Question: Baba could you discuss philosophy of non-dualism?
Babaji: In this world when you recognize the forms it’s always the duality. That means one is important because of the other. Like the hero of the movie becomes important if there is a villain also. So that is how in life when you have lost happiness, when you suffer then you understand the value of happiness and peace also, otherwise you are likely to take things casually in this world. So this world is made up of duality but the Truth itself is non-dual. Like one single space exists, in that many forms, many worlds can exist. So the actual truth is also, one single Self that exists. That’s why there is one God with many names and forms. Through this practice of meditation you will be able to realize that Truth eventually. That is the non-dualism. By theory you can never practice non-dualism that is a dangerous thing. You are likely to adopt at one place and forget at another place.
Like Ramakrishna Paramahansa used to tell the story of when the teacher was trying to teach non-dualism. So then the student thought ‘God is everywhere.’ The student was sitting on the banks of the river. An elephant was coming with his rider. The rider was shouting to this student, “Give way, give way!” This student thought, “There must be God inside this elephant also, so this elephant should not be harming me.” But then the elephant came and threw him and he got bruised and broken bones everywhere. He got bandaged and he came and complained to the Master, “This is what happened. You talk about non-dualism, that God is everywhere and everything as one, but why did that elephant harm me?”
The Master said, “You forgot that God was on the elephant rider also. God was warning you to give way but you forgot. You forgot and you were trying to see God only in the elephant so you must learn to see God everywhere.” When you get a slap, everywhere it is God. If you practice meditation eventually when you achieve Samadhi then you will Realize one truth, one single space exist.
I give another example also. Like every time I have said, in this town where you are living, somebody asks you where are you from you will mention your street name, house number something like that. But if you go out of this town if people ask where are you from you will mention I am from this town. And then when you go out of this state you will mention that you are from this state. If you go out of your country you will tell I am from this country, you won’t be mentioning that small street or home number. So like that your consciousness is expanding from the small home, small street now you belong to a big country. All countrymen are like your brothers and sisters. So if you get a chance to go out to another planet when you meet somebody else also from the Earth, “Oh I am also from planet Earth, you are also from planet Earth!” You feel that that oneness. “Oh, we are brothers and from the same planet, Earth.” See the consciousness expanding. This is what is non-dualism.
When you meditate you realize we all belong to one single space. The space is home for all of us in which all the worlds exist, no matter how many worlds exist we don’t know. But still all of us exist in one space. So all of us are like brothers and sisters belonging to one home that is the realization of non-dualism eventually when you practice meditation.
