DUALITY IN NON-DUALITY

[Ms Tercy Lonan]

46. DUALITY IN NON-DUALITY
Worshipful homage unto the supreme Divine Reality, the transcendental, absolute, cosmic
Spirit Divine that is minuter than the minutest, greater than the greatest, nearer than the nearest,
farther than the farthest; that is non-dual and impersonal, yet is the most personal of all personal
things. It is nearer and dearer to you than father, mother, relative and friend; It is the very life of your
life.
It, therefore, stands, as it were, in a strange contradiction: personal and impersonal; remote,
absolute, non-dual, transcending, but nevertheless, very immediate and our all in all. Non-duality
and non non-duality both seem to inhere without any contradiction, any paradox, in that Being. For
He is everything that exists.
Therefore, being infinite, omnipresent, that Being has to be everything that seems to us to be
multifarious, many. They solved this paradox by saying that He is the One within the many, Unity
in diversity: eko devah sarvabhuteshu gudhah (God, who is one only is hidden in all beings). Even
so, in this life we meet two in one everywhere; there is duality in everything. You have to ponder
how it is so, why it is so. And knowing it, how to make it a positive asset and not a negative liability.
That each one has to work out for oneself.
The whole of nature, the whole of God’s creation abounds in this duality. If a family comes
here, we may suggest that they sanctify themselves with a Ganga bath. At the same time we tell
them to beware of the Ganga, not to go out over their depth and to hold on to the chain. That means
that the Ganga holds within itself the all-purifying divine power and grace and, at the same time,
danger to life.
A match is indispensable in the household to light a candle or a fire, but if you are careless
with it, it can cause a conflagration. All food will become insipid and tasteless if you lose the sense
of taste. At the same time, the greatest problem of the spiritual sadhaka who wants to control his
senses is the tongue. Without sight the entire visual world is lost to us, but at the same time, a real
problem for sadhakas is the eye.
Inspiring and elevating truths can be imbibed by listening to discourses through the ear. You
can listen to bhajans, kirtan or Vedic chanting. But, at the same time, if you listen to scandal, gossip
and backbiting, it will be the source of irreparable harm to you. So, this one single organ of the ear
can become to you a great elevator to God-consciousness, or, if misdirected, it can become a curse,
a source of agitation and confusion in the mind.

The Bhagavad Gita says that the self itself is the greatest friend of the self, and the self itself
is the greatest enemy of the self. The self with the senses controlled is your greatest friend, but your
own self, personality, individuality, with your senses uncontrolled and turbulent, stands as your
greatest obstacle, greatest problem. Thus the wise masters have admonished sincere seeking souls
to relate themselves to all the senses in a relationship of control, of mastery. Having eyes be as
though you are blind. Having ears be as though you are deaf.
Gurudev made us aware and warned us to beware of this strange, seemingly contradictory
inherence of a duality in everything within and without. For example, he said that the body is the
greatest gift of God, for through it you can do infinite good to God’s creation and use it to attain
your supreme good. On the other hand, he said that the body is the greatest bondage; it is the greatest
curse. You should never again come back into it; therefore, strive for moksha, for liberation from
the wheel of birth and death. So, the body has, at once, two seemingly opposite principles.
The Gita also brings home to us this contradiction at the psychological level. Lord Krishna
asks Arjuna to free himself from a negative mood. He chastises him, scolds him, pulls him up. He
appeals to Arjuna’s intellect to assert its rationality to snap out of this abject, deplorable,
unfortunate state of mind.
And the strange part of it is, it is this very psyche that was in turmoil and caused Arjuna’s
breakdown that—when it listened intently to Krishna’s teaching, grasped it, absorbed it,
understood and assimilated it—brought about a transformation, a clear psychological
transformation. That very mind that had become Arjuna’s stumbling block became clear, resolute,
free of doubt and prepared to do the necessary. This means that the potential for such a change
already inheres in the mind. Therefore, the resolution of the contradiction is in the hands of the
jivatman, the individual.
It is said that the true Mahabharata is in the field of the human interior, the psyche. There
you have to resolve the contradictions and become established in a single balanced state, an
equanimous state.
In the spiritual path, all our experiences, negative and positive, that seemingly come to us
from outside, actually spring from within us. For the essence of non-duality exists within us. It is
how we relate ourselves, how we take things, respond to things, react to things, interpret things.
Although our problems seemingly come from without, they spring from ourselves.
This is a truth to be deeply reflected upon and understood. It will give us the key to success.
We should not seek solutions outside, because they are not outside. We have to seek solutions to our
problems within, whether they be ethical, social, psychological or spiritual. Because, in truth, the
problem is not without; the problem is within. We are the source of non-duality, and it is the mind
that creates duality as well as non-duality. It is the source of contradiction and also resolution of the
contradiction.
A newborn infant and an illumined sage behold the same world. Neither of them is affected.
They are not bothered. But, when we have outgrown the natural innocence and simplicity of the
infant and we have not reached the full maturity of illumination and enlightenment, we become the

prolific source of problems, complications, intricacies and complexities. It is because we have
neither the simplicity of the infant, nor the enlightenment and illumination of the sage.
In between, therefore, there is a need for common sense, for caution, for alertness and
vigilance. More than anything else, we need a proper understanding and a grasp of this fundamental
truth that within us lies both the paradox of contradiction as well as its sure, unfailing solution.
Therefore, wisdom, common sense and an alert awareness of the situation has to prevail always,
because we move with this paradox and contradiction every moment of our wakeful life.
This is not only to be known as an intellectual or psychological fact, it has to be applied and
exercised throughout our life as sadhakas and seekers until we reach illumination and liberation. It
is for a practical purpose that the knowledge of this paradoxical contradiction is to be fully grasped
and understood. It is not only for knowing, but it is for being applied, for doing something about it
each day.
May the grace of God and the benedictions of the guru enable us to successfully apply this
knowledge for unhampered progress in our spiritual life and sadhana, and for ultimately
transcending all problems by and through this knowledge. May this truth enable us to make our
spiritual life and sadhana progressive, successful and fruitful!