non-duality
Exploring false (non-liberating) teachings
Note that False teachings may also be useful to us at times, and are often part of our (apparent) journey. ‘False’ here just means teachings that do not directly point to liberation.
Immediately below you will find a playlist of videos on YouTube all of which explore false or non-liberating teachings, starting with a video on savikalpa vs nirvikalpa teachings – this may sound quite obscure but many have found this video to be one of the most helpful videos they have listened to:
Here are some videos from the above playlist:
Do we need a Guru or Teacher? | Liberation & Self-Realisation | Advaita
NOT ‘THIS’, ONLY ‘THAT’
Some say that all is One already, All is Divine, so no need to give anything up, no need to do anything. Whilst there is a truth in this, and whilst this type of teaching can provide us some limited time-bound relief (which is good as a start), it is almost always an ego-preservation strategy: the thinking mischief-causing mind is allowed to continue with its ideas and concepts and beliefs about ‘this’, and the genuine thought-free Blissful Realisation of That Which Always Is, is postponed yet again. Suffering and duality continue, apparently, and we remain stuck in illusion, apparently.
Why ‘apparently’? Because in Reality there was never any ignorance, any delusion, any duality or any suffering. Only Blissful Being ever really is.
‘This’ never was (referring to objective phenomena/maya).
There is only That (Divine Formless Spirit)β¦
β¦and That Thou Art.
To realise this is very simple: (1) Surrender all to the Him (or Her or It), (2) allow the mind to become first happy, then very calm and still, and then (3) enquire into yourself as per instructions of Bhagavan Guru Sri Ramana Maharshi
Bhagavan Ramana summarises the teachings using the Biblical phrase ‘Be Still and Know I Am God’
Om Tat Sat
π
Shedding spiritual concepts | When to let go of teachings | Vedanta
Spiritual Liberation: the primary effort we should make
Partial Nonduality: what it is and why you need to know about it | Vishishtadvaita
Partial non-duality, also known as Vishishtadvaita (often translated as ‘qualified non-duality’), is actually another form of duality. What is it? Why is it important to know about it?
The mind wants to get there as soon as possible | Liberation & Non-duality (Advaita)
Is yearning for God Egoic? Isn’t devotion dualistic? | Everyone is a spirtual seeker
The teaching never ultimately points towards an object
What are we all really looking for? We are looking for total fulfillment devoid of any misery. This is our heart’s desire and you do not get that from someone else or something else. The best teacher/teaching can do is to point you back to yourself.
This video was recorded live during a Satsang meeting with Tom Das and put together by volunteers.
To attend satsang, see here: https://tomdas.com/events.
For guided meditations see the ‘guided meditation’ playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/c/TomDasNonduality/playlist
For recommended reading for liberation see here: https://tomdas.com/2020/10/19/recommended-reading-books-for-enlightenment-liberation-and-self-realisation/
To book a 1 to 1 session with Tom see here: https://tomdas.com/nondual-spiritual-counsellor/