The human condition seems to inherently involve a self-experience—the feeling of being a distinct “I” that exists, real and separate, constantly interacting with an external environment made up of other distinct, real entities. This self feels as if it has a life of its own—a journey in space and time, where it must make choices, face challenges, avoid dangers, and strive for accomplishments. Inevitably, this experience of life acts as a sort of prison for the self living it, bringing with it existential anxiety, whether consciously or not. People seem to respond to this anxiety with a range of reactions—from barely discernible unease to a sense of unbearable suffering. In either case, this experience imposes a search for a “way out,” for liberation. This is, in essence, the sole longing—to “return home,” to find redemption.
This search may take many forms across different areas of life. For the seeker, accumulating wealth, succeeding at work, finding a partner, building a family, accruing wisdom and knowledge, personal and emotional growth, behaving morally, spiritual practice, or any other personal endeavor becomes a means—a meaningful path that might bring them closer to fulfillment. Thus, the seeker maintains a constant give-and-take relationship with reality, monitoring their state and waiting expectantly for a breakthrough that may come soon or in the distant future.
All forms of seeking carry an implicit promise: if only external or internal circumstances would improve, or if only they remain stable and unshaken, the seeker would come a step closer to redemption. Thus, the “I” feels perpetually caught in a dilemma: What must I do, think, or feel to fulfill this promise? Occasionally, the seeker experiences pleasant or satisfying times, but before long, the next problem, need, or goal emerges, and the search for new experiences resumes with full intensity. For some, perhaps after many disappointments or even reaching a sense of despair, a recognition might arise that this promise is futile, yet this insight alone falls short of quelling the yearning and ending the search. Through relentless persistence in the search for an escape, the seeker preserves the illusion of its reality, which is the illusion of its entrapment.
But sometimes, without any foreboding signs, without any particular reason, and without any clear moment marking an actual occurrence, a surprising revelation may occur: everything is entirely empty, devoid of any concrete reality, and wondrously so. Separation is “seen” as an illusion that never truly was, and what is—exactly as it is and always has been in timelessness—reveals itself as home, as nothing but liberation. This is not an intellectual insight nor a personal experience, yet things appear in their simple, self-evident emptiness, requiring no change or understanding. This recognition defies words, and any attempt to grasp or approach it through reflection, study, or practice only obscures it. This clarity is both astonishing and, at the same time, entirely inconsequential. Nothing concrete changes because of it, and no problems are “solved,” yet all problems lose the existential meaning they never actually had, bringing an immense sense of relief.
In nearly all religious and spiritual traditions, especially those rooted in the Far East, direct references to the empty, unbounded nature of everything can be found. However, when the self-perceived “I” encounters these references as part of its search, it innocently interprets them as yet another stance, worldview, or philosophy—in other words, another potential escape route. Soon, it becomes a devoted follower of the teaching it has “discovered” and commits itself to adding more and more layers to the house of cards it has built. Therefore, over time, those simple, direct expressions of non-dogma and non-agenda were transformed into countless dogmas and agendas: religions, doctrines, belief systems, philosophies, methods, and practices. Ironically, in response to the exposure of all escape routes as illusory, new escape routes have continued to proliferate, ostensibly reaffirming the illusion that had seemingly birthed them.
Today, many Western speakers address this topic under the term “Non-duality,” translated from the Sanskrit word “Advaita.” Yet many of these speakers teach doctrines, practices, or philosophies, thus assisting seekers in reaffirming the illusion of their endless progress toward an ultimate escape. The simple, direct message expressed here without any agenda, intention, or goal, remains far less popular than teachings of various paths. This direct and uncompromising message is deeply unsettling to the experience of a separate “I,” whose sole purpose and function seem to be surviving through the affirmation of its own real existence. When there is an openness to this direct expression, there may be a resonance with it that is not merely conceptual or verbal.