Bill: I want to establish the habit of seeing that subject and object are one, and all people are the same subject I/awareness.
Are there thought exercises to do to help my brain apprehend moment to moment that the I-ness I am must be the same as your consciousness, Brahman, and even objects, such that I can act from this assumption?
Dave: You don’t need to maintain anything in Vedanta, that is what is so darn beautiful about it. You are whole and complete exactly as you are, exclusive of nothing ever.
That means you do not need to “experience” from a non-dual perspective, hold a vision or idea in mind, or change anything about your experience as it is now – now – now – or now. It is always now because now isn’t a teeny tiny unit of time, it is your own ordinary boundary-less presence that has no qualities but seemingly lends “being” to everything that appears.
The benefit of this knowledge is the ease of being that arises from no longer depending on anything to make me what I already am (whole). This is why James often repeats the expression “take it easy.” Truly taking it easy is not maintaining a conscious thought (although that is a valid practice until it is no longer needed), but rather is a fundamental background attitude of gratefully accepting all circumstances. It really is in the background, since once it is assimilated as knowledge it is exactly like your lack of need to remember your name. Where is the freedom if you need to carry something around?
Am I any less whole and complete when I am ignorant of my true nature? Not one bit. If I was, liberation would not be possible because it would mean some “thing” is missing. How would I ever know what that was, given there is always an unknown factor? These ideas are what ignorance is, and ignorance is 100% compatible with non-dual existence shining as awareness.
We are incomplete only when we believe we are, but if we no longer believe we are, then our seeming limitation is acceptable to ourself too. Liberation is knowledge of my whole and complete nature, nothing more.
Bill: It’s hard for me to tell if I have doubts about what I know or just a habit of seeing things a certain way?
Dave: You have been listening to Vedanta for a while and do understand the concepts clearly, but assimilating new ideas does not necessarily uproot the old ones. Those old ideas are just like habits in that they are the default grooves into which the mind goes until new pathways are created.
So yes, I think habit is a great way of looking at it. Changing habits is simple but not at all easy, and it takes time and attention. My approach is simply not to assume anything. Any habit, any old idea, any experience can emerge anytime. That way I am prepared as best I can be no matter what, and nothing need be avoided. That’s a lot easier than maintaining a (false) idea about how habit free I am or how pure my mind is or isn’t. Just take it as it comes, and take it easy.
