The One-Two Combo of Wisdom Teachings and Nonduality

Enlightenment is acknowledged in Ch’an Buddhism as integrating form and emptiness. The fundamental purpose of practice is to assist the practitioner in eventually transcending duality, which is viewed as the root of all delusion in the mind.

By duality we mean seeing ourselves as truly separate from other beings and from the world around us. We need to understand that everything is connected, not just intellectually but intuitively.  Enlightenment is a culmination in which one feels unity with all things.

— Daniel Scharpenburg

Ch’an or Chan is the Chinese origins of Zen in Japan. The word itself comes from the Sanskrit dhyāna, meaning “meditation” or “meditative state” (also a rendition of the Pali word Jhana, which means meditation or meditative absorption).

Zen is one of several wisdom traditions.

The world’s timeless wisdom teachings all share a common truth. The words that describe this truth are unity (or unity consciousness), oneness, nonduality (or nondual consciousness), enlightenment and wholeness.

What is a wisdom tradition?

Wisdom traditions represent humanity’s deepest source of knowledge about universal principles that govern harmonious, enlightened, healthy, loving, prosperous, and sustainable living.

These principles are the inner core or mystical aspects of a teaching. Wisdom traditions provide a conceptual framework and practice methods for the evolution of the inner self, living from a spiritual center, and the realization of enlightenment.

— Pamir Kiciman, from The Contemplative Path of Reiki

Why is this important? Because we’re deluded and this causes suffering, pain and unhappiness.

The literature, teachings and practices are there, however, for us to change the course of our lives. This deep well of knowledge has been around for hundreds of years, and is accessible today like no other time in history.

The incredibly rich and all-encompassing traditions of wisdom from all corners of the world expound the primordial truth of Oneness. This results in a powerful one-two combination to destroy our delusion.

How so?

The truth of Oneness is the source of all other truths. Oneness is at the core of life and creation. It is there before any atomic particles appear. It is there before any of the building blocks of matter. It is there even prior to any vibrational pulsing or movement.

— Pamir Kiciman, from Oneness is the Source of All Truths

Delusion is powerful. It has many hooks and entangles us in its web over and over again. Extracting ourselves is thwarted by the ingrained nature of delusion. It also has many allies and perpetrators both in our own psyche and in the outside world. It’s self-renewing and which each renewal its hooks sink more and more into our mind and worldview. It clouds our perceptions. It seduces, cajoles, or bullies us to buy into it. But it doesn’t deliver anything good. It only keeps us myopic and small.

Delusion is powerful, but it isn’t insurmountable. Poking its façade begins with whatever pain or suffering we have at any moment of our life. There’s no right or wrong moment, right or wrong age, right or wrong place to address our pain or suffering. And if we do it with the mindset of being a seeker, rather than only wanting symptomatic solutions, then poking delusion turns into deconstructing it, and there are real gems in this approach.

When we embrace the seeker within, we step unto a path. It’s no longer about the transient. We take the long view, even eternal view. We douse delusion with wisdom, then compassion when we understand its tiny view. Rather than delusion renewing itself, we renew our enlightenment practices daily. As delusion cracks open, our mind and perception is liberated to know all of reality. Our consciousness becomes boundless, as does our heart. We become the knower. Truths once known cannot become unknown. They remain in divine memory.

This is transformation. Transformation from an egoic, material and temporal perception of reality, to an unbounded, free and abiding perception of reality. And herein lies the power of perennial teachings with their explication of entire truths, together with enabling us to embody these truths, and their special emphasis on Oneness.

Consciousness itself is the witness to our lives, and we are born with it, in its purest form. It knows that what we often identify with is not who we truly are. The practices of compassion, mindfulness and loving awareness invite a profound shift of identity, from the body of fear to the beauty of the heart.

— Jack Kornfield

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