The philosophy of Non-Dualism is the point of view that there is one Absolute Reality without a second and that each of us is one with that Reality, just as a wave is one with the ocean. It asserts that experiencing Ultimate Reality is the goal of life. Advaita, another name for Non-Dualism, sees other religions, practices and philosophies as tools that ultimately lead to the direct experience of Absolute Reality.
To discriminate between what is real and what is not real, it is necessary to define what is meant by real and not real. In this philosophy only that which neither changes nor ceases to exist is real. No object or knowledge can be absolutely real if its existence is only temporary. The unreal includes every “thing,” all names and forms, our minds and thoughts, everything. The universe looks real but is not permanent. It is an illusion. We can’t say it exists nor can we say it doesn’t exist. It is neither real nor non-existent. It is magical. It’s a mystery.
Reality is not a thing at all. It is no-thing, nothing. An innocent term for it would be pure spirit, or pure consciousness. It has no parts. If we look for it, we are an eye looking for itself. It is experienced but cannot be described. It is ineffable. This Pure Consciousness is permanent existence, knowledge and bliss and is one with man’s inner self.
When we wake up from a dream the dream world disappears. Non-Dualism teaches that when we wake up to reality this world disappears. The world of thought and matter is a misreading of pure spirit and nothing more. It has a phenomenal or relative existence superimposed upon Absolute Reality by ignorance and remains superimposed until ignorance is destroyed by knowledge of Reality, commonly called Spiritual Enlightenment.
Nonduality has many different expressions and names, such as Zen Buddhism, Taoism, Advaita Vedanta, and others. In Western philosophy, it is sometimes called monism, which means simply that reality is one without a second. In essence, Nonduality teaches that nothing exists but consciousness, and consciousness is what you are. It is not a religion, or a system of belief, or an ideology. In fact, it does not require belief of any kind; all it requires is self-discovery. It is nothing more than seeing, understanding, or awakening to one's own nature, which can occur in a split second. It is a completely natural shift from a separate identity to an inclusive identity.
When Buddha, whose name means "the awakened one," was asked what made him different from others, he replied simply, "I am awake." He also taught that enlightenment is already inherent in all beings. Everyone, therefore, is a potential Buddha; everyone can awaken spiritually.
But there are as many gateways to becoming awake as there are people. Each person is unique; each approaches and expresses spirituality differently. Yet, each gateway is also an illusion; upon passing through the gate, it is instantly self-evident that there never was a gate blocking the way. The discovery is humorous, because it reveals that what you have searched for you have never lost or can ever lose. The search is as silly as a fish swimming in a lake and looking for water.
The search is fulfilled in the discovery of your own nature, but the truth of your nature is always available, always self-evident, always obvious. It is ever here, ever now, always who and what you already are. Thinking that it is elsewhere, or must be found, is what classic Nonduality texts call illusion.
individuals in this list self identify as presenting nonduality. They come from different religious, political and cultural traditions.
[edit] Ancient and Medieval Western philosophers
Plotinus
Parmenides
Heraclitus
Hildegard of Bingen
Jesus (according to the Gospel of Thomas)
Mechthild of Magdeburg
Meister Eckhart
John of the Cross
Teresa of Avila
[edit] Modern Western philosophers
F. H. Bradley
Mary Baker Eddy
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Buckminster Fuller
Georg Hegel
William James
Franklin Merrell-Wolff
Friedrich Nietzsche
Bertrand Russell
Friedrich Schelling
Baruch Spinoza
A.N. Whitehead
Ludwig Wittgenstein
[edit] Asian Philosophers and Teachers
Nagarjuna
Shankaracharya
Vallabhacharya
Ramana Maharshi
Nisargadatta Maharaj
Ramesh Balsekar
Jiddu Krishnamurti
Lao Tzu
Gaudapada
Yajnavalkya
Bhartrhari
Meher Baba
Chuang Tzu
Swami Vivekananda
Ramakrishna
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
H. W. L. Poonja
Rajneesh
Wang Yangming
Wang Fuzhi
Yi I
Kaibara Ekken
[edit] Authors, poets and musicians
Richard Bach
Stuart Davis
Kahlil Gibran
Aldous Huxley
Herman Melville
Thomas Traherne
Neale Donald Walsch
Alan Watts
[edit] Contemporary Teachers
Adi Da
Adyashanti
Gangaji[13]
Douglas Harding
Byron Katie[14]
Barry Long
Richard Rose[15]
Eckhart Tolle
Ken Wilber
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