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Advaita Vedanta points to the direct seeing that there is only one reality and that what you take yourself to be as a separate person is not what you truly are and this can be known through direct understanding grasping through meditation not belief or worship.

In a nutshell:

Advaita Vedanta is a school of Hindu philosophy. It is one of the main branches of Vedanta, which studies the nature of reality and the human self or idea of a self. The word Advaita means not two, pointing to the idea that reality is ultimately one but we thinkers falsely think in terms of duality and separateness in everything.

It teaches that what we normally think of as separate or ourselves, other people, and the world is actually not separate at the deepest level of meditation grasp.

This is different from most religious or spiritual teachings like Buddhist doctrine because it is less about gods or rituals and more about understanding who or what you really are.

The core belief of Advaita Vedanta is that the true self, called Atman, (a descriptive word) is the same as the ultimate reality, called Brahman. Everything else such as bodies, minds, thoughts, emotions and the world itself is temporary or an appearance only.

The philosophy says that suffering comes from mistaking the temporary for the permanent and thinking of the human self as a separate individual. By seeing through this a person can recognize their true nature in deep contemplative meditation practice.

Advaita Vedanta does not rely on worship or following rules. It is a path of searching enquiry, reflection and direct experience. It asks you to look closely at your own consciousness and question what is real.

Teachers sometimes use texts, stories or practices but the emphasis is always on noticing what is actually here in the now, in your experience rather than accepting beliefs or ideas from others telling you what is. It is subtle, challenging and meant for people willing to face what they really are.

Most people who practise and study this subject matter, find other schools of thought or religions not hitting the spot for them. And that the math doesn’t add up around what their parents, school teachers, culture, society or religions are telling them.

Advaita Vedanta at its deepest level

Advaita Vedanta is not a belief system and it is not a religion in the normal sense.

It is a way of looking at reality so directly that it removes nearly everything people usually think is true about themselves and this world. At its deepest level it is not comforting and it is not motivational. It is honest.

The core statement of Advaita Vedanta is scary, that here is only one reality. That reality is not divided or split and there is no duality. What you call the world and what you call other people and what you call yourself are not separate things at the deepest level. Separation is how the mind works only but it is not how reality actually is or works, it’s our mind and ego that splices up life or this social system we live in.

This teaching does not start with improving a person. It starts by questioning whether the person you think you are is real in the way you assume you are throughout your whole life and not metaphorically but literally.

From the Advaita view the body is real as an experience only but it is not who you are. Thoughts are real as movements but they are not you. Feelings arise and pass but they do not define you even if you think they do. Even your sense of being someone looking out at the world is examined and found to be an appearance not a solid thing or entity.

This is where Advaita becomes uncomfortable for many or even scary.

It does not offer meaning in the usual way you look for it. It does not tell you that you are special or a ridiculously ego driven chosen one or evolving into something better later. It says look very, very closely and see what is actually here before ideas are added.

When you look directly you find awareness already present. You did not create it. You do not control it. Thoughts appear in it. Sensations appear in it. The sense of self appears in it. But awareness itself does not come and go like you think it does. It does not have an age. It is not personal either.

Advaita says this awareness is what you are.

Not yours to own and this is what I discovered a long time ago. This is not owned by you. And the same awareness is present in every apparent person and every apparent thing infinitely.

The reason this is hard to accept or for some grasp is because the mind is built on division and splicing things up. The mind works by separating this from that. Me from you. Inside from outside. Useful for survival but not accurate at the deepest level.

Advaita Vedanta is not trying to destroy the mind. It is trying to show the limits of it. The mind cannot grasp non separation by thinking because it operates through contrast. So, Advaita uses inquiry instead of belief.

This classic inquiry is simple. What am I really. Not as a story. Not as a role. But in direct experience right now, in this moment. When you look you find thoughts describing you. You find memories. You find sensations. But none of these stay. And or BUT, there is something present that notices all of them.

That noticing is not a thing. It has no shape or form. No boundary. No location. And is undeniable and real. Without it nothing could be known. Advaita says this is Brahman. (Just a word) Not a god. Not a being. Just the ground of all experience.

The idea of avatars in Vedantic thought fits into this understanding. An avatar is not a supernatural character or being sent from elsewhere. It is the same one reality appearing clearly through a human form. Nothing special is added. Nothing mystical is in it, no status. Advaita does not place enlightened figures above others in essence. It says the same reality is present in all things. The difference is ignorance and recognition not worth or holiness too.

Ignorance in Advaita does not mean stupidity. It means mistaking appearance for reality. Taking the body mind story to be what you are. Once this mistake is seen through your structure collapses quietly. Not loud but more like something heavy being put down or dropped, let go of.

At this depth Advaita stops being a philosophy and becomes a lived seeing, knowing and your life still happens, pain still happens. But the belief in a separate controller at the center weakens and falls away.

This does not make someone passive either. It removes unnecessary struggles. Your actions then arise from clear seeing instead of fear. Harming another any other is seen as harming the same whole or one. This is not something you get or grasp with thinking. It is something you notice as always been.

Authors final thoughts!

Advaita Vedanta at its deepest level is ruthless and simple too. It says there is no final security for the person because the person is not the final truth. And this is where peace shows up. Not emotional peace all the time but the end of the search for completion for a saviour or divine rescue.

That is all it is pointing to.

This article is 100% human written!

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