Evan: For non-dualists who believe that the localization of existence (you, me, them, etc) are not ‘real,’ OR those who believe everything is perfect the way it is, can you explain to me the state of the world and how you’re both benefiting and contributing to it? How do you explain your daily survival behavior and the pursuit of self-interest?
Dave: What you call the “localization of existence” is the principle of individuality. That exists undeniably, as me writing this and anyone reading this knows. You will get some saying “there’s no one here” or other such things, but if that’s used to deny the experience of localization then the conversation is over before it starts. That’s just silliness.
In Vedanta, the word real has a very specific definition, which is “ever-present and unchanging.” Typically, when the individual is referred to, it means the body/mind/sense complex, and that does not fall into the category of “real” because it is a constantly changing assemblage. It’s existence or appearance is impermanent, having not existed at one point, then created, and at some future point will not exist again. In that sense alone it is not real by Vedanta’s definition, but it certainly does exist and does matter.
The world, or the field of experience, is also created and ever changing, although the span of existence of the world is effectively infinite in comparison to the span of existence of an individual. Both, however, fall into the category of seemingly real, which means neither real nor unreal. Not real because always changing and impermanent, and not unreal because existent and experienced undeniably.
A person with the vision of Vedanta cares about everything. The “state of the world” for them is the circumstances they find themselves in, just like the circumstances anyone finds oneself in. They do the best they can to serve the needs of the total, including others and the environment. They treat the world as themselves. They take care of themselves as needed and enjoy themselves whether they are performing a needed task, doing something they enjoy, or enduring something they do not enjoy.
They understand that everything is perfect as it is, but that does not mean they look at all the ignorance and unnecessary suffering in the world and think, “it’s all just fine;” that’s called denial or spiritual bypassing. Everything is perfect as it is means something completely different than that. It means that inwardly they know nothing can change them, that they are whole and complete exactly as they are, that they lack for nothing, and that the nature of reality (consciousness, existence, self, me/you) is limitless wholeness (bliss).
That means they act as someone who has put their proverbial oxygen mask on first, to use an air travel reference, and is therefore undistracted by any sense of lack or need for fulfillment. They are free to assist others to put their own masks on as well, whether that “other” is a person, an animal, a situation, or the environment. No one is required to do anything specific here, so this is not meant as a moral obligation, but rather to say that compassionate action is baked into what that individual is and represents.
If the majority had this viewpoint, the predominant driving force in the world would not be seeking and consuming, as it is now. Whether it is seeking for survival, security, love, freedom, or anything else, a sense of fundamental lack is what drives the “state of the world” to be what it is. No one can be responsible for that widespread problem; we can only be responsible for what is in front of us. That is true whether one’s viewpoint is that I am a lone, tiny, separate, mortal individual in a giant world, or, that there is nothing other than me here.
Evan: That definition of real is very helpful, thank you. I’m not sure what you mean by “it means they know inwardly that nothing can change them.” Are you saying that a “realized person” recognizes their true self to be unaffected by causes and conditions and can thus act in the interest of collective harmony rather than for the sole sake of fulfilling the needs of the body?”
Dave: Yes to the first part, but I’d put the second part differently. Such a person is free to act or not as they see fit. They are not swayed by “shoulds,” by a do-gooder (virtue signaling) mentality, by the need to make themselves look a certain way (to themselves or others), or by a sense of fundamental lack and inadequacy. There is a care for the whole there, but it comes from drawing no essential distinction between themselves and anything else, rather than from an imagined or moralistic “ideal” of behavior.
Evan: Would this be different than saying, “the realized person fulfills the needs of the flesh body without anxiety (recognizing its nature as impermanent and not self), and uses what is available to actualize harmony and good for others?” Maybe my main confusion is that your statement implies that the realized person has no need for the oxygen mask. But doesn’t anybody with a flesh body needs the oxygen mask to actualize harmony in the world of form?
Dave: Yes, that is the gist of it, but a person in whom self-knowledge is firm doesn’t draw essential distinctions between themselves and “others.” Present circumstances primarily dictate their actions, in accordance with their highest values. Their inward sense of fullness, ease, confidence, and well-being is where their actions seem to arise from, absent the emotional/psychological lack and existential insecurity that otherwise plagues a mind hypnotized by the belief that the sense of individuality is real. Such people are “acceptable to themselves,” as Swami Dayananda often says. They “do-good,” not because they try to, but by virtue of the fact that the needs of the total effortlessly and thus “naturally” come first, as circumstances dictate. They are part of those circumstances too, that “total,” so their own needs and desires are also accounted for appropriately. They are normal people who do not identify as people per se. If they “identify,” it is as existence shining as blissful awareness; the belief in an option having been negated by knowledge.
They need the oxygen mask, but they’ve put it on and never taken it off. They “actualize harmony in the world” just by being themselves. At the most fundamental inward level, they do not recognize anything but harmony. When they act to correct a “disharmonious” situation, they do so knowing there is no real problem, so their actions are free from the anxiety caused by unexamined and unresolved motivations.
