"When life's problems seem overwhelming, look around and see what other people are coping with. You may consider yourself fortunate." ~ Ann Landers

 a

A

"When life's problems seem overwhelming, look around and see what other people are coping with. You may consider yourself fortunate."

~ Ann Landers

A

BEYOND DUALITY IS NON DUALITY 

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗨𝗡𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗢𝗙 𝗘𝗡𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧

As seekers, all of us begin our journey seeking the other shore of enlightenment. We believe that we need to evolve into a higher or purer state of consciousness. Enlightenment seems to be an exalted state, radically different from the current state we are living in. However, the moment we come to know the reality, along with relief, a sense of disbelief coupled with slight amusement lights upon us. We were a victim of a cosmic joke, as we realize that at no point were we divorced from reality. We were just dreaming ourselves to be in bondage, but in fact we had been perfect and free from suffering all along, just like the body is all peace even in the most frantic dream it had in the night. If the bondage was not real, how can enlightenment be real?

Thus, in Advaita we have the following verse:

𝟐.𝟑𝟐. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐧𝐨 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡, 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦, 𝐧𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡.

~ 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐤𝐲𝐚 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐤𝐚

𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘢𝘳𝘢’𝘴 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺: 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 Ā𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 (𝘝𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤), 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘪.𝘦., 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 (𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺); 𝘯𝘰 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘪.𝘦., 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦; 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘪.𝘦., 𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨; 𝘯𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘪.𝘦., 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯; 𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘨𝘦 (𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵). 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘦𝘵𝘤., 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

𝘐𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 (𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧) 𝘗𝘳āṇ𝘢, 𝘦𝘵𝘤., 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 Ā𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘮, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘮. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦 (𝘪.𝘦., 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵), 𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥, 𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 (𝘪.𝘦., 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥). 𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘴 𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 (𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦) 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 (𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘥). 𝘍𝘰𝘳, 𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦’𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 (𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘢𝘮ā𝘥𝘩𝘪) 𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥. 𝘏𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘦𝘵𝘤., 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 (𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥).

The same thought is echoed by Dzogchen teacher Vairotsana in his "Five Early Transmissions". The following verse occurs in the section named, "The Eternal Victory Banner”

𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝟖: 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲

𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫,

𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫

𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭.

𝘒𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘋𝘰𝘸𝘮𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭-𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘩𝘢, 𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘐𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵. 𝘚𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵?

𝘉𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘩𝘢 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭, 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵; 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

𝘕𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.

𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.