Advaita Anubhuti – Experience of Non-Duality in day-to-day life
What is the experience of Non-duality?
Non-duality means not two. We see multiplicity all around. We can see so much of difference everywhere - living,
non-living, matter, and consciousness. Does experience of non-duality means - all these differences vanish?
Experience of Non-duality in day-to-day life: Let us look at our body. We have five fingers - obviously they are sepa-
rate and different. But all of them are the part of the hand. There is oneness of the hand behind different fingers. Let
us look at the objects in the world. There is a separation between the seer and the seen. When you look at the tree,
tree is separate from you. Where is the separation? Where does the tree begin and end. Light from the tree enters
into the eyes and forms a image in the retina. This image is converted into biological impulses in the brain for inter-
pretation. Where is the tree really? Out there? Where is the separation between the Seer and the Seen? Similarly
where do you draw separation between the one who hears-hearing-source of sound? This is true for all our sensations
- touch, taste, smell, sight, and sound. Where do you draw a line and say this is where the sensation starts and this is
where it ends. Where is the boundary between one country and other country - only in map and human mind. All
the experiences - subjective and objective happen in consciousness. Objects seen, and experiences like touch, feel, ....
taste etc. all are happening in consciousness. Consciousness and objects of consciousness are called Shiva and Shak-
ti. Shiva and Shakti are one. This is the realization of non-duality.
Is Non-duality Special experience necessary?
Non-duality is a day-to-day living experience. It is a natural experience. It is not a special experience. .For example all
of us know that earth goes round the sun. But our day-to-day experience is to the contrary. Sun is going round the
earth as per our experience. But deep in our heart we know that this experience is not true. It is the earth going round
the sun not the other way due to our understanding based on principles of Science. .Similarly when we are going
through the experience of life of diversity, we can live in non-duality with our conviction derived from the spiritual
teaching of Vedanta. Don't wait for special experiences of non-duality but live with the conviction derived from the
teaching of Vedanta - bring non-duality into our day-to-day living. .There is no need of special experience called Non
-dual is necessary but, conviction in teachings of Vedanta is necessary..Live with a conviction that All that is there is
Consciousness.
How the life will be different with the conviction of Non-duality?
When everything is part of one whole, Universal love, compassion blooms in heart. With that comes the attitude of
service. Serving the creation. Conflicts within mind vanish.
Special Experience of Non Duality: There are cases of Individuals experiencing non-duality. We call them Sag-
es/Saints. Spiritual practices lead to this experience of non-duality. Spiritual practices lead to deeper silence of the
mind. Silent mind is able to perceive underlying unity. Meditation helps in direct experience of non-duality. Deep
routed belief systems about separation from the existence have to be dropped. This can be done through contempla-
tion on spiritual truths of Upanishads. Dropping of unconscious beliefs about separation is essential for direct experi-
ence of non-duality. Ocean is turbulent at the surface. As you go deeper, there is deep silence. Similarly mind, which
is contemplative and meditative, reaches deeper level of consciousness to experience Non-duality.
Prabhuji Speaks
P a g e 2 D i v y a J y o t h i
P a g e 3 D i v y a J y o t h i
Kurvate karma bhogya karma
kartum ca bhunjate|
Nadyam kita ivavartad avartam
tara masu te|
Vrajanto janmano janma
labhante naiva nirvrtim|| (30)
The jiva engages himself in
action for getting enjoyments
and does actions again for en-
joyment. They soon after get lost in the rebirth from
one birth to another, like the insect fallen into river is
swept from one whirl pool to another, and do not at-
tain liberation. (30)
The desire for getting enjoyments makes us act. When
there is a desire to see, the eyes are used; when the
desire is for feeling, through the skin the touch is felt;
when the desire is for taste, the tongue is used; when
the desire is for smell, the nose is used and when the
desire is for hearing, the ears are used. The five sense
organs are the organs of action that make us act. The
attraction towards the object is the subordinate to the
desire.
