Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Compassion and Nondual Thought

Nondual thought can seem cold and intellectual, even nihilistic. But there is room for compassion, too, because the nondual includes everything that is happening. Nothing is excluded. All is welcome.

The nondual accepts, without comment or judgment, everything we do. Even when we do not have compassion for ourselves, the nondual is compassionate on our behalf. We can't screw up. We are always forgiven, because there is nothing that we can do wrong.

A famous nondual master, Nisargadatta Maharaj, said--

Wisdom is knowing I am nothing.
Love is knowing I am everything.
Between the two, my life turns.

In some schools of nondual thought, we often focus on the first, on wisdom, on using the mind to "see through" our concepts. We note that in nondual space we cannot find an identity or stories or suffering.

Sometimes we call this nothing, though that implies that it could be something. But this nothing is actually beyond notions of something and nothing.

It is just as accurate, then, to call it everything. And when we see the nondual with the heart, we see the infinite love that surrounds us. In each moment, we have the opportunity to embrace this infinite presence. We can forgive ourselves and others because we see we are already forgiven.

This is the love we call unconditional.

Jeff

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