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What is Advaita or Oneness?

By: Nirmala

Advaita means nondual or not two. This oneness is a fundamental quality of everything. Everything is a part of and made of one substance. Often the question arises, If it is all one thing why dont I experience it that way? This is confusing oneness for the appearance of sameness. Things can appear different without being separate. Just look at your hand for a moment. Your fingers are all different from each other, but are they separate? They all arise from the same hand.



It also turns out that everything that exists in the world including people, objects animals, and plants are connected at the source, even though they look and act differently. The oneness of Being has an unlimited number of different looking expressions that we then experience as different things.



Looking more closely at your own hand can reveal there are many similarities in the actual substance of your fingers. All of your fingers consist of of very similar skin, bones, muscles and even cells and atoms. When you explore your experience more fully, you may discover that all things are part of one infinite field of Being.



What about your experience right now? Is it possible to discover this subtle oneness in ordinary experience? It is, if you set aside the expectation of a dramatic experience of oneness and explore the oneness a little bit at a time. Just as even a single drop of water is wet, you can experience oneness in even simple everyday experiences, since oneness is a fundamental quality of everything that exists.



Let's try something: look closely at your fingers and then at the palm of your hand. Where do the fingers start and the palm of your hand end? Or are they really one thing? Going even further, where exactly does your hand end and your forearm begin? Can you experience how your hand and forearm are really one thing?



If these are not separate, then what about all the other parts of your body? Are your feet and your ears really one even though they are so different? Now notice if there really is a separation between your thoughts and your head. Where does your head stop and something else called thought begin? What about feelings or desires? Are they really separate from you or your body?



Why stop there? For a moment notice the many sensations present: sounds, sights, and the sensations of your skin. When you see something, where does seeing stop and the eye begin? Where does a sound start and something else called the ear stop? What if even hearing and sound and your ear are all part of one thing. Obviously, an ear is quite different from a sound, but when you are hearing they are ultimately one thing.



Now let's look at the source of the sound. If some leaves are rustling in the wind, where do the leaves end and the rustling sound begin? Or are they connected also? If leaves and rustling are really one thing, and then the rustling sound and your hearing are also really one thing, then it would seem that you and the leaves are one thing also.



Oneness of Being, or Advaita as it is called, has been believed to be something quite rare and hard to experience. But it is actually quite ordinary and available in everyday experiences. And overwhelming experience of the totality of oneness may be a rare and extraordinary event. But why not taste this sweet, satisfying oneness right here, right now in this ordinary moment?

Article Source: Free Content Articles Directory

Nirmala gives free ebooks & online videos at www.endless-satsang.com. He's been a spiritual teacher in the Advaita tradition since 1998, and gives satsang (gathering for the truth) and individual spiritual mentoring phone sessions.

This and other unique content spirituality articles are available with free reprint rights.

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