As said in Sri Bhagavad-Gita the desires of the mind
are insatiable and are compared to the fire. Any
amount of fuel we give to the fire will not satisfy it. We
can throw the whole world into the fire and at no
point will it say, ‘No thank you, I’ve had enough.’ This
is the nature of fire. This is the nature of desire, the
desire that has no destination. The more we feed it the
more its appetite increases, the higher and wider is its
sweep.
A honeybee starts the honey making process by visit-
ing a flower and gathering some of its nectar. Many
plants use nectar as a way of encouraging insects to
stop at the flower. In the process of gathering nectar,
the insect transfers pollen grains from one flower to
another and pollinates the flower. Similarly, our de-
sires start storing impressions and vasanas in the sub-
conscious mind. Just as the honeybee is attracted to-
wards the nectar we are also attracted towards the ma-
terialistic world. Just as many plants use the nectar as a
way to attract and encourage insects, many of the ma-
terialistic objects attracts us and encourages us to
achieve them. This is the desire of our formless mind.
Mind nature is to hold on to something all the time. If
it loses one, it will find something else to hold. Now
when you catch hold of changing one, which we do
very often, or all the time, then every moment you
should keep on changing whatever you are holding
onto. It never ends, how can we hold on a changing
object? You are handsome, you are beautiful, and you
feel happy. What are you holding? You are holding to
your body. Handsome and beautiful are for the body.
After a few years body becomes old and then you will
get hurt. Today, you are topper in class, you are proud
of your intelligence and when you go to the next
standard, you see that there are people who are more
intelligent than you and in next level a large number of
people are better than you. You are holding to the in-
telligence, how long you can hold on to the intelli-
gence?
You hold on to mind, which is happy one moment and
becomes unhappy the very next moment for some rea-
son. Can you hold on to the mind or the body or to the
intellect, which keep on changing? That holding on
gives you suffering. The desire to get something from
the world cannot be fulfilled, because it is a moving
target and every time it keeps on moving. ‘I will be
very happy if I get good marks, got good marks but
unhappy because need a good job. I will be happy if I
get a job, got job but still unhappy, why? I want a good
girl or boy to get married, married still unhappy. I
want a promotion. So this is s never ending list. Every
time a new target comes up. This will continue until
the last moment of your death. Still you have to get
something from life, something from outer world, the
desires are never fulfilled because new desires keep
sprouting up. Then what happens? Unfulfilled desires
lead to another birth. Punarapi Jananam Punarapi Ma-
ranam, again and again birth and death will happen.
How long can you hold on to something, which is
shifting, shifting and shifting to new one? So, only
those who hold on to permanent will become free.
What do they hold on to? What is permanent in you?
They hold on to the unchanging, the Sakshi inside
them which is permanent. That is called Parabrahma.
Panchadasi - Tattva Viveka 30
P a g e 4 D i v y a J y o t h i
If you are able to understand that I am not the body,
mind and the intellect, I am Pure Awareness, Witness
(Sakshi), then you will start becoming free, otherwise
life is full of hurts and those who hold on to Parabrah-
ma, they become free, get liberated, Muktas Jivan Muk-
thi.
ignorance and show deity in the heart.
Then what is jnana, there won’t be deities in jnana?
We have manas and chitta. Manas and chitta requires
deities to purify. Once that happens jnana shines in
buddhi. Outer deity has to become inner deity. That is
what Guru teaches in meditation. That is what Guru
teaches in Six Chakras. Jnana is mainly for Ajnachakra.
Some have a question if we can visualize a form in
chakra? Depending on our ability, we can visualize
form, qualities, colour and feeling. These are generated
consciously for the purpose of meditation. Ganesha is
a form given to Parabrahma for the purpose of medita-
tion and Bhakti. To become a good teacher, it takes lot
of tapasya.
Jnana and Bhakti
There is a popular belief that Jnana marga is dry, Bhakti
marga is enjoyable. The understanding of what is jnana
what is Bhakti has to come from Guru. Self-learning has
pitfalls. Most of the learning about Jnana/bhakti happens
through books or half-baked wisdom. It is misleading.
