Eric Putkonen: Non Duality

Q&A

Zoom dance with theme of Non Duality:
- Was on Wednesday, July 6, 2022, 7PM Mountain Daylight Time

Attunements

Here is a short video with Zareen meeting with Eric for our first question. What is Nonduality?

What is non-duality?

Non-duality is covered in a lot of different traditions. It comes from Advaita Vedanta primarily, because what we call non-duality is derived from Advaita. which means “Not two.” But other traditions study it as well. Buddhism, Sufis and Dervishes talk about non-duality.

In a nutshell, poetically, you could say there is just oneness, there is no other, there is no second. This however brings up the idea of a me, an individuality, with a center of some kind. That’s two. It is but an illusion obscuring the fact that there’s just oneness there’s unicity only.

Non-duality can be challenging for people who are studying it because it feels like you’re always being told no. No… it’s not that. No it’s not this.

It is hard to grasp for a lot of people because most spiritual traditions, and the way we interact in the world, is from a dualistic separation. A “me” with a point of view. There’s always a “me” trying to get somewhere. There’s a “me” trying to get something. There’s a “me” trying to become. In non-duality, instead, you’re just realizing you’re that and seeing that the false is false.

So you’re seeing that this “me” isn’t who and what you are. This other doesn’t exist and there is simply the inherent nonduality, conscious self, ultimate reality … pick your term.

Our dance list for this session will be:

For July 6th. What is Nonduality?
Secret One Inside
The Earth is our Mother
Hari Om Tat Sat
Ong Namo
Kadosh Kadosh
May All Beings Have Happiness

Our Meeting Recorded

Secret One Inside

I forgot to click record for our first song…. so here’s a redo.

What’s the difference between dual thinking and non-duality. Is it easy to slip back and forth. What good qualities are your finding? What’s challenging?

It’s interesting to use the Dances of Universal peace to explore non-duality because so many of our dances are like little stories and snippets of belief systems from around the world. So we can take the little stories and we can see how easy it is for ideas of division to slip in. We’re often divided internally simply because we are taught in languages and traditions that split the world into all sorts of different things. You’ve got the universe, you’ve got the world. You got good you got bad… All these different things.

So it’s a fabulous tool that we can use to explore this idea. This will give us a lot to talk about on our first dance session.

The words :

There is a secret one inside. All the stars and all the galaxies, run through her hands like beads.

Beautiful melody, beautiful image. You can easily see how this can be not-one. It can be two. There’s me… and there’s something inside. There’s something beautiful inside, and there’s me. And I am trying to find this thing that’s inside. Right there you can see how there’s two things.

Or you might even feel like there’s the universe out there, and there’s me here, and you have this subtle two.

So the first thing to do is to explore all the divisions that are in this picture story.

And then let’s find out – how can we take this and turn it into this singularity?

It’s like Nisargadata describes enlightenment as “I am that.” You can see right there, even though he’s from the Advaita tradition it almost seems like two things: I and that. But how do you take these things, me and the secret one inside, all the stars and all the galaxies running through her hands like beads, How do you take that and have it be a oneness that includes you, doesn’t exclude you. You’re not looking for it. It’s all there, its’ all happening all at the same time.