destination. Here if someone gives a set belief system, some set rituals according to their good intention is basically doing a priestly work, and only for such persons i have a deep condemnation.
Example sake, a ritual was devloped spontaneoulsy during the evening meeting at Ahsram that disicples bow down when Osho entered the auditorium. Disciples were following the same, when Osho after His departure was coming only in the video.
It went on till 2000. After that when the bosses decided to change the DNA of the Ashram style and replace it with Resort, this thing called bowing down was deliberatly discouraged..and now when you bow down among the staright sitters, it looks odd.. to go against the current of the group is quite a difficult task..
As i see, in a civilised spiritual atmosphare, This and That both are accepted and given equal atomsphare to grow..When i see the new fashion of “Advaita”, it looks quite loop sided..Even the followers are unable to digest that Life consist of This and That and all in between and out..
Shantam
re “Bowing down” !!
I met Osho in 1974, the first darshan I went to there were a number of Indians. I was “green” , I didn’t know what the form was.
After Osho was seated in his Chair the Indians tried to bow down to touch his feet, etc, and thinking this was customary I also tried. He didn’t like it from anyone as far as I could see. He made contact with my shoulder and hurried me back into an upright position!
Frankly I cant see how the “DNA” of the Pune Resort/ashram was changed in 2000 by discouraging bowing down.. For all you know that may well have been an instruction that Osho left as he clearly was uncomfortable with the practice!
The beauty and relief I have found with advaita type teachers is that they dont seem convinced that having a Buddhafield which involves an organisation is at all necessary for spiritual growth.
Seeing teachers in small cramped Bombay rooms, or modest Quaker Halls, and discouraging organisations around them is refreshing. Having a drink with an advaita teacher in an English pub did have a moment of “freedom” for me. It wasn’t about the teacher involved but freedom from my own pro formas.
Parmartha, I’m with you all the way on that. Shantam’s problem, and it is a problem because he gets upset by it, is that he is far too concerned with externals. As far as the masses are concerned that is completely acceptable and can be judged normal. The thing is, these blogs are basically for people who were affiliated with a man who constantly said that the real deal lies within and those who are caught up in the mundane goings-on of the world are like lost sheep.
“Advaita or nonduality is the highest flowering of Indian spiritual philosophy; it is the quintessential mystical understanding. Advaita is as far as the intellect and concepts can go in the direction of truth. After advaita, not much more can be said.”
Thats the main advaita’s fail – intellects and concepts are so far as they can be, nothing more can be said… but ooops… people are stiil in dualities, they’ve changed their ideas but didn’t implement these ideas. Its the same as you’d say “this is the best ocean photos ever been made”, but photos are not ocean and talking about nonduality is not nonduality.
I remember osho said something like this: “start from beginning and you will reach the end point, if you start from the end point you will not even make a first step”
Important is bowing of inside with body, mind and soul, as full surrender.