Lex Hixon

Babaji Bob Kindler

Annapurna Sarada

Laurence Galian

John Forman

Father Abbot Joseph Homick

CS Shah

Welcome to Nectar of Nondual Truth’s summer issue, which includes, as our cover suggests, fiery philosophical ideas and truisms from timeless traditions designed to inspire and challenge the mind — articles from an ongoing upsurge of concrescent perspectives springing from both experiment and experience in the world’s arena of sacred spiritual endeavor. There could not be a better time than the twenty-first century, nor a better place than this planet, Terra Firma, to encounter and assess what mankind has gleaned, garnered or gathered from his spiritual ruminations and introspections over this seemingly endless span of time we call life in the universe. Therefore please enter in for your own share of Nectar, and bring the clear container of the lucid, percipient and discriminating mind with you, while leaving the doubting, inattentive and querulous ego outside.

The Fire of Spirituality

Nectar #16

Sumita Roy

Kyogen Carlson

OP Sharma

Professor Sivaramkrishna

Divine Reality is all-encompassing, ever-present, and all-pervasive — that is the testament of the enlightened beings throughout countless ages and seems to be the consensus of the writers featured in this issue of Nectar of Nondual Truth. And not only are the seemingly varied perspectives of philosophy brought together in such a profound and unilateral insight, the assumed divisions between man and man, man and woman, nation and nation, religion and religion, and even heaven and earth are also harmoniously conjoined therein. Further, the very concepts of transcendence and immanence, something beyond and something present, also get a thorough revamping in our minds, particularly if we imagine that they represent a contrasting dichotomy, when in truth they do not. As the Indian poet/sage, Ramaprasad, is wont to sing repeatedly: “Mother’s Reality escapes every mind that imagines sets of dualities to be real.” In the pages of this bold and well-intentioned journal, as well as in the hoary leaves comprising the revered scriptures of the world, the idea of Nonduality, Advaita, persists. Regardless, there are always and predominantly two things on the minds of living beings, whether they are awakened or unawakened: those are Reality and relativity. The unawakened either do not know about Reality, do not think of It, attempt to escape it in themselves, or remain antagonistic to It. If they accept it at all, in what the seers call the beginnings of spiritual awakening, there is still the considerable problem of overcoming procrastination, prevarication and compromise and swiftly approaching It. As for relativity, the world of name and form perceived via the five senses as being ultimately real, those unawakened to the Divine Verity mistake it to be the Reality, “bartering the infinite wealth at the center of their being for a world of mere colored glass,” as the poet sings. Thus, through lack of natural realization, and unconscious of the underlying presence of Brahman, they default to what the senses report and dictate, and remain satisfied — even through persistent suffering and obvious limitation — with relative existence and what it has to offer.

Truth, Transformation, and Transcendence

Nectar #13

Lama Surya Das

Yitzhak Buxbaum

Islam, Vedanta, Yoga, Zen, Tibetan Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism — one finds all these and more represented in Nectar of Nondual Truth. And never mind that there are points of difference with regard to practice and approach. You will find a nearly unanimous agreement around the Essence. On the cover, in the scriptural quote for this issue, we find the rishis of ancient India referring to this nondual Reality in terms of “something hidden.” It is indicated by religious traditions as the Pearl of Great Price, the White Dove Ascending, the Bourne of Freedom from Fear, the Ultimate Quest and other expressions which indicate both the beauty of and the difficulty involved in finding this Treasure, and infer the huge amount of self-effort that will have to be undertaken to succeed in this most excellent endeavor. But purity, practice, patience and perseverance — what can stymie the aspiring soul who approaches Divine Reality with such resolve? If one wants to see patina exude from a copper penny, one places it in a damp atmosphere and watches for days, weeks, even months, until that green substance finally issues forth. What a huge amount of work and effort is involved in gaining a few drops sesame oil from hundreds of seeds! Reality is “hidden,” then. Nature is Its sporting-ground, the universe Its Cosmic Mind, thought-force is Its power to create, revealed scripture is Its revelation, and forms and objects are solid reminders of both Its power to create and Its transcendent and unlimited nature. Yet, all of these are reflections, are insentient material principles. The one Spirit, though It pervades them, is independent of them, and they all get their existence and their ability to shine with reflected light from That. It is Svarupa, to quote the ancients, Essential Being, and everything, everyone else, is Svarupavishranti — always resting in this one essential Being.

Extracting Essence

Nectar #10

Father Abbot Joseph Homick

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