Even for Bhakti marga one has to follow an enlightened
teacher. The problem is, there are few really wise teach-
ers and to access them is very difficult. The moment
there is really an enlightened Guru there is no Marga.
The marga ends and wisdom shines. If one gets an en-
lightened teacher in Bhakti marga, one will have a vision
of deity fully and no more marga remains. Jnana and
Bhakti both are same. It is always for Inner Self. .To start
with, people are given outer form. You Get stuck to outer
form becomes there are great hurdles in spiritual life.
Enlightened teacher in Bhakti marga will remove that
Sanatana Dharma
P a g e 5 D i v y a J y o t h i
Mastery over words, Knowledge of science
Savitribhir vacham Chasi-mani-sila-bhanga-rucibhir
Vasiny'adyabhis tvam saha janani samchintayati yah;
Sa karta kavyanam bhavati mahatam bhangi-rucibhih
Vacobhi vagdevi-vadana-kamal'amoda madhuraii..(17)
Oh, mother holy, He who worships you,
Along with the goddess like Vasini,
Who are the prime source of words,
And you who are having the great luster,
Got by breaking the moon stone,
Becomes the author of great epics,
Which shine like those written by great ones,
And which have the sweet scent
Of the face of the goddess of knowledge. (17)
The Holy Mother – The Cradle of Wisdom
Vasini means knowledge. People of India -Bharatiyas
excelled in knowledge - outer in the form of science,
ayurveda, astronomy, and mathematics and through
Vedic knowledge - Para Vidya. But for contribution of
Bharatiyas world would not have achieved the progress
and prosperity we are seeing today. But for the contri-
bution of Para Vidya - the path of non violence
(ahimsa), love (prema), shanthi (peace) would have
disappeared from face of earth. Glory to the Holy
Mother.
Bharat or India is a land where since ancient times
people are spiritually oriented. The reason Sanatana
dharma and its principles are alive today is not be-
cause of Vedas but the knowledge and wisdom of ve-
das hidden in the stories of Ramayana, Maha Bharata,
Puranas, Bhagavata etc. And the credit for this goes to
Sri Vedavyasa to have protected the paravidya
Sri Vedavyasa: Sri Vedavyasa has compiled the four
Vedas, Puranas, Ramayana, MahaBharata, Bhaga-
vadgita, Bhagavata for the benefit of future generations
of people. While the stories of Purana may not be true,
there is truth in those stories. The stories are not sto-
ries, they are capsules of knowledge containing deep
spiritual messages. Bharata (Meaning Land of people
interested in wisdom) or India is a land where since
ancient times people are spiritually oriented. It has
weathered many brutal assaults on its spiritual herit-
age, culture, and dharma. Many wars has been con-
ducted against India by hostile forces destroying li-
braries, temples etc. The rea-
son Sanatana dharma and its
principles are alive today is
not because of Vedas but the
knowledge and wisdom of
Vedas hidden in the stories
of Ramayana, MahaBharata,
Puranas, Bhagavata etc. And
the credit for this goes to Sri
Vedavyasa to have protected
the paravidya (spiritual science) and aparavidya
(material science) of Vedas. Please do not mistake that
Vedas are related to religion. Meaning of Veda is
knowledge. All knowledge whether it is spiritual or
material science has origin in Veda. Modern science is
dependent on mathematics. Without Mathematics
there is no science. And the basis of Mathematics is
the concept of '0' zero. This concept of zero is coming
from Veda. Sri Vedavyasa is not mentioned anywhere
as the origin of all knowledge and todays generation
has almost forgotten the savior of mankind. Because of
Sri Vedavyasa, the knowledge is encapsulated in the
stories and passed on from generation to generation
and the wisdom survived, and it has been passed on to
the entire world. The Holy Mother is the cradle of wis-
dom. It supplies the knowledge and wisdom to the
world.
