Love this *
P: “Form and formless are not two; they are a single mystery. These systems are spiritualized forms of the dualistic delusion. Tantra, which in its true form is Advaitic (or non-dual), transcends this limitation. Tantra is wisdom gone wild embracing the totality of what is. With Tantra you are not getting somewhere; you are just waking up to the true nature of things as they are. The colors inherent in clear light are not other than the light. The display whereby Being presents its limitless mystery is not other than the birthless and deathless pure mystery from which Being comes..
R. It's interesting that you mention Advaita. I recently read Poonjaji, an Advaitic master. He advocates no practice. Form is illusion and every action by the illusory self adds to unenlightenment. What do you think of that.
P: Well, I have great respect for the traditional forms of Advaita. I have always been intimately connected with Ramana Maharshi, and the path that I teach is "Advaitic Tantrayana". On the other hand, there are some serious problems and limitations with the talking school of Advaita versus the various practice schools such as Tantra.
R: What do you mean by "talking school"?
P: Talking schools are those that understand that delusion is only an illusion and all that you need to do is understand the illusion to be free of it. Because all you need to do is understand, then all I need to do as master is explain the truth to you, and all you need to do is listen and you will "get it". The problem is that this is a superficial grasp of understanding. Understanding in the talking school is considered a primarily mental act. I talk; you listen. In truth understanding is a whole body act. You must understand with the cells of your body, your mind and your feelings. Listening involves a profound action of the entire self. This action is what practice is. Spiritual practice is the act of listening to the teaching with the whole body. There are fundamental differences between a teacher, even an awakened one, and a master. Poonjaji is a teacher. He speaks about Truth very nicely, though he suffers a bit from the delusion of viewing form as illusion rather than presentation of the formless. Due to this he lacks the skillful means needed to deal with the actual roots of delusion. He lacks the skillful means to communicate with the whole bodily being rather just the mind. In a recent interview he said that he teaches the pure Truth - some get it, some don't, and he doesn t know why. That's the difference between a teacher and a master: A master knows why and can deal skillfully with the causes. A master is willing to deal with delusion on its own ground if necessary. He or she is willing to take on the dragon in its cave, even if the dragon is only an illusion.
The teachers of the endless talk no practice school go on to say "open your eyes and see the beautiful sunset. You do not need to do anything, add anything to yourself. Just open your eyes". While it is true that you don't need to add anything, the problem is that your eyes are shut and you are wearing a blindfold. You open your eyes and see nothing. These teachers do not see you because they are too busy admiring their own "non-dualism".
The teachers of the Advaita talking school do in fact give practices. They give the very difficult practice of pre-verbal inquiry which works once you have taken off your blindfold. But until then it leaves you stranded. All too often people make sense of the words and develop conceptual enlightenment. You understand the description of the sunset so well that you think you are seeing it, even though you are still wearing a blindfold and have your eyes closed. People in this condition even go on to become teachers of the talking school, endlessly describing the imagined sunset to others. I am sure that it is based on my Tantric predilection for wisdom gone wild, my delight in manifestation, but I often find these Advaitic teachers a little prissy. They are unable to enjoy the game, unable to enjoy the madness and wildness of existence. There is no space for non-dual dualism in their non-dualism.
