TAO/Brahman

 

TAO/Brahman

The Path of Life

It is a source of profound and sacred wonder that the ancient philosophers and sages, spanning the great cultures of China and India, possessed the subtle capacity to "read" nature. They observed the cosmos and the workings of the human mind, thereby intuiting the fundamental forces and laws that govern all existence, including our individual lives. The historical intermingling of these wisdom traditions is well-documented, with early saints and scholars exchanging profound insights across geographical and cultural boundaries. This exchange is a testament to the universality of the ultimate truths they sought. 

Remarkably, even as human knowledge and intellectual endeavors have accelerated at an unprecedented rate, the core wisdom articulated by the likes of Buddha Sakyamuni and the Advaita seers has remained essentially unchanged. The ultimate destination - the Tao (the Way) of the Chinese philosophers and Brahman (the Absolute) of the Advaita Vedanta tradition - requires no updates. The ultimate and inevitable end point of the evolutionary cycle, as taught by masters like Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta Maharaj, and Harilal Poonja, is the liberation of the mind from its compulsive attachment to the ever-changing world of phenomena. This liberation is the realization of absolute emptiness - the state where the relative self dissolves into the Absolute. 

 

🌊 The Start of the Journey: Consciousness and Evolution 

The beginning of what we might call the path of life starts not with a gentle stroll, but with a thunderous stampede along the vast and intricate evolutionary cycle. Each successive cycle of experience - be it a lifetime or a specific phase of inner development - is built upon the progression of the past. Our current state of consciousness is always conditioned by, and a product of, its previous level of awareness. Consequently, some individuals, through the work and experiences accumulated across this grand cycle, are further along the path of self-discovery than others. 

The "path" itself is not a physical route; it is an allegorical process - a map for the inner journey of self-realization. Fundamentally, the individual consciousness is not separate; it is an intrinsic part of nature and is therefore fully subject to the very laws that govern all matter, energy, and form. The journey is the systematic undoing of the belief in separation. 

 

⛰️ The Obstacles as Lessons: Suffering and Non-Attachment 

As the allegorical path begins, the steps are often heavy, deliberate, and fraught with effort. The traveler encounters myriad obstacles: steep hills to climb, treacherous mountains to ascend, vast deserts to cross. Occasionally, there may appear to be smooth sailing, moments of ease and happiness. 

However, the masters teach that these obstacles are not mere inconveniences; they are, in fact, the essential lessons in life. Without the friction, challenge, and resistance of "problems," how could one possibly gather the momentum and clarity required to seek the smooth path - which is ultimately no path at all? 

This is the profound insight encapsulated in the teaching of Buddha Sakyamuni, who stated that the path to enlightenment is through suffering. A life characterized solely by ease, comfort, and unexamined happiness tends to lead nowhere in terms of ultimate liberation. It creates a state of contentment that fosters attachment, blinding the seeker to the ephemeral nature of all experience. This echoes the teachings of  Christ, who famously said: "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Matthew 19:24) - a clear metaphor for the difficulty of releasing the ego's powerful hold on worldly possessions and achievements. 

 

🎒 Lightening the Load: The Role of Satva 

The further one progresses down the road, the less thunderous and labored the steps become. This signifies the gradual reduction and eventual cessation of the mind's attachment to matter and phenomena. While external obstacles may still present themselves, the key shift is internal: a growing sense of acceptance allows for easier crossing. The challenges are seen not as personal afflictions, but as the natural play of existence. 

This journey is analogous to any physical trek, where supplies are essential, yet excessive baggage becomes a crippling burden. Spiritually, our baggage is the weight of our unexamined desires, judgments, and attachments. Furthermore, the wisdom traditions emphasize the importance of a pure and balanced lifestyle. The more extremes and stimulating elements one introduces into the diet or lifestyle, the more cluttered and agitated the mind becomes. 

The ideal is the cultivation of satva, a concept from Ayurvedic philosophy representing purity, clarity, harmony, and balance. A satvic diet is typically light, clean, and always vegan, consisting of fresh, wholesome foods that do not excessively stimulate the senses or the mind. Satva does not agitate the intellect or stir up passion, yet it remains an indispensable source of energy for the body and clarity for the mind. A highly stimulated mind, caught in the throes of rajas (activity) or tamas (inertia), is a heavy mind - a mind that is ill-equipped to realize its own formless, empty nature. 

 

🌌 The Ultimate Non-State: Absolute Emptiness 

At the culmination of the path, a profound paradox is revealed: in reality, there is no Tao, and there is no Brahman - yet, simultaneously, there is only the Tao, and there is only Brahman. The conventional, step-by-step path of effort and seeking gradually ceases to exist. There are no longer "steps to be taken" because the destination has been realized to be the source from which the journey began. 

At this pivotal juncture, the words of the great non-duality teachers become most relevant: 

• Nisargadatta Maharaj described this state as one where life simply flows; everything happens naturally, spontaneously, and perfectly as it happens. There is no personal agent doing anything, and thus, there is no expectation of an outcome. The realized being is simply a conduit for existence. 

• Harilal Poonja, a direct disciple of Ramana Maharshi, drove this point home with immense simplicity and force, stating that there is no need to do anything, nor to undo anything. Everything, in its essential nature, is already perfect. There is nothing fundamentally "wrong" with existence. The perception of suffering is exposed as a false premise - it is merely the mind's attachment to a story of incompleteness or struggle. 

The ultimate realization is that the path is not a path. It is the absolute cessation of the limited self, an awareness of absolute emptiness - not as a void, but as the primordial, all-encompassing substratum of reality. This is the truth of Absolute Tao, the undifferentiated wholeness of Absolute Brahman. It is here that the seeker realizes they were never a separate entity on a journey, but were always, and are always, the totality of the Absolute itself. The path is the perfect, effortless, empty fullness of being. 

You can read more in the book  Sacred Holistic Health.