Non-Duality and My Life in the World

Question: I feel attracted by the non-dual ideas. Yet, if I were to lead such a life, would not my worldly affairs suffer? If I am wholly devoted to my mundane duties, my soul starves and feels restless. What do you recommend?

Reply: When people follow these teachings, they find that continuous worship can and does blend successfully with attention to mundane affairs. The great figures of antiquity who are revered as incarnations of the supreme reality, are both depicted as living lives of vigorous action and exemplars of Dharma (the law of righteousness in thought, word and deed).

The first rule of the higher life is to live for a great purpose, and that supreme purpose is the discovery of your identity with the higher Self. The average man does not control his life, his life controls him, but the seeker with a well-marked road to the goal, has a fixed estimation of real values, and a determination not to be led away by the lure of the external world.

The ideal can be brought closer in daily life. Start the day with a deep and heartfelt prayer, a meditative reading of a passage from one of the great scriptures, and a dedication of the day to the work of the ultimate Power. Then whatever task you undertake, do it for that Power, and persevere, unconcerned with the results. It is His work and He will bring success or failure.

Another important aid is the silent repetition of a name or word that points to the highest, for example, Christ, Krishna, Buddha, Allah, Truth, or OM. Throughout the day, make endurance an active rule. Try to endure with patience discomforts and inconveniences, harsh and painful words, adversity and illness, prosperity of your neighbours, or unpleasantness in any form. In the evening, again do your worship and go to sleep with your mind full of exalting thoughts.

If you live in this way for a few months, it may seem that your business is not receiving sufficient attention, but rest assured, it will be looked after. Remember the promise of Shri Krishna: ‘None engaged in spiritual good ever passes into a bad state.’ The meaning is that those who have seriously and faithfully entered on the yogic path, will never perish.

Those who live only to satisfy their instinctive demands, their family ambitions or their patriotic ideals, without spiritual vision, may become prosperous, famous or popular for a time, but they are strangers to eternal peace and happiness. Like the shooting stars, they quickly lose their brilliance. Where fame, promotion, power and wealth are concerned, those in quest of the highest may be unpractical, but they prove to be generous and steadfast friends, dependable citizens who are wise and contented.

Non-duality is wisdom. It presents a high standard of rational ethics. By reducing in the pupil’s mind the disturbing tendencies of conceit, distraction, anger and greed, the practicant is enabled
to follow the daily routines in an atmosphere of peace and light. Prejudice for or against any person, group or nation, confounds the judgment, but yogic discipline eliminates such disturbing factors and gives an equipoise which permits wise decisions.

The higher Yoga is mental alertness. It sharpens the intellect by instituting logical enquiry; it robs the devotee of fear in failure and of undue elation in success. So in adversity or prosperity we are undisturbed and undismayed. Our reward is enduring peace and ability to communicate it to others. In such a state of equanimity, the importance of worldly success may dwindle in the realisation that the physical region is transitory. So from the vantage point of disinterestedness, the enquirer can watch the rise and fall of fortunes and accept ‘the blessed discipline of pain’, as Bishop Berkeley says.

Hari Prasad Shastri