What Non-Duality/Neo-Advaita Teachers Won't Tell You

Oh My Totally Unbelievable God! I made a mistake. The lines I quote are not Patanjali's! They are Sri Swami Satchidananda's interpretation of Patanjali (1978). Total mistake, totally mine! I don't know why, but it suddenly struck me that I might have quoted from the commentary rather than the Sutras. So I checked, and it was indeed the case. So, I got that wrong (the Neo-Advaita teachers won't say that either, btw!). I still hold by the message in my film though. Love, peace and happiness to all, best wishes for 2020 and thank you for engaging with my content :)

The quote at the beginning is incorrect. Patanjali never said that at all.. I have studied the Yoga Sutras for 50 years in many translations and that is not in any of them, nor is it in the original Sanskrit. I have been the constant Witness for 13 years, but beyond that is just Being, neither the actor nor the Witness, but just pure existence without being anything in particular and having no location in time or space. Being the non-actor is just a phase you go through, and beyond that awareness locates itself everywhere as infinity, and yet - and this is what a lot of non-dual teachers do not speak of - the personality is still there and you are as ordinary as anyone else, but the spiritual part of you remains apart from all your reactions. And so - there is no real non-duality. Awareness is split between 2 poles of awareness. Atman is perfect, but there is no perfection for the personality. You are are both at once, perfect and imperfect, and that is okay.

When I watch and listen to all these explanations, teachings and different theories about who we are, what our conciousness is and why non-duality is the only correct view of our existance, I more and more feel the need to get free. Free from thinking that there is a right view, free from having to meditate, free from becoming anything, free from trying to understand all the deep thoughts and free from trying to be enlightened or saved or whatever the goal is. So my personal path forward is now that there is no path I need to find. There is no direction and no goal I need to find. I don’t need to understand concepts, ideas or deep thoughts of the universe, my mind, my conciousness, if my will is free or not, if my existance is only an illusion or not. There is nothing I need that I don’t already have. Life is a gift that I just enjoy and share with everybody and everything. The heart of existance is love and truth. Not truth in the form of a special teaching, belief system or path, but truth in the simple form of good or bad, being kind or selfish, being honest or trying to impress, being human or trying to be perfect. After having lived and searched everywhere for 71 years, I have finally found peace. There is nothing I can do or need to do in order to be free and have peace. I already am that. Life is a gift from the loving God who knows me and cares for me and let me be myself so I can love myself like he loves me.

Many people are waking up without any spiritual seeking or practice whatsoever. It happens through surrender usually brought on by despair (but not always). To let go of everything and “walk out of your life” does not require any specialized knowledge or sacred practices. However, if one has no solid grounding in a true nondual tradition, many folks who have had a revelation or taste of freedom can easily fall back into their old habits and delusional ways of thinking. The loss of self is often a terrifying experience, and some even succumb to mental breakdowns. I think it is important to point out that no spiritual practice (including meditation) leads to enlightenment, liberation or whatever you want to call it. The purpose of meditation is for us to become consciously aware of our inner world of thoughts and emotions; of how they come and go etc. and realize their insubstantial nature of instability. Understanding how the mind operates, and what it is made of, may help us in terms of not giving it so much attention but becoming more aware of and more interested in that which knows the mind—the presence of being that is not affected by whatever appears and disappears. This process of witnessing the thoughts and images coming and going changes the condition of the brain as Emily says, and certainly helps prepare it for a true awakening (sustained, unbroken presence of being). Eventually the mind may be “ready” in terms of: being awake to or alive to what is happening here and now throughout our daily lives in everyday situations and not just when sitting in meditation. Too many “meditators” get attached to formal meditation and never integrate it in their everyday experiences. Turn the light of awareness upon itself and be lamps unto yourselves.

Thank you for putting things straight forward

A very good point your making towards people who are or have been following neo-advaita teachers. Discrimination is indeed key for 99.9% of people. Although ultimately nothing can be done, it is hard work to shift cognition.

Just awakening to my story. So grateful I dreamed ur avatar👍

I completely agree. You have to train and reprogram the mind. But the paradox is that, once you’ve trained the mind and when self realization happens, you realize that there is nothing to do, no practice, no mediation no effort. But until realization happens, you continue to practice, to meditate and train the mind.

This is what I’ve been looking for. I can distinguish but now I need to understand how not to be nihilistic. The actor has to be accountable. The witness can set the actor relatively free. But within the bounds of this mortal life.

Of course form and fomlessness, spirit and matter, are the same in essence, but not in experience, not within awareness, and not within our normal perception. It is a question of perception, perspective and awareness of Unity, but most people who claim non-duality have cleaved a gap between the two and are only concerned with the stillness and transcendental aspect and therefore it is untrue for them to claim to have non-duality; they are only interested in the experience of non-involvement which divorces spirit from matter, whereas in fact both are true and both experienced, sometimes with matter in the foreground with spirit in the background of awareness, and sometimes with spirit in the forefront. Sometimes one predominates and sometimes the other. True non-duality is when both are seen and both are balanced, equal. The highest truth is when both are seen to be the truth, and this is called Brahman - the totality of both, the oneness of life. But a lot of awakened people do not want to take ownership of the form-nature and even demonize it, thinking it is somehow bad, whereas without it enlightenment would be impossible. And people do not see that the ego uses the opportunity to make itself special in the form of: I am spirit, apart from everything, I am holy.

Well done, so well and succinctly said.

Very good clatfication of Emily Wolkins,bcs I some periods am the witness but some others get drawn in a character and loose the witness state. Thanks

There is never two, only one believing there is two. When that’s seen and known unequivocally, its known that whatever one apparently chooses or does is only the one doing what the one will do. Until that is known, it will seem like a choice is being made by a witness or an actor. That’s the duality. All the time there appears to be a switching between witness or actor the truth of your essential being has still to be realised. No amount of meditation will change that as there is no doer to do it. Thats the catch. At any point you think you are doing something to get somewhere ( an outcome) your trapped in seeking. The true surrender of such seeking allows grace. ❤️

Patanjali never said things you saying , can you give reference of sutras you mentioned in this video ? i like what you said about you have to train your brain

Thanks .. I agree. You have to overcome the default mode by creating a new pathway..

Reading the ending, doesn't let us experience the book.. and we are all here to for that story! Knowing we can write our story is the shift, because realization isn't the end, its only the beginning. But you're 100% right, people love to think it just saying.. yup I'm enlightened.

I feel like being in peace with yourself is what really matters, as you are with yourself all the time

Your video really helped me. I am an Indian myself but my heritage is a maze for me to traverse and find what is value to me. Thank you for your clarity and no-nonsense approach. May Bhagwan bless you for your effortZ

What about being actor and witness at the same time, have you heard about the art of doing without doing?

this is so totally true!