The more we move toward nonduality, the more Love we will have; the more diverse we are, the less Love, compassion, and empathy. When we live in our notion of diversity, we may believe in our uniqueness and not feel our unity with others.
We have spoken before of unidualism vs nonduality. “All is good” or “all is bad” is unidualism. Unidualists believe they see the truth and the big picture. They are really only taking a very superficial view of the world, and not even the whole world. They compare themselves with people whom they see as narrow in their vision; then they can believe they are broad-minded.
| Sees big picture | Tunnel vision |
| Cloudy / missing details / vague / abstract / noncommittal | Detail-oriented / earthy / grounded / handles day-to-day reality |
But these kinds of comparisons miss the truth entirely. On the one hand, people—individuals—think they matter in the world. But the truth is, they don’t even consider where we truly matter, and how. Most people live in their own narratives; if they are even conscious of their vibrations, which underscore their narrative, they think those vibrations don’t matter. But our vibrations impact everyone.
Our manifested activity happens because of our vibrations. All spiritual traditions teach that we must still our vibrations so that Love can and will shine forth. Our vibrations obscure the truth of who we are. So in order to truly be in harmony we must be willing to practice, and to still our vibrations. Then Love will be clear at all times and the reality of non-dualism will be apparent. This understanding is the way to embrace the world.
The only way to fit in is to Love. Love is nondual. It really is as simple as that.
But in our narratives, we believe we are clever, and know how the world really works. And our idea of how the world really works doesn’t make any real sense at all. We conflate all sorts of things. To take one example, we may not know the difference between being savvy and being deceitful.
| Savvy / smart / independent | Stupid |
| Deceitful | Transparent |
In 1979, Baba gave me a powerful experience of the void. But it wasn’t empty; it was completely full. It was darkness that was completely light, and brightness that was completely dark. That is what I experienced—the universe as illuminated darkness, or dark illumination. It was everywhere. It was everything. There wasn’t and there isn’t any “Oh well, over here we have something else.” No, it’s all. And that’s why the experience I had was in the waking state. Eyes open. It wasn’t a vision in my meditation.
That is the understanding of unity in diversity: the understanding and the experience of what underlies everything. So it’s a both/and simultaneously. There’s unity, there’s unity in diversity, there’s diversity. Bheda, bhedabheda, abheda. We’re heading toward nondualism; that’s where we are ultimately going. And that’s what Love is. The more we Love, the more nondual we are. If we are committed to diversity, we can’t Love.
If we are committed to diversity, we spend our time being separate, and separating everyone else into categories. We don’t have real Love, nor do we have real empathy. So the more we move toward nondualism, the first thing that’s going to happen is we’re going to hurt more. That’s just the way it is. If we’re not strong enough to feel that hurt, and if we’re not strong enough to face the hate within all of us, then we can’t practice. That is why this is not a “friendly” practice.
From the standpoint of nonduality, we can never attain. We can only realize and re-cognize. With nondualism there is no subject and object. All just is.
If we go back to the Yoga Sutras, the fourth section talks about how the mind is sometimes a subject and sometimes an object. And it can’t be subject and object at the same time. You’re sometimes a subject and sometimes an object. And therefore the mind cannot be you. And the more we practice, the more that sutra makes sense. When we think we’re an individual subject, we’re just a stew of thoughts using the word “I”. It’s just a notion called subject.
So be with your experience, whatever it is. Let whatever comes up from your experience come up. And function appropriately on the physical plane. This is to be done all the time, without interruption. We will then be guarding the Heart and will still all our vibrations. We will rest in the Heart. Love will then be unobscured.
Love is not a notion. Love is off the grid. There is no opposite to Love. Love is the only way to truly fit in. Truly fitting in is living nonduality. The Lover and the Beloved are the same.
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