Distinct Does Not Mean Different
The wave is simply the energy of the ocean, the power that displays itself as the ocean breathes and pulsates. The ocean, the wave, and every distinct drop of water are the same. Yet we think of our individual existence as being like a drop of water that is separate and different from the ocean. We perceive duality where none exists. —Swami Khecaranatha
The purpose of our sādhana, and the very purpose of life, is to know pure Consciousness as our Self — to have the permanent experience that we are not separate from our divine Source. Nondual tradition describes this profound transformation as one of being absorbed by our Creator. Nondual means there is only one: that everything is happening on the field of a single Consciousness, and while we are like a drop in the ocean, we are not different from that ocean.
This view (darśana) of nondual tradition is a singular message that so deeply resonates in us that it impels us to know that truth as our own, not just something that sounds correct. Because we don’t experience this highest truth, we must do our sādhana, which entails dissolving the misunderstanding of our separated identity. By means of the practices given by a teacher, we penetrate through dualistic consciousness to recognize that our individuality is simply part of the diversity of expression of that one pure Consciousness.
That depth of truth may first be recognized on the cushion, but then must be expressed in our lives on a moment-by-moment basis. This lived expression is often referred to as the fruit of our effort, but it might more aptly be called the fruit of non-effort. It’s the fruit of surrendering, of allowing revelation to take place, and of letting the freedom of consciousness that has been activated in us by grace to reveal itself. The only thing we’re “doing” is getting out of the way by surrendering our limited perception and dualistic consciousness. But that experience is not real until we stabilize it in our daily life.
Freeing Our Individuality
In our sādhana we work to uncover the Consciousness already present within. By folding energy back into the psychic system we discover the vital force of kuṇḍalinī in the central channel (suṣumṇa). That channel is the skeleton of our individual awareness, manifest in us by God’s power to create. The practice of Kuṇḍalinī Sādhana enables us to open to that vital force and cultivate our capacity to direct it into the deeper cores of its own Self, so that that pure Consciousness that is embedded in our individuality is freed from the restrictions of individuality.
Then, as we free ourselves from dualistic consciousness, we experience everything as the expression of pure Consciousness and extend the fullness of that realization into our engagement with the people and conditions of our life. Our individuality has been given to us by God for the purpose of sharing His joy and abundance. If we are experiencing life differently, it’s because we misunderstand, and that misunderstanding stems from many lifetimes of dualistic experience. That’s why we do the work to unbury ourselves from our limited perspective.
Sādhana is our response to grace, the freedom-bestowing power of the Divine, which is awakening our highest nature. We must find the willingness to surrender to the very power that is freeing us from our own limited consciousness. We reject our universality when we hold on to individuality as supreme. We think, “There’s me and there’s God. . .me and everything else.” However, finding our universal nature does not mean we must reject our individuality. All we need to give up is our limiting, dualistic consciousness.
Focus on the Highest
God’s grace, through the power of śakti, is liberating us from our misunderstanding of duality, so we can experience unity. But to keep ourselves focused on that revelation, we must ask ourselves daily, “What is it that’s most important to me in this life?” Understand that what’s really important is not just what we profess it to be, but how we act and where we put our energy. If we get distracted by something else then that becomes what’s most important to us, not the freedom we said we wanted.
A capacity for insight and self-reflection is fundamental to our sādhana. Disciplined consciousness and practice, plus the daily commitment to knowing God, must be the foundation of our life. We live in challenging times and it’s very easy to blame the conditions of the world for causing us to veer off course. Yet, when we look back at history, we find that people have always faced challenges to their spiritual practice.
My advice is: Don’t lose track. Begin each day remembering what’s important to you and then express that in your day. If your spiritual freedom is not the most important thing to you, you will not have it. Something will cause you to lose your commitment. Enjoy life, have everything you want, but don’t be confused by the outward expression and lose the purpose of life. They are, in fact, not different — unless we make them so.
The drop of water is not different from the ocean; it is merely the energy of that ocean of consciousness expressing itself. And, as the picture shows, inside the drop is the self-reflective capacity to see full awareness. God’s capacity to know Himself as God is the same as our own self-reflective capacity, and yet, ours is a cultivated awareness. When we cultivate it, we uncover the unity of life.