He who worships the Holy Mother along with the god-
dess like Vasini, Who are the prime source of words,
becomes the author of great epics, Which shine like
those written by great ones, And which have the sweet
scent Of the face of the goddess of knowledge.
Soundarya Lahari
P a g e 6 D i v y a J y o t h i
Sri Lalita Sahasranama – 11
Nija Sallabha Madhurya Vinirbhardista Kacchaphi
Mandasmitha prabha poora majjat Kamesha manasa
She who has voice sweeter than the notes produced by
Saraswathi Devis Veena (This is called Kachaphi)
She who has lovely smile which is like the river in which
the mind of cupid plays
Saraswathi is the Shakti (creative energy) of Brahma.
She is the Devata for Wisdom, music art and medita-
tion. Sharada is incarnation of Saraswathi. Saraswathi is
also the river flowing from Kashmir area where Vedic
wisdom flourished. Sharada is the form in which Saras-
wathi appeared to Rishis. Saraswathi is formless.
Sharada is with form (Saguna). Saraswathi is wor-
shipped as Sharada during last three days of Navaratri
beginning of winter (sharat ritu hence name Sharada).
Saraswathi is Brahma Vidya. Saraswathi is regarded as
the Goddess of knowledge and the arts. Saraswathi is
Nirguna Brahman attributeless and the absolute. Saras-
wathi represents consciousness and wisdom. She is also
regarded bestower of her own knowledge. Saraswathi
literally means as the one who gives 'swa' (own) her own
knowledge 'Sara'. Goddess Saraswathi dressed in the
color of purity and seated on a white Lotus represents
that she is represents supreme reality and knowledge.
The rosary signifies concentration and meditation. The
Veena in Her hands is the intellect. Saraswathi has a
vehicle called swan, swan has an ability to separate milk
from water that represents the discrimination. Viveka
and vairagya – discrimination and dispassion. Sharada –
Sharada is Brahma Vidya Rupini. Sharada is Goddess
Saraswathi herself. Sharada is Saguna Brahman means
with attributes. Sharada holds a mala representing
meditation with silence; a book that signifies
knowledge; veena represents viveka and vairagya, the
arohana and avarohana. Sharada represents Sadguru as
she is the bestower of the auspicious Knowledge. The
peacock represents the Soundarya or the Bliss/Joy of
Brahma Vidya. The difference between attributeless
and attribute is just how we perceive. The Holy Divine
Mother’s lovely smile which is like the river in which
the mind of cupid plays. Love that pervades this whole
Universe is nothing but Divine Mother. Everything in
the Universe is held together by Love. The pure love
expresses itself in many many ways. It is Sun’s love
that is expressed as sunlight in the whole Universe, for
all the living beings. Love is giving, and is an expres-
sion. It is out of pure love that Sun gives sunlight,
moon is expressing the delightful light in the form of
love, wind blows out of love, river flows, and every-
thing in nature is an expression of pure love. This love
is called Divine Mother. Now this love when it express-
es through human being, it narrows down. Infinite
love becomes finite. Mother says, “This is my child.”
Love gets restricted and expresses as love for “my
child”. When love comes through the human mind, it
narrows down. Now there is a possibility that we can
experience that infinite love when our mind becomes
purified. That infinite love is Divine Mother. We can
experience this Divine Mother in this lifetime with this
human body mind complex by a pure mind. A pure
mind does not say “me” or “mine” as it narrows down
the love. It is like this - there is sunlight, sunlight gets
reflected maximum or fully in the mirror, reflected
partially in the river and reflected very minimal in the
stone. Similarly divine love expresses completely in the
pure mind and pure heart. When mind becomes puri-
fied divine love expresses itself in full form, like infi-
nite waves through a human being who has purified
the mind and offered the mind to divine. That is what
realization is about, experiencing of divine love is the
peak of human evolution. Divine Mother Saraswati’s
smile is like the river flowing from Kashmir area where
Vedic wisdom flourished. Saraswati is formless; she is
Guptagamini. One can only be aware of her, she is the
Nirguna Brahma.
