Non-Duality and Embracing Spiritual Similarities

0:00 Hello and welcome to another episode of the Bearded Mystic Podcast and I'm your host, rahul N Singh. So yesterday I spoke about how things have changed after I watched a reaction to a reaction video that I did of a reaction to reaction video of a video. Anyway, I did a reaction to a video and Liam, my good friend known as Yam Socks, he did a reaction of my reaction. Yeah, anyway, so we, he did that and obviously that meant that I kind of watched my video again and I'm going to post that video in um, the video description and show notes.

0:52 So do check that out and if you haven't already subscribed to my channel, make sure you like this. If you want to join my discord server, the link is below. If you want to support the podcast in any way, there's all that information is below in the show notes for the video description. So make sure you do all those things before you do anything and make sure you do leave a comment at the end of this video. It'll be, it'll mean a lot, or if you can leave a review and rate the podcast on whatever podcast streaming app you're on. Yeah, I should always do that. I always forget to do that, so but yeah, anyway, back to the reaction video.

1:33 So obviously meant that I kind of watched what I said and one thing I said in there was that we should always look for similarities and recently obviously there there's been some YouTube drama and involved Artem initially, and then things got sorted out and this was actually after his roundtable discussion with me months later. So I'm talking recently, as in like maybe within this last month, um, and he was on the podcast for shiva. I watched that and, uh, you know, there's, there's always certain things which I will probably probe him more on and not necessarily disagree, but probe him more.

2:23 Um, I don't think you can actually truly disagree with someone completely, because what I found and when I reflect upon my own journey, the things that I agree with you know many years ago I don't agree with now and things that I disagreed with I now agree with. So it's kind I disagreed with I now agree with. So it's kind of like you, either you evolve in terms of your understanding or you have an experience which kind of makes you feel different. So this was an experience that I had when, obviously, liam Liam Socks he did the reaction video and I mentioned there see the similarities, as you know, regardless of what tradition you belong to now, artem obviously doesn't.

3:11 He claims he doesn't belong to a tradition. So we take him on his word on that. So he doesn't belong to a tradition, that's fine. But he obviously borrows from different traditions and that's a good thing. He sees what works for him and and that's his teachings. So when he did the roundtable discussion and obviously there's a war in the comment section, even on emails, you know personally we exchanged a lot of messages and it became rather toxic. He even made a complaint about me to the ASI, the Association for Spiritual Integrity, you know, because I hold myself to certain guidelines, because if I'm teaching on youtube or on a podcast, I should be held to a certain standard in my honest um belief.

4:15 So I so he made a formal complaint about me, had a discussion with the ASI and we dealt with that. And when I reflect upon the roundtable discussion, I think I was rather fair to Artem. I thought there was no problem in the actual videos, just when he got to the comment section and one thing that he kept mentioning and I think maybe it could have got rid of the conflict a lot quicker and this was by his suggestion that we go and video me.

4:58 We work it out, work it out. Now, I think the reason why I resisted was because I didn't like the way he claimed that he could just make people cry if he just stared at them. I didn't like that. I felt that that was a rather kind of obnoxious thing to say. Now, I don't know, I probably should have understood his intent. He may not have been coming across he may, he may not have had like any element of being obnoxious, but it came across that way. So obviously, I watched this video with Leo and Shiva and you know I consider Leo and Shiva my good friends and I really, I really like Shiva.

5:46 I think Shiva's the one guy where I don't know where he's going to take his YouTube channel, but all I know is he's willing to ride the wave and you know he has done a pilgrimage to Gelash, where you know Shivji's abode. Totally respect him for that and that's not easy terrain to do. So I hugely respect him. He has Sadhguru as his guru. I totally respect him for that and that's not easy terrain to do. So I hugely respect him. He has Sadhguru as his guru and I think anyone that has a guru and always gives thankfulness, I think, should be appreciated and honored, in my opinion. But that also means that you represent that person and that lineage and that tradition.

6:28 So I'm sure he's aware of that too. And he exposed, uh, an ex non-dual teacher as well who now claims to be the second coming of christ, um. So yeah, he initially had one um conversation with art and that was taken down. That video was taken down because Artem claimed that, put a claim through and YouTube took the video down and it was just interesting to see Artem go 180, like when they did an interview with him. He then kind of was much nicer, much more pleasant, while when he didn't know he was being recorded by them, he was different.

