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The big duality of nonduality is the two kinds
of teachers or communicators.
One kind of teacher is the guide. He or she functions to guide
you to toward a full understanding of the way things are.
The other kind of nonduality teacher is the confessor. He or
she confesses or simply states the way things are.
Many nonduality teachers function in both ways.
The guide
The guide leads you to enlightenment or at least a better psychological
condition. The guide has a plan, a program, a practice. The guide
is extremely useful and helpful, and some would say necessary.
The confessor
The confessor is different. Either you get what the confessor
is saying or you don’t. The confessor says that "this" is … "it".
What is "it"? Perfect knowledge. Pure experience. The
Self.
The moment vs this
What is another description of "this"? You could say
it is the moment. However, it is finer than the moment. Since "this" is
so refined and small, it is incredibly vast, just as subatomic
particles are associated with a vastness of knowing.
The moment is not the same as "this". You can be in
the moment, perceive the moment, recall a time when you were
in the moment, do a meditation to put you in the moment. You
can Kodachrome the moment.
None of that is true for "this". You can’t be
one with "this". You can’t perceive or photograph "this".
The moment is the Now. People are convinced about the value of
living in the Now, in the moment. That’s not true for "this". "This" is
only confessed. The confession is the Kodachrome.
Presence
The confessor not only teaches through confession of his or her
truth, but also silently. The silent teaching is called presence.
Presence is silent confession.
Two in One
As I said earlier, many teachers function both as guide and confessor.
They express themselves through clear instructional guidance
and through verbal and silent confession. Guiding and confessing
are not necessarily separately occurring functions. While the
teacher is guiding you in the steps for proper meditation, for
example, she or he is also being the confessor, silently, as
presence.
Keep in mind that when you hear a nonduality teacher speak, you
may be hearing an emphasis on guidance or confession.
Traditional Advaita and Neo-Advaita
Teachers of traditional Advaita teach as guides. Since they are
enlightened, presence, or silent confession, is always cast like
a lighthouse beam.
Teachers in the so-called Neo-Advaita tradition teach by confession
primarily, silent and verbal, though they serve as guides, as
well.
I'm currently reading Dennis Waite's new book, 'Enlightenment:
The Path Through the Jungle', which points out the flaws of Neo-Advaita
and suggests how they should be corrected.
For example, Dennis says, "The untutored seeker does not
know what questions to ask to understand the nature of reality.
This is why a prolonged course of teaching is required first." That
is the voice of traditional Advaita Vedanta.
Dennis claims the voice of Neo-Advaita goes, in part, like this: "Neo
advaitins claim that whatever is the case is the 'story' of the
seeker, whether it be confusion, identification or suffering,
that "is" reality and, by definition, is 'ok'."
It looks like an interesting book, doesn't it?
Jerry featured a summary of the
book in Non
Duality Highlights Digest Number 3182, together
with a criticism of the book by Tony Parsons
and a response from Dennis Waite. You can join
the group, to receive the daily digests, at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights/.
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