Lalitha Sahasranama
P a g e 7 D i v y a J y o t h i
The Flow of Cosmic Energy
Dhanurmasa starts with
Margashira shuklaekadasi
(the eleventh day in the
bright half of the lunar
month of Margashira) and
extends up to the end of
Dakshinayana. So, the
period extending between
Dhanus Sankramana and
Makara Sankramana is the
auspicious Dhanurmasa
Period. In other words,
the Devatas start waking up. In case of human beings
we speak of Brahmi muhurtam – the auspicious period
just before dawn. The mind is full of pure qualities –
satva during this period – very auspicious for medita-
tion. By analogy what happens in microcosm (humans)
happens in macrocosm (cosmos). The Dhanurmasa is
the brahmi muhurtam for cosmos! In other words, the
totality representing the cosmos is very conducive to
spiritual practices. Getting up early in the morning and
doing meditation and spiritual practices is recommend-
ed practice during this month to utilize the cosmic en-
ergies conducive to the spiritual upliftment. Sri Datta-
treya – a great realized soul was born in this month.
Vaikunta ekadasi and Geeta Jayanthi are also celebrated
in this month.
One Pointed Focus Towards Self - Atman
Ekadasi means eka – single; dasi – direction. Vaikunta
means vai – no; kunta – deficiency and Bhagavadgita is
the key to open the locks of gates of Vaikunta.
Vaikunta ekadasi is considered as most auspicious of
all the Ekadasis. It is said that the gates of Vaikunta
open on this day. One who fasts on the day of Vaikun-
ta ekadasi will reach Vaikunta - the abode of Lord Na-
rayana. Let us understand the spiritual significance of
the festival.
Fasting on Ekadasi is considered as one of the best
spiritual practices. Periodic fasting helps one to over-
come the deep routed impressions (vasanas) for food
and also cleanses the body. Ekadasi stands for eka-dasi
(one direction). 10 sense organs which are outwardly
directed towards food are directed with one pointed
focus towards Self - Atman.
Vaikunta Ekadasi.Vaikunta stands for Vai+kunta
which means where there is no deficiency (kunta). The
ego self "i" suffers from a feeling of deficiency. Because
of identification of infinite self with limited body mind
complex, the ego self always feels lacking. When the
ego self drops in total surrender to the Lord, we attain
Vaikunta - deep bliss and peace of the Spirit - Atman.
Vaikunta Ekadasi is the fasting done for attaining lib-
eration from the ego self. Vaikunta is our Real Home
The place we are at rest is called home. Place where we
are comfortable and peaceful. This is our inner Self -
Atman. When the mind drops ego sense and rests in
Atman, we have reached our home.
It is said that on the day of Vaikunta Ekadasi, gates of
Vaikunta open. On the day of Vaikunta ekadasi, Lord
Dhanurmasa Vaikunta Ekadasi
P a g e 8 D i v y a J y o t h i
Shri Krishna taught Bhagavadgita. Eighteen chapters of
Bhagavadgita present the moksha shastra - secrets of
Liberation. Through the path of Jnana, Bhakti and Kar-
ma, one reaches liberation. Bhagavadgita is the key to
open the locks of gates of Vaikunta. Study of Bhaga-
vadgita, teaching of Bhagavadgita, practicing Bhaga-
vadgita opens the Gate of Vaikunta.
terialism to spirituality. All these changes Yuga parivar-
tana was set in motion by Shri Ramakrishna Parama-
hamsa. On 1st January 1886 when Shri Ramakrishna
Paramhansadev had blessed his disciples with divina-
tion saying, Tomader Chaitanya Hoke (you all be
blessed with holy enlightenment) at Kashipur Garden
House in North Kolkata. The disciples blessed on the
day had described this incident as the transformation
of Swami Ramakrishna Paramahansa into a Kalpataru.
