Entering The Heart of Non-Duality

0:00 Hello, welcome to another episode of the Bearded Mystic podcast, and I'm your host, rahul N Singh. Thank you for taking out the time today to watch this episode. Listen to this episode. And today we're going to talk about Formless Awareness, pure Consciousness, that which you are, the whole point of non-duality. What is non-duality? What is non-duality? You know, we hear this word everywhere. Everyone's talking about non-duality. People even put law of attraction in non-duality. People put course of miracles into non-duality.

0:41 But what is real non-duality? The first question is let's investigate the body and the mind. Is the body who I am? Who am I? That's the fundamental question. Right, we start there. Am I this body, body? Am I this mind? And anyone that's read the Bhagavad Gita will know that whatever changes is not the self, and whatever is changeless is the self. Very simple, nothing more needs to be added there.

1:23 This body has gone through changes. I used to have a very black beard, now there's whites coming out. Body's changing, body's aging, body decays. So that can't be who I am. If the true self is that, the formless self, if that is changeless, then it can't be the body. What about the mind? The mind goes through different thoughts, different emotions, different sensations, different beliefs. It changes according to the times.

2:09 It's never still. There's stillness, then there's movement. There's stillness, then there's movement. We see that the mind also changes. So I can't be the mind. Can I be the breath, prana? Even that changes. Sometimes it's short, sometimes it's long. Sometimes I don't have difficulty breathing, sometimes I do. My breathing changes according to the way I speak. When I meditate, my breathing changes according to the way I speak. When I meditate, my breathing slows down. When I'm angry, my breathing speeds up.

2:53 So again, I cannot be breath, I cannot be air. Air changes. So what am I then? Now I can be aware of the mind changing. I can be aware of the body changing. Does that witness ever change? Does the witness ever change? Does the witness ever change? That's the question. Does the witness have a form?

3:35 And if you've been with me so far, that observer within you hasn't changed at all. In fact, if you recall your whole life, since you were a kid to a teenager, to middle age, old age, whatever, however old you are, to this point of time now, you can observe all that which has changed through the body. Yet that watcher has not aged with you. Your body's aged.

4:15 That hasn't aged. Even that witness faculty has not depleted in any way, not even when memory has become more tough. And you know we have memory issues now at my age maybe even younger because of our addiction to smartphones, where this used to be an older age phenomena is getting a bit younger now Can't retain information because the mind is never still to focus on long form. But I am the witness when I remember and I don't remember.

4:59 I am the witness when I taste food and Whether that food is tasty or not tasty, that awareness, that witness, does not change. Does the witness have a beginning? No, does the witness have an end? No, when I'm aware of the witness, what is present? What is present? There's an absence of thought. There's no thought there. There's no image there, there's no form there. It's formless.

5:39 That witness is formless. Initially I felt like I am the witness, but there is a feeling with the witnessing. Dissolve that feeling, that saksibhava Dissolve it and what's left is just formlessness, the imageless, the boundless, the limitless, the timeless, the silence.

6:24 That awareness doesn't contain anything separate to itself. This whole world is just an appearance. But what a beautiful and majestic appearance, so powerful that we get sucked into that world, into samsara, without even thinking twice. This self, this true self, is pure consciousness, awareness, formless.

7:13 Don't doubt this. There's no need to doubt something that you obviously are experiencing right now. This awareness doesn't flicker away at all, it simply remains. But yes, back to this maya, this world, this sansara, this jagat, this universe.

7:58 If it's none other than an appearance, a reflection, then that means that whatever action is done in the world, it doesn't stick to the consciousness, to awareness. It only sticks to body and mind, to form, because form or the ego identifies with the form and the ego doesn't identify with the witness consciousness. It can't, because the witness consciousness cannot be identified as a singular person or a separation of people. It doesn't do that. The witness is the same, whether it's me or you, exactly the same.

8:41 There's a sameness to it. This is oneness that we share as a human kind. You see, this world. If it's an appearance, how do I relate to it? If I'm pure consciousness, if I know it's an appearance, how do I act?

9:25 How do I respond? Do I feel pain? Yes, the body will feel pain and there'd be somewhat of a. There's nobody in this world that can say they don't feel pain, the true self that will never feel pain. Yes, witness consciousness, that awareness, formlessness Will not feel pain at all, but the body will, and that formless awareness Will witness that pain. It doesn't identify with the pain. The ego would identify with the pain If we allow the ego to Now.

10:10 The ego will have to have a function. If you go to the hospital and you're suffering, you're dealing with pain, not suffering, but dealing with pain. You can't turn around say, well, I'm enlightened and I'm formless awareness and there's no pain here. Of course there's no pain there, in formless awareness, but there is pain in the body and there the ego has a function to say, well, I'm in pain. You can't say this body is in pain. That would be rather, that's childish, it's juvenile, juvenile, juvenile.

10:54 So how do I deal with this world? Well, I deal with it as if I'm not the doer of actions. I use my intellect to discern what's best for not just me but the entire world. I take that path of least harm and, most of all, if anything happens, I understand that it's happening in me, the appearance, in the reflection, not necessarily to formless awareness.

11:38 And due to that, when one is fully immersed in that non-dual state, in that non-dual state where there's no friction between the world and the Atman, because the Atman is one and the same as the world. The world appears because of the Atman. It appears because of the true I am, the true, formless awareness. Therefore, what's the natural byproduct of this?

12:19 Let's explore this. Let's explore that nature of consciousness, that consciousness itself empty in content, in object, but it is absolutely, completely in fullness. That fullness itself brings transcendence into a natural course for the seeker.

13:00 It's as if this bliss just attracts the intellect to transcend from the limited body and mind and says you know what, beyond the witness, I cannot go there, so go. And when you surrender the body, the mind, the intellect, you are just left with consciousness. That's all you're left with. And there is bliss, and that's all.

14:02 That's all I think we need to say today. It's been one of those days when I just love being in the non-dual state. It's the best thing ever. And experiencing this for the past 12 years, let's just say it's intoxicating as anything can be. You cannot take any substance and replace it with what this brings, what this atma brings, what this true self brings, what this formless self brings, this formless consciousness brings.

14:52 You cannot. It's not even a single percentage point. The substance have nothing. That's why I laugh when people say that they can take so much psychedelics and not get affected. Who are you talking about? What are you talking about? The body, the mind. Sit down. That's not what you are. Realize who you are. This is what the sages have been telling us. Are we going to ignore them now? No, therefore, surrender to yourself, nobody else.

15:37 The inner guru is within you. The inner dweller of Brahman is within you. This is the Advaita teaching. It's as simple as that. I've shared with you the highest. Some of you will get it, some of you won't, and if you do get it, be humble about it and remember there's still more work, because your mind can easily play up, your body can easily play up, and you've got to make sure that this consciousness, your awareness, remains stabilized in this.

16:21 So never get too carried away with the breeze. Stay right here. Stay here now and you'll be fine. Take care, namaste.