Advaita: Non-Dual Spirituality - from Ancient India to our Global Age

According to the rishis, the sages of ancient India, the world that appears before us has a mysterious hidden dimension, a dimension that’s not visible to our eyes, yet it’s immediately present in every experience. The physical world is said to have an underlying foundation or substratum, a fundamental reality that’s the very fabric of existence out of which the universe is woven, like the threads out of which embroidery is woven. The rishis said, everything in the world, including you and me, derives its existence from an underlying fundamental reality, a reality they called brahman. The rishis taught that the world we experience is a mere appearance or form of brahman, like this cloth is just a form of threads or this pot is a just a form of clay. And, if everything in the world is merely a form or manifestation of brahman, then there’s only brahman; nothing else truly exists. That’s why these teachings are called advaita, which means not two or non-dual. The word advaita negates the existence of anything else other than brahman. The ultimate goal of Advaita’s teachings is to lead you to personally realize non-dual brahman as the essence of your being, as your own true self. Gaining this magnificent wisdom can radically transform your life. When you discover your essential nature to be unborn, limitless, complete, and utterly untouched by all the afflictions of daily life, then you’ll enjoy inner peace and contentment that never wavers, even at times of crisis or loss. This is called enlightenment. Advaita is considered to be the epitome of Indian spirituality, the most profound of all the teachings to come forth from a land so famous for its great saints and sages. Over a span of 2500 years, the teachings of Advaita evolved on the Indian subcontinent as generations of deeply contemplative thinkers explored the truth of non-duality. In our own times, the teachings of Advaita have undergone further evolution due to the historic encounter between Indian spiritual wisdom and modern scientific thought. In this presentation, we’ll explore Advaita and trace its journey through the ages and across the oceans. Our exploration will delve into three periods of time; first, the Age of Rishis, the great mystics and seers who first realized the truth of non-dual brahman and expressed their extraordinary revelations in