A Kalpataru, as per the Indian mythology is a magical
tree, which blesses a person with anything which he or
she desires. It is believed that Shri Ramakrishna Para-
mahansa cured the diseases of some people by just
touching them on that auspicious day. Since then all
devout Hindus are observing January 1st as the Kalpata-
ru Day by joining mass prayer meetings organized by
the Ramakrishna monks all over the world. Kalpataru
Utsav mark the metamorphosis of Swami
Ramakrishna Paramahansa into a Kalpataru
or magical tree. This festival is celebrated
every year to commemorate the divine trans-
formation of the great soul of India, Swami
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, who is also fa-
mous as the Guru of Swami Vivekananda.
On the 1st of January 1886, Sri Ramkrishna
Paramahamsa made up his mind to go for a
short walk in the lawns of the garden since
he was feeling well after a long illness. Since
that day was not a working day, a number of
disciples of Swami Ramakrishna Paramahamsa started
to gather in the garden. Swami Ramakrishna Parama-
hamsa addressed all who were presented there that
they will gain cognizance and after that he went into a
trance. Then, one by one, all the disciples of the Thakur
started to take his blessings by touching the feet of the
Swami. In this phase of meditation the Thakur blessed
the disciples by providing them the sight of holy en-
lightenment. Overawed with this, most of the disciples
were speechless and continued to watch him with awe.
A number of his disciples called others to take the
blessings of their Swami while several other disciples
chanted hymns and prayed the Thakur with flowers.
Some of the disciples of Thakur like Sri Ramachandra
explained this incident as the transformation of Swami
Ramakrishna Paramahansa into a Kalpataru.
Kalpataru Utsav Metamorphosis of Swami Ramakrishna Parama-
hansa into a Kalpataru – Part 1
Swamy Vivekananda – Rama Bana from Shri Ramakrish-
na Paramahamsa. 1st January is a very special day. On
that day Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa made
Yugavatara - Setting in motion the Wheel of Dharma.
India was in bad shape with British colonization. People
had lost all their faith in Sanatana Dharma. On this day
He lit the flame of Dharma eventually bringing faith and
confidence in Indians. One arrow shot from Shri Rama-
krishna Paramahamsa was sufficient to destroy igno-
rance of Indian masses and rejuvenate faith. The name
of the Arrow was Swami Vivekananda. It was like Rama
bana - arrow from bow of Rama - eventually leading to
freedom struggle and freedom of India. Today on the
Threshold of 21st Century, India again stands rejuvenat-
ed - resurgent, confidant. Prior to Colonization world
was looking at India for Spirituality and wealth. During
colonization, it is the wealth of India, which fuelled in-
dustrial revolution in the world. At the end of 20th Cen-
tury as rest of the world is rediscovering the spiritual
roots, it is Mother India rejuvenated spiritually, materi-
ally who will show the way and lead the world from ma-
P a g e 9 D i v y a J y o t h i
The Holy Mother
December 13th is Sri Sharada Devi Jayanti. In the history of hu-
manity there has never been another woman who looked upon
herself as the Mother of all beings, including animals and birds,
and spent her whole life in serving them as her children, unend-
ing sacrifice and self-denial. Many people used to come to Maa
Sharada Devi and ask for mantra. She never used to give mantra
to everybody. When people asked her the reason for not giving
the mantra, she replied, “See, the meaning of giving mantra
means that the responsibility of that Shishya is mine from that
moment and that Shishya’s liberation is my responsibility. When
a Guru gives a mantra, it is a commitment from the Guru to the
Shishya. If I give the mantra to an undeserved person, I have to go behind him nine life times for him to get liberated.”
Mantra is such a severe commitment from Guru nine months, nine life times, ninety life times Guru will take the com-
mitment to come with Shishya, that is power of Mantra. Tat Twam Asi -That Thou Art may be learnt from several
books. But when the Master utters these words, the disciple immediately realizes the essential meaning and gets a
glimpse of realization. This is the power of Deeksha - Initiation. Presence of a Living Realized Master and Deeksha
from such a Master is a great fortune.
~ Prabhuji
Ma Sharada Devi
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