A Theory/Philosophy of Everything; Non-Dualism

Speaker A [00:00:00]: The theory of everything. Is there a theory or a philosophy which can explain the entirety of this universe, which can explain everything from knowing ourself to knowing god, to knowing the universe and the world around us? Is there a theory or is there a philosophy like that? Is there a framework through which we can look at this entire universe holistically and come to a deep understanding of what it actually is? If such a theory or philosophy exists, what is it and where is it? We will look into this in today's episode. Scientists have been searching for the theory of everything for a very long time. Many people are seeking a holistic theory or philosophy that can explain the entirety of this universe and our place in it. And I think the answer to this lies in the ancient teachings of Hinduism, which are the Upanishads. Upanishads are one of the most sophisticated philosophical teachings that exist on this planet, and they give us direct teachings on the nature of reality. And they tell us our place in this universe, and they also tell us who we truly are. The most direct interpretation and the most clear interpretation of the opening shirts is Advaita Vedanta. Speaker A [00:01:43]: So Advaita literally translates to non dualism. And this philosophy tells us that whatever we are looking at in this universe is just a projection in consciousness. It does not truly exist. And everything is connected and everything is 1. That one ultimate reality, which is pure awareness or consciousness is experiencing itself through this projection of the universe. All this might seem complicated. So let me simplify this so that all of us can understand it. Now imagine nothing exists. Speaker A [00:02:28]: Nothing exists. There is absolute stillness, there is absolute blankness without any activity. But a fundamental force exists, which is unquantifiable, which is undescribable, which has no qualities to it, which is all pervading and which is formless. Let us call this pure awareness or let us call it god. Now, god existed before the creation of this universe when there was absolutely no activity as such, god existed. And then the creative potential of god was expressed and projected as this universe. And this universe was not a deliberate act of God, but a natural expression of God's creative potential. Just like how when we go to sleep, we dream different dreams without consciously creating them, this universe is just an expression of God's creative potential. Speaker A [00:03:40]: And this universe as it is, is just a dream of God. That one God that exists beyond time, space, and causation is dreaming this universe as we see today. And that ultimate reality or god has put himself into the position of an individual like you and me and is experiencing this world or this universe as a person with the limitations of body and mind. This is because an experience can happen only within time, space, and causation. And an experience can happen in a limited finite way. So that god or universal consciousness has identified itself with the body and mind to have an individual experience from an individual perspective in this universe. And like this, it has identified itself with different individuals, different objects, different animals of universe in order to have infinite variety of experiences and in order to project infinite variety of expressions. I know this sounds really strange and it sounds like a plot of a science fiction movie, but this is the theory of everything, this universe and all the other universes, any number of parallel realities that might exist and various different dimensions of existence from heavens and hells if such a thing exists, all of it together is a dream of God, that one ultimate God. Speaker A [00:05:41]: And that god is dreaming this entire existence as we see it and as we perceive it today. And that god is experiencing this universe that he has created himself through us from an individual perspective. Since he has assumed the position of an individual within the universe and since that universal consciousness, which is infinite, which is all pervading, which is abundant and powerful, has identified itself with the limitations of the body and mind, it is suffering the consequences of this. And it is suffering the limitations of body and mind. So to come out of our suffering, we need to realize our true selves as that pure awareness or consciousness, as god, we need to realize Aham Brahmasmi, I am that ultimate reality or god. This is us going back to the original position has got. And this is us completing the cycle of evolution. So this was what I could understand and pursue from the teachings of Advaita Vedanta. Speaker A [00:07:03]: Of course, this is sort of my own interpretation of it, but this is the theory of everything. So everything is connected. All of us and all the objects of the universe, although it looks like everything is different and it looks like everything is separate, is actually not separate. Just like within our dreams, different objects and different people with whom we are interacting will seem different to us. But once we wake up, we realize that it was that one mind it was our mind that was dreaming all of it, this universe and this world as it is is being dreamt by that god or by that pure awareness. And since all of it is just a projection or a dream in that awareness, it is all connected and it is all 1. And this is Advaita. It is nondual. Speaker A [00:08:05]: There is just one reality in which everything exists. I hope this was valuable to you. And if you want to dive deep into these concepts in order to truly understand the nature of reality and in order to consciously create the life that you want to live in this material world, you can join our community cum learning platform that we call the Advaita Conscious Society. You can visit advaita.com for more information on this. Thank you, and I'll see you on the next one.