Advaita or Nondualism, Wayne Liquorman, Am I a Balloon?

I have not added to this blog since December 2005, since frankly I have had very few comments on it. I figured that it was of little interest to people, and I became discouraged. I have been busy reading about Advaita or Nondualism, which has been to put it honestly has been a struggle. Recently, however, a couple of people have found this blog and left their comments. They have encouraged me to continue with this blog.

I have been spending my time in discussion groups, where I have posted a few items. I have found discussion groups somewhat troubling because although I received a lot of feedback, I think some people like to promote their own agendas and really do not want to discuss things. I have pulled away from discussion groups for now.

Of all my posts, this has been the most difficult for me. Part of the reason I think is that most of my other posts, especially the very first ones, have been about my personal experiences. This post is mostly embarrassing to me because I do not have any conclusions about Advaita or Nondualism. I am still in turmoil about this approach.

I had to laugh when in Wayne Liquorman’s book, “Never Mind,” Wayne quoted one of the people in a discussion group referencing the Advaita or Nondualism approach as making the person feel like he was an empty shell of a balloon.

As I have mentioned before, I struggle with the concepts. First of all, it is difficult understanding them, especially when I attempted to read the writings of Ramana Maharshi or of Ramesh Balsekar. I find myself gravitating to people like Tony Parsons, Gangaji, and Wayne, since they write simply and mostly keep away from confusing Hindu concepts. It was with Wayne’s book, “Never Mind,” that I got the clearest explanations of the concepts.

Now, I need to make a separation between understanding the concepts and buying into them. That is my current dilemma. I think I understand the concepts better, but the concepts are unsettling. Now, it may be rightfully be argued that this is the ego holding on or if can be argued rightfully that the concepts are not right.

It may come down to the concept of free will. Wayne would say there is no such thing —that we were born with a disposition leaning one way or another. You add in genetics and conditioning, and as Wayne puts it “the mind/body organism” has no choice but to choose one response.

I know this is putting it all very simply. Wayne would say that you are not the Doer or Author of your thoughts — that there is no such thing as free will or choice.

This is why the balloon analogy hit home for me and made me laugh. I feel the same way. I sometimes feel that the Advaita or Nondualism approach can appear to be very negative. If God is All and Everything is part of this All, why this game playing? Why must we discover the Truth by ourselves?

These are the questions I have been struggling with lately. I will be interested in your comments, and I will let you know if anything that happens to me tips the scales either in favor of Advaita or Nondualism or away from it.