Even though I experience the dualistic, relative and mutually exclusive opposites such as happiness and misery etc., I see (clearly understand) that they are all the same as myself, the non-dual absolute. OM.
Attachment and desire are but thoughts and feelings that periodically appear in my mind. As a lamp is not limited by the objects it illuminates, I am not limited by the thoughts and feelings that are known to me. Therefore, when the mind is tainted by attachment and disturbed by desire, I remain pure and fully at peace. OM.
I am not the transient, ever changing forms referred to as “this body” and “this mind.” Therefore I am not defined by their attributes; I am untainted by their impurities; I am unmoved by their desires; I am untouched by their actions. Just as sand is not moistened by the water of a mirage, I am unaffected by the mirage of the body and mind. I am ever-free…not that I was ever bound. OM.
Q: What is the practical application of Advaita Vedanta in everyday life?
A: The conclusion of Advaita Vedanta is: Brahman alone is real; the individual person you think you are is illusory; the essence (true nature) of the illusory person is brahman; therefore, you are brahman.
What is brahman? Immortal, unchanging, limitless, self-existent consciousness. As such, it does not suffer when the body and mind suffer.
So what is the practical application of knowing that you’re brahman? Well, when you’ve realized the truth of Vedanta for yourself (that you are brahman), the illusory world doesn’t suddenly disappear. It continues on just as before.
But the difference is that instead of going about your life riddled with the anxiety caused by believing that you’re the body-mind, you can live your life knowing that no matter what happens to the body-mind, you are always completely okay (because you are really brahman, not the body-mind). When this is clear, you no longer have to rely on the state of the body-mind (or it’s external circumstances) for security and peace of mind. You understand that as brahman, security and peace are your very nature (insofar as you are ever-present, unchanging and undisturbed by the world). Bringing this knowledge to the forefront of your mind when you’re presented with life’s difficulties is the practical “application” of the self-knowledge gained from Advaita Vedanta.
All my best – Vishnudeva
The universe is unreal, seeing as it is in constant flux. For how can something be real if it is one thing one moment and something else the next? The body, being part and parcel of the ever-changing universe, is also unreal. Therefore death is but an illusion. Of what concern is it to me? I am the unchanging, immortal self. OM.
End Of Knowledge 