The Folk Theory of Nondual Enlightenment

1. The Folk Theory of Nondual Enlightenment

2. How can the supreme Reality be described, since It is neither white nor any other colour, has no qualities such as sound, and is beyond voice and mind?~Dattatreya Many rely on the folk theory of nondual enlightenment to help them “understand” and visualize what they believe they are seeking as nondual enlightenment A folk theory of nondual enlightenment is probably present in most systems of mystical spirituality that posit the possibility of being one with the universe, or, God This is the popular definition of nondual enlightenment This might represent a problem that is under-recognized by the nondual spiritual community

3. In Philosophy in the Flesh, George Lakoff and Mark Johnson argue that primary (or embodied) metaphors and folk theories are among the basic building blocks of human reason They define a folk theory as a “basic explanatory model… [which] make up a culture’s shared common sense” “There are often good reasons for these models, and in many cases folk theories work sufficiently well to serve everyday purposes” Folk theories are explicit, and yet also operate implicitly, becoming “unconscious and automatic, taken as background assumptions and used in drawing conclusions”

4. While folk theories help us to make sense of our lives, they are often full of noncritical assumptions We can identify a folk theory of the human soul We exist as beings apart from our body, and when the body dies, we will somehow continue, maybe in a good or a bad place There really hasn’t been any definitive proof of an existence of personal consciousness after death But since the idea of a soul has deep roots in our culture, most accept the folk theory that describes it

5. Any thought regarding the atman is a speculation.~Swami Dayananda Saraswati There is no possible description of nondual enlightenment Nondual enlightenment refers to the moment of and subsequent recognition of our nondual nature within the context of normal awareness The recognition brings a permanent ability to notice nondual awareness as the basis of one’s ordinary awareness Nondual enlightenment is not a glimpse, peak experience, or spiritual experience as they are commonly understood It’s a recognition of what has always been present in our everyday awareness—as its foundation—rather than a singular, shining moment of glory when we find ourselves to be divine

6. The impossibility of a description of nondual enlightenment hasn’t stopped descriptions from arising Descriptions of nondual enlightenment in religious literature are traditionally hyperbolic This has resulted in a rich and fantastic mythology that “explains” to us what nondual enlightenment is like Spiritual marketers often use these descriptions to promote themselves as examples of special divinity

7. A swelling glory within me began to envelop towns, continents, the earth, solar and stellar systems, tenuous nebulae, and the floating universes. The entire cosmos, gently luminous, like a city seen afar at night, glimmered within the infinitude of my being. ~Yogananda To the enlightened one, the world as he knew it ceases to be, and everything now stands enmantled (shrouded) by a shining vesture of divine effulgence, hitherto invisible to his normal vision. ~Swami Chidananda A Sadguru [enlightened spiritual master] is endowed with countless Siddhis (psychic powers). He possesses all divine Aisvarya (powers), all the wealth of the Lord. ~Swami Shivananda

8. The idea of siddhis anchors a “powerful being” metaphor of nondual enlightenment The notion of siddhis is popular in nondual spiritual culture because they are discussed in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras According to Patanjali, siddhis are special powers that are acquired by way of the performance of demanding spiritual discipline and/or the cultivation of moral purity Some of the siddhis mentioned in the Yoga Sutras are the power to “levitate, walk on water, swamps, thorns, or the like,” as well as “radiate light… gain distant hearing… become as tiny as an atom” The concept of a siddhi now covers just about any paranormal power that a person may believe is possible

9. Purna Avatars are born with an extraordinary array of supernatural powers, and possess an inexhaustible ability to perform divine miracles or miraculous deeds…~Dr. Chandra Bhan Gupta The idea of the divine guru, endowed with siddhis, is the beating heart of the “powerful being” metaphor This is a figure presented as having climbed the highest mountain of wisdom after a long and arduous journey, often beginning in their early childhood, to finally become the godman or woman they were born to be These include the satgurus and avatars, believed to be direct incarnations of God Him/Herself

10. Another main metaphor inherent in the folk theory of nondual enlightenment is the idea of the perfected being This is closely associated with the notion of purity The perfected being is literally perfect because they are nondual enlightened Or, they are nondual enlightened because they have made themselves perfect, or have been made perfect by God Their every action is considered to be God’s alone They are imagined to be clear vessels of God’s love They lack any ego, or only have the faintest trace of one They are free from the influences of thought, feeling and desire Some have demonstrated otherwise

11. Confusion… exists in the thinking that self-realization is the elimination of all thoughts in the mind. ~Swami Dayananda Saraswati A third metaphor of the folk theory of nondual enlightenment is comprised of ideas of non-existence These ideas can arise automatically when one is exposed to the conceptual theater of nondual spiritual culture These ideas can be true from a certain perspective, but often fail as a model of self, or the world They can foster a denial of our physio-cognitive realities and of the impact of real life If you believe you don’t exist, how are you going to recognize yourself as the existing nondual awareness from which your not-existent self arises?

12. 1 First conceptual bifurcation

13. 2 Keystone occlusion

14. 3 Composite metaphors with their primary metaphor roots

15. 4 The transformations of divinity, or non-existence

16. 5 The occluding imagery of enlightenment

17. It seems neurotypical for much of humanity to believe the sometimes extraordinary claims of the folk theory of nondual enlightenment Folk theories clearly have neurological correllates that operate explicitly and implicitly The product of these structures are images of what nondual enlightenment is like as an experience These images may work to interfere with a recognition of nondual awareness The quality of awareness in the mind falls on the image, preserving an ignorance of the actual, which is always present as pure awareness

18. This can be illustrated by the reproductive strategy of the cowbird The cowbird finds an active nest of another species of bird, where she lies in wait until she finds a moment to sneak in to replace the eggs with her own The victimized bird assumes the eggs are hers, incubates and hatches the cowbird’s eggs The cowbird chicks are then raised by the victim as her own offspring In much this way, our ideas and expectations about nondual enlightenment may become one of its primary preventions

19. The very expectation that thoughts and emotions should cease is a misconception. ~Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche A day will dawn when you will laugh at all your efforts. What is there to realize? The real is always as it is. ~Ramana Maharshi Unadulterated wisdom is only to be found within the stream of your own ordinary consciousness.~Traleg Rinpoche The only difference between an awake one and one who isn't is that the awake one knows there is NO difference.~Sailor Bob Adamson There is no difference between this moment and enlightenment. ~Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche The true mark of recognizing your Buddha nature is to realize how ordinary it really is.~Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

20. Give up the search, not the practice Self-inquiry Mindfulness Devotion