What's Wrong With Nonduality?

It strikes me as an odd position to go back to a bronze age Aryan people who wrote the Upanishads to understand our life. Even Adi Shankara who died at 32 was still in mix of trying to figure it all out. He was debated, denounced, and his tradition was just that, namely his tradition. But to tell people to stop counting breaths, to follow your direct path, to use the teachings of a man who lived in South India in the 1950s, who you never met, seems hubristic. Ramana Maharishi seemed less dogmatic about his teachings than those using his name for paid retreats.

"I don't know" seems like a sensible response.

Spot on. Thank goodness there are still people who can think for themselves.

your explanation and understanding of this philosophy called Non-dualism validated everything I have been contemplating, and why I have had so much frustration when listening to non dual teachers. Thank you for sharing! Thank you for the conversation.

I agree with Robert that many of those who came out of Tony Parson's "lineage" are merely repeating what they have learned. That is why when I first came upon Tony and then discovered (thanks to Youtube algorithms) all the others using Tony's exact jargon, I called them "Tony clones". Some of those clones have begin to come into their own and are dropping most of the jargon and expressing themselves uniquely. I agree with what UG Krishnamurti said, that if "this kind of thing" happens to you, what comes out of you will not be like anyone else -- it will be totally unique. I find that unique expression is with Robert and it is refreshing.

Dear Robert, thank you. Your authenticity has such beauty 😘

I laughed out loud when you talked about Ramana Maharishi being a guy sitting around in a diaper. I like some of his talks but sometimes I have thought “he’s just a guy in a diaper” but have been too scared to say that out loud. I like the words “I don’t know”

Awesome! I have only listened to the first 3 minutes so far, but this is completely in line with how I view the words of some non-dual teachers. Few teachers say: 'I don't know' Fortunately, it was the great teacher Socrates who answered the question of whether there is a heaven (if I remember correctly): the wise don't worry about that. He also said: all I know is that I know nothing. It is starting to bother me more and more in my old age (if I were really concerned about it) that many teachers on YouTube claim to know how the universe works: universal consciousness is the foundation of the universe, the world is an illusion (instead of: my perceptions of the worlds are illusion). I don't know if there is a universal consciousness, but I do think that consciousness manifests itself in life. The absurd separation between body, mind and soul also does not appeal to me.

I have been listening to Paul Hedderman a lot recently and I have learned that what can be perceived cannot be perceiving and that you are what you're looking for, having never left your destination.

Great discussion. Thank you.

From a spiritual viewpoint, I believe that we are here to experience duality, the need to make choices and decisions, the development of our free will, to see the results of our choices and those of others. So while in this "realm" to think only of non-duality is to me just a waste of time and a form of mental masturbation. You are here to experience duality or you would not be here. We are all here because we belong here now. So accept that and learn the lessons that are only available here. Non-duality will be our environment when we've graduated to it. Otherwise, it is just an intellectual diversion. Your ego can say "Hey, I must be really advanced spiritually because I can recognize that we are really all ONE and non-duality is the true reality". But meanwhile, you could be ignoring the lessons required here in duality. In metaphysical terms, I know people here in the 3rd dimension who have read a lot of metaphysical materials and pretend that they are in the 6th nondual reality. But they aren't. They can deny the realities of 3D, but eventually they fall on their face and realize that falling on their face hurts (metaphorically) and that they would rather not fall on their face. Back to duality!!!

I appreciates listening to both, Jim and Robert. And.... If one person says; everything/life happens but no one is doing it and another person says; everything happens and there is some kind of a Self doing it, and ....there is no such thing as The ultimate truth......we just left with ....who knows ??? One can only goes by his own experiences, the moment he tries to convince others or other starts following him....we are back in the belief systems . If you kick Jim's shin his body will go through the pain and scream and he may kick you back ... Thats Nature ;-)

People who have taken non-duality as their dogma must do a lot of repression since everything in this world screams DUALITY.

Thank you. 💐❤🕊🙏🏽🕊❤💐

Thank you Robert for validating my opinions about all this rigarmaroo.

Sri Ramana Maharshi offered a hypothesis. He said try it and if it works for you, great. If not, that’s just what he experienced. He had no teachings other than silence. He did answer questions, but with the disclaimer that his answers were not to be considered teachings. He specifically said that nobody can tell you what truth is and that only you can get that realization yourself. Saying that he was just a man in a diaper and misrepresenting his life makes you lose any credibility you may have had. Your words come from a very limited mindset. He also said specifically not to believe anything he said, but to practice self-inquiry and find out for yourself what truth is to you. Although everyone is capable to do this, not everyone is ready. Thinking it’s okay to use it as an excuse for poor behavior or justifying lack of morals is just a couple of barriers between you and the point of the whole thing. It doesn’t work like that. Think of it as a natural speed limit. I’m not dying on a hill here, but I don’t like seeing anyone misrepresented by people who lack pertinent information. Using Ramana Maharshi as an example was not very well thought out.

Jim Newman and Andreas Müller are indeed clones of Tony Parsons, they have copied his voice tonality and expression. Jim Newman even does the same facial expressions. It’s a freaking weird phenomenon.

Robert, after years of being into Zen and Nonduality, I seem to be agreeing with you on this. They say it's not a teaching and there's nothing to teach. I've since moved away from it. Great video!

Hey Robert, It's another thing to go against the craziness of non-dualism and the "new age spiritual gurus" and another thing to say that we don't know anything at all - total relativism is self-defeating. We do know many things that are objectively true and necessarily true.

well said robert. these teachers are truly tiresome bunch