7:17 Now, who knows, you know who was right or who was wrong. But for me, whether you are being recorded or not, like me as teaching here on youtube and obviously if I have a one-on-one meeting with anyone, it's recorded. I record all my conversations. They are um, you know, if that person allows me to publish those meetings, I'm happy to do so, like there's. No, I shouldn't be like one person you know on the camera here and another person when I think I'm not being recorded.

8:10 You know, I've got to be the same and be consistent, because how else are you meant to be integrated into this understanding, into this realization? So you know, for me I would like to know why Artem showed two different sides and what that represents in terms of a spiritual understanding. Not necessarily the social dynamics, that that's pretty obvious, but what was the spiritual dynamics in what he was presenting? Because I'm sure he knew somewhere somehow that he was being recorded. I mean, he recorded it himself, I think on the stream himself, I think on StreamYard, but I think he was pretty.

8:51 I would like to know what went on there. But also, I think Artem may have insights because he says he doesn't have seekers as his students. They're not looking for self-realization. They're most likely to be self-realized as they claim, and I think he takes them on their word on that. So I would like to know more about you know how to stop people going into the spiral of thinking like they're the messiah or the second coming of christ or um, and things like that, and what triggers people to do that? He probably would have a good insight on that.

9:32 The only thing I kind of also I kind of maybe cringe when he mentions Osho, because Osho was someone, one he's contradictory One. He's contradictory, and he's contradictory because he only spoke. He never had written a book. So obviously views change, opinions change, beliefs change. His refinement probably Dictates what he then says in the moment. And he spoke to his students, his disciples, who he later made into friends. What he then says in the moment and he spoke to his students, his disciples well, no, his disciples, um, who he later made into friends, and when he's talking to them he's talking to the individual, not necessarily to me or you.

10:21 We can be inspired by it, but we've got to understand the context. So you know he may. You know, I remember reading a book where he it was called being in Love and in the book he says do not marry. And then in the next chapter he says you know, you can. He tells someone not to divorce and to stay married. So you know how are you meant to interpret that? So obviously he never said that you have to make whatever he says into a belief. The whole point is that you gotta find your own truth. But the only teaching he kind of kept consistent was just be the witness, and um, and then eventually just drop the witness, because when you just let the witnessing be and the witness just drops away.

11:11 So, uh, see it. So sometimes I do cringe when he mentions osha, because I think it kind of suits his. Whatever he's trying to portray, maybe, but again, these are minor points. But I kind of also appreciate that he talks about osha, because a lot of people tend to shy away because they look at the Oregon incident and they think that should be blamed on OSHA. I fundamentally kind of disagree with that. But, yeah, seeing the similarities, but yeah, seeing the similarities, and in the end you know whether and one of the things that I noticed in myself and I observed and was probably a vast now, that I had so a latent tendency which was kind of like to prove that other people were fake teachers, and I think somewhere I must have felt that.

12:12 And especially when someone is a self-proclaimed enlightened person, I kind of now see why Artem says he's enlightened, because I don't know whether he is or not and, to be honest, only he should know that I. I can't guess that I can. Definitely, um, definitely there's certain criterias that one shows when one is enlightened. But, um, but yeah, but is it for me to parade that on YouTube that someone is fake or real. I mean, it's up to me to mention if someone's real, but do I need to say someone's fake? And that's that's something that I've thought about a lot that if I call someone fake, that's opening the door to conflict.

12:59 Therefore, I'm not seeing the similarities. I'm now looking at the differences, and I'm, and the problem with that is, only differences are seen then. So the nuance of actually praising someone goes out the window, and I guess that's what social media also wants to bring out of you, and you know, it kind of loves the drama. But in a way, I do feel that whatever genuine teachers there are out there, we should, and when I mean genuine, I mean they're honest. They don't see themselves, as you know, the only enlightened person on the planet. They understand that enlightenment is the only thing here, and even those that are in ignorance are actually enlightened.

