Advaita Vedanta, commonly known as non-duality, is a specific philosophy related to Eastern philosophy and religion. It gives more importance to the mental over the physical planes. The concept claims that the only ultimate reality is your consciousness, and everything else, even the physical world, is somehow derived from consciousness.
The concept has its roots in humanity’s most ancient wisdom texts, which are known as the Vedas. The Vedas have four texts, and they are individually known as Rig, Yajur, Sama, and Atharvana Veda. Vedanta means the end (anta) part of the Vedas, and Vedanta is also known as Upanishad.
Moreover, Advaita Vedanta is also considered to be the mother science as it has influenced the sciences of both Yoga and Ayurveda. It is the basis of nearly all wisdom emerging from the East. Conventionally, Vedanta was always taught together with Ayurveda and Yoga education.
Why Is It Important?
Advaita is crucial because by understanding it, you can get closer to self-realization. In fact, by making an effort to know it, you are engaging in Jñana Yoga, the yoga of knowledge, one of the conventional ways of achieving enlightenment.
If you close your eyes for some time and try to focus your attention on your inner self, it may appear easy at first. You will be aware of hopes, feelings, thoughts, desires, fears, and a general sense of yourself right away. This is not the inner you.
As per Advaita, if you are aware of something, it is not you in real. The real you (the atman) is the aware portion, and it is not anything of which you are mindful.
A Sense of Connection
Advaita Vedanta is the experience of familiarity with all things, a feeling of connection to and identity with the whole universe. In this concept, the thought of you being a seer of objects completely disappears, and instead, you think of yourself as whatever object you are observing. As an example, you do not see the river. You are the river. You do not hear the chirping birds; you are the birds’ chirp.
Similarly, the thing you experience also vanishes, in the way that it is no longer experienced as an object, nor even as separate. The river is not a river; the birds chirping is not a thing; both are seen as vivid yet empty experiences. The point is there is nothing separate, and everything is united.
Hence awareness is no longer divided into an experience and the thing you experience, it is just pure experience with no separations. Without any subject or an object, your experience itself without a seer or a seen is the core of Advaita Vedanta.
How Can You Experience the Concept of Advaita Vedanta?
All the cultures worldwide have heard about nonduality, and they have established several methods to help human beings to have this experience. The point is, nobody can teach you this concept unless you start feeling it from within. Moreover, this concept Advaita Vedanta is at the root of all human awareness.
Once you begin to awaken yourself, you will realize that you are the self in all beings at the core of your being. Everything like the animals, objects, plants, and people, look separate, and yet, all are associated, in fact, one, at their source, the self, which is the pure consciousness.
In simple words, Advaita or nonduality is all about self-enlightenment. Different people experience it in different ways. However, you can try it through meditation too. Make sure that you sit in a quiet place for meditation.
Moreover, you cannot achieve the essence of Advaita Vedanta overnight or in a moment; it takes time. For most people, this process even takes a complete lifetime.
The Ultimate Reality
Advaita shows an Ultimate Reality (Brahman) that surpasses all existence and non-existence. It is a reality beyond any description, cause, and effect, and it is eternal and independent.
You are Brahman
According to Advaita principles, Brahman is everything. If you follow this concept, you are Brahman. You should not misunderstand it as your name, body, mind, or you as the individual. It is beyond it; it is about your inner self.
The human self, known as atman, is, therefore, nothing but Brahman, and it exceeds birth and death, age, and ailment. Even when you die, your self will live on and start new adventures and expeditions.
To sum up, Advaita is not a belief or a thought; it is an experience. Hence, you are the ‘brahmin’ [atman], the supreme power, and you have all the power within you.
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