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Advaita is a Sanskrit word meaning nondual or not two. This fundamental oneness is a quality of everything that exists. Everything is made of one essential substance. Natrually there is a question that arises: If everything is really all one thing why isn't that my experience? This question confuses oneness for everything looking the same. Something can seem different without actually being separate. Take your hand for example. Each finger is different from the others, but are they separate? They are all a part of the same hand. Similarly, the objects, animals, plants and people in the world are all definitely different in their appearance and functioning. But in their ultimate nature, they are all connected at their source. So, this one Being has an infinite number of different expressions that we experience as different objects. Isn't it true that your fingers are all made of the same stuff? As you explore more deeply the nature of your own hand, you may discover more ways the fingers are actually the same. They consist of similar tissues, cells, and ultimately atoms. As your experience of becomes more subtle, you find everything is a different expression of one Being. What about your experience right now? Is it possible to discover this subtle oneness in ordinary experience? It is, if you set aside the expectation of a dramatic experience of oneness and explore the oneness a little bit at a time. Just as even a single drop of water is wet, you can experience oneness in even simple everyday experiences, since oneness is a fundamental quality of everything that exists. Let's try an experiment: just explore your fingers and your palm. Can you find where fingers start and the palm ends, or are they essentially one thing? And where does the hand stop and something else called the forearm begin? Can you see the connected oneness of your fingers, hand and forearm? Now what about the other parts of your body? If you notice all of the connections, are your toes and your forehead really a part of one thing even though they look so different? And is there really a separation between your thinking and your brain. Where does your brain stop and then something else begin called a thought? What about emotions and wants? Are these subtle experiences really in any way separate from your body? Going further, check any sensations you are experiencing including sights and sounds. Where does the seeing or sight end and another thing we call the eye begin? And does sound stop when it reaches your ear or does the sound somehow continue right into your brain? Perhaps there is just one thing that is hearing, and it includes the sound and the ear and the brain. Yes, ears and brains and sounds are all different things but they are also not really separate. Then the question arises, what about the source of the sound? For instance, if a dog is barking outside, where does the dog stop and the sound of barking begin? Or are they really one thing? If a dog and its barking are one thing, and your ear and the sound are also one thing, then you and the dog must be one thing also. Advaita, or oneness of Being, is actually something quite ordinary and is not actually hidden and difficult to experience. Obviously a dramatic experience of oneness, where you are overwhelmed by the oneness of the whole universe, is a special experience. But why wait when this beautiful and fulfilling sense of oneness is always available right now?
Article Source: http://www.content.onlypunjab.com
Nirmala provides free ebooks & online videos at www.endless-satsang.com. He's been a spiritual teacher in the Advaita tradition since 1998, and gives satsang (gathering for truth) and individual spiritual mentoring phone sessions. This article is available as a unique content article with free reprint rights.
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