“Remembering is for those who have forgotten”
- Plotinus
I haven’t written much in the last couple weeks. I seem to have encountered a certain change of momentum within my inquiry. I have always, since I was probably 17 or 18, been dedicated to the Perennial Philosophy. Whenever I appear to soar to the heights of the re-cognition of Awareness the view downward upon multiplicity – man, creation, etc – always comes together in a beautiful unity of beatific splendor.
Is not the “purpose” of remembering what alone is True the recognition of the oneness of reality? We may negate all that we are not “The world is not, Awareness alone Is” but when we have recognized Awareness as our true nature we then realize the second truth, “All is Awareness.” They were always One, but to encounter the direct experience of this reality we had to undo our belief in separation in order to see that we as individuals are not the totality but rather we as the ultimate Subject are the totality, the All.
My point is this, I fear that much of popular nonduality stops short of the direct experience of unified reality. We seem to be stuck on the negation of what we are not and can never rise to the reality of what we are. We are Awareness alone, but this inevitably contains what appears as Awareness. We often practically at least use the insights of Oneness to avoid the manifestation of what appears as Awareness.
This will come as a criticism on my part, which is a little different from my usual approach to writing and blogging. But the nondual message of our time appears to my eyes as ultimately a reductionist philosophy. Many responses could be fired back on this charge and I quite know what they are. However my criticism is not to undermine the pure teaching of the universal message of nonduality.
I’m not trying to convert anyone or charge that the message is false or I somehow know better than the great voices of this message. I am simply sharing the perspective on my part that after recognition one is placed in a position to clearly and soberly deal with the appearance of reality. This may mean simply living in a compassionate equanimity or it may mean a particular activity. Everyone is different hence the beautiful diversity of What appears as many!
For myself I turn from the contemplation of and abiding in Awareness back onto the pattern of multiplicity. In it I see what Rene Guenon, Frithjof Schuon and many others have called the sophia perennis. That is there lies behind the exoteric forms of traditional religion a primordial tradition, a pure metaphysics that in itself encompasses the nondual message. But as relativity, what appears, is a diverse manifestation specific traditions appear separate.
In the Perennial Philosophy I see a sober opportunity to direct the average person to a meeting with the Oneness behind reality, the Awareness that we all are. This entails meeting people where they are at. We find this ground in religion, that which points to a manifestation of Awareness. But if approached in the right way this form leads to the esoteric, the formless, it reveals Awareness.
Yes, recognition is entirely possible without religion, belief, form, etc. But what do we do after recognition? For this I believe a recovery of traditional religion serves a specific purpose. So my change in momentum means I’m turning from sharing the message of nonduality to sharing a unity of the form it expresses itself as.
Surely I will lose many supporters within my circle and that perfectly fine. I have the utmost compassion for their view and criticism. Hopefully they will honor mine as well. At any rate I won’t be posting much over the summer. I plan on taking some time to explore the Perennial Philosophy in greater detail, do some writing, and most of all focus on the direct experience of Awareness. But I will do this all from the perspective of the Christian message.
There will either be a reformatting of this blog in the future or an entirely new blog created. I’ll post details later. But I thank everyone who has been on this journey to nowhere over the last couple of years. Your readership has been the fuel that kept this fire burning. But it’s time to do something new in my life and different with regard to the method of sharing my experience of Awareness.
Thanks to all,
Love,
Hanuman Dass