13:45 They just don't know it. The whole point is to move beyond the concepts of being bound and liberated, the you know that's the ultimate truth. You know, and and so I don't want to deviate. So I'm trying to keep coming back to my point that, in the end, those that are genuine should stick together. We should should, even if somebody looks a bit weird. You know I'm not. This is not saying Atom is weird, by the way, I don't think he's weird. But there may be teachers or people who are kind of eccentric beings.

14:30 You know, like when you look at a J Krishnamurti or he's probably not so much, but you know, a yuji krishnamurti was, you know, eccentric, unique you, you couldn't second guess what he was gonna say. And those type of teachers are pretty rare. But when you find those type of people, they're pretty good to be around, they keep you on your toes, they can try to trigger you and the question is, if you're an enlightened person, then you won't get triggered by them. You will understand where they're coming from and I've met such a person. I am, he's called, I am, he's a Norwegian guy and he was on Shiva's discord and again, I could see differences between me and him and what we believe in.

15:26 But then I also see a lot of similarities, similarities, and so watching that reaction video has kind of transformed me in the sense of I want my channel to be celebrating those that, even if you know years down the line, you know, if they end up being fake and they end up being in a scandal. I can always take those videos down. You know, that's something I can do, but in the moment I don't know that there's been no investigations. There's a reason why I don't talk about Muji because there's allegations about him.

16:07 So obviously I'm going to be cautious about promoting someone like him. And it's just about being cautious. And yes, if someone has some sort of um allegations, one should take it serious, especially when it involves women who could have been harmed. So, yeah, uh, that's really what I wanted to say was you know and there's no need to kind of and this is maybe to other content creators on youtube us non-dual teachers that unless we see a scandal come out, um, we should give everyone the benefit of the doubt and learn from them.

16:53 Let people know their teachings. You just never know what can happen. I think it's always best to be nice and friendly and try to check yourself in someone speaking and um, so, yeah, me and artem are, we're gonna definitely have a podcast together. We've reached out and I've I've um, you know, I want to move that friendship forward and I think I want to get rid of this idea or notion of asana that I have, that someone is enlightened, someone's not enlightened.

17:38 But you know what, when you come from that perspective that all are enlightened then and again the caveat is that there's no scandal about them then one should explore and that doesn't make me less of a person on my podcast I'm still the face of the podcast and I think sometimes there can be insecurity that oh, if I put somebody, if I interview someone, someone may to them, but I have no calms about that. When it comes to, say, swami Sivarabhiyananda, I would love everyone to follow him, so it's, or my guru or anyone like that I've interviewed, and so I think things will change.

18:30 Things will change with me and the way I see things, and they are changing and I think it all comes from a place of peace and so, yeah, I'll leave it at that. But let me know what you think, let me know how you feel. This is obviously an evolution that's happened, I think, and I think it's time that when we have these ex-non-dual teachers or ex-enlightened teachers come out and say they are the second coming of Christ or Messiah or whatever, say they are the second coming of Christ or Messiah or whatever, that we're all there together to help those followers or disciples that follow those people, that when they feel hurt that we can catch them, so they don't you know kind of crash.

19:28 We want to make sure that they feel safe with us and I don't want my content to be of and I don't want anyone to come across my content and feel, well, he's not very receptive. I don't know if I can trust him. You know we should be open and helpful. So if you've been with an ex non-dual teacher and you are looking for a home, obviously there's this podcast, there's many people that I've interviewed and who you can trust and, most of all, just thank you to Yamsocks for doing a reaction video to that and just waking me up from a vasana or dissolving a vasana, for for me, actually, this is a refinement process.

20:16 Once you realize that there is only Brahman and everything else is more or less on the relative reality, that there's YouTube and all this, you can then deal with it properly and understand that that Varsana was a temporary one. It will no longer, you know, bubble up so Obviously on the ultimate level. There's no Varsanas, there's no, nobody that is being influenced or moved by them, because there's no Body essentially there, it's formless. That awareness that is there prior to thought, prior to being, prior to being born.

21:03 You know that famous thing what were you before you were born? That very question that sri krishna asks you know, you've been, you've been here for many lifetimes. The whole point was to take Arjun to that point when he would think of that prior moment before being born, you know, prior to the experience of being a conscious being, you know. So, yeah, anyway, thank you very much for listening. See you in the next episode, stay safe and make sure you write a comment. Let me know your views and hope to see you soon. Thank you, namaste.