The literal definition of Advaita (pronounced “ad-vie-ta”) is “not two,” a technically preferable way of describing oneness because the term “oneness” implies the possibility of more than one. Nonetheless, the word “oneness” is commonly used to refer to the underlying or essential indivisibility, sameness, or unity of all manifestation that Advaita reveals. Scientifically, this oneness is seen in quantum mechanical physics, which shows that all matter can be broken down into smaller and smaller subatomic particles, which eventually can be seen to be composed of nothing more than light, or emptiness, or space. Truly, everything in manifestation is made up of one, and only one, essence.
Thus, there is actually objective proof that within our experience of life, which is tremendously varied and full of differences, there is an integrating element that is almost entirely being ignored. And that element is the sameness, or oneness, that is constantly present and makes all experience possible. It is called presence awareness (among many other names), and it is essentially the present moment—right here, right now. It is the “right here, right now” that has always been and will always be. It is the “right here, right now” that you experienced at age five and experience even as you read this page. And this sameness is what makes a sixty- or seventy-year-old feel no different inside than he or she did as a child. Presence awareness. It was present at birth; it is present at death. Right here, right now. Our one constant.
In early 2004, I had the great good fortune to pick up a book called What’s Wrong With Right Now Unless You Think About It? by an Australian teacher named Sailor Bob Adamson. Bob’s search ended in the mid-1970s when he studied with the great Hindu sage Nisargadatta Maharaj. He has been teaching non-duality ever since. As fate would have it, Bob and his wife came to America and stayed at our home for five weeks. During that time, he gave many wonderful talks and teachings, most of which are transcribed in this book.
For most seekers of enlightenment or liberation, the search is long and arduous with many twists and turns along the way. Finding truth is all the more challenging because there are so many varying viewpoints. People are different genetically, culturally, emotionally, and so on. There are paths for devotional types, intellectual types, mystical types, and so forth. What most paths and religions have in common is that they allow the disciple to seek without ever actually finding. This does not mean such paths are fruitless. It simply means that there is always more to chase and more to seek. There is always a bigger and better experience to be had. There is always a promise of a better future (even though life can only be lived in the present). And there is almost never a point where one stops to say, “Aha! The goal is reached. I have found. I am complete.” There is, of course, the rare case where that occurs, but it is sure to be the exception, not the rule. The few who claim to have found are nearly always the leaders, never the participants. This fact alone should give one pause.
In this regard, the teachings of non-duality are entirely unique. They are unique because they leave room only for finding and none for seeking! In Advaita, seeking is patently absurd because it implies a future time of finding. If all that exists is oneness, how can there be a past or future? Past and future are concepts in the mind, while the present moment—right here, right now—is all that truly is. If there is an opposite to Advaita, it is the act of seeking!
Advaita is based on understanding reality and existence from the broadest possible viewpoint. It is entirely unconcerned with practices, disciplines, rituals, and experiences. Seekers looking for self-development or for promises of a better future will not find them here. Non-duality rejects preferences and considers no experience, positive or negative, one iota better or worse than another.
For seekers who are ripe, non-duality brings ending upon ending, until only freedom remains. Once it is recognized that the reference point we live from, the “me,” is based on nothing more than a collection of thoughts and images, any sense of self-importance and individuality ends. Once the definition of reality is seen to be “that which never changes,” the illusory nature of our “apparent” creation is exposed. As soon as the essential oneness of existence is understood, the pervasive sense of separation gained in early childhood—when a so-called “individual” identity was created—cannot continue to exist. It simply disappears. Once it is realized that the present moment, right here, right now, is all that ever has been and all that ever will be, the senseless behavior of thinking about the past and worrying about the future utterly ceases. When we see clearly that who we are is actually “no thing”—non-conceptual, ever present, self-shining, just this and nothing else, as Sailor Bob puts it—any trying to change, fix, modify, or correct ourselves becomes pointless. One’s sense of “becoming” immediately drops away. When it is understood that everything in creation is, in essence, actually one (because everything in creation is comprised of the same underlying consciousness), it becomes obvious that all reference points are false. When it is seen that all reference points are false, judging any experience or any person as good or bad, or right or wrong becomes ludicrous. Everything that occurs is seen simply as “what is.” Once all experience is seen as “what is,” the perpetual habit of craving pleasure and resisting pain is over. Thus, for the ripe seeker, Advaita is the endgame of a search that previously appeared to have no resolution. Let me repeat that: for the ripe seeker, non-duality is the endgame of a search that previously appeared to have no resolution.........
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