Advaita (Non-Duality) doesn’t tell us how to feel in a given situation. It is only pointing to the Source of the feelings, sensations, or whatever is arising. You are free to feel whatever “you” feel like feeling😉. The message is clear: you are pure Consciousness that is the source and substance of everything. Those who understand this are free from the ideas of how one should-or-should-not “feel” about a situation because we see situations as impermanent, and therefore, the feelings arising from those situations are also fleeting. Why stick to something fleeting and react?
The problem is that many of us don’t know how to sit with the reality of psychological discomfort. We contemplate escapes and consistently live in fight or flight, which degrades life’s quality. Sitting with the discomfort of whatever is arising, without a reaction, weakens the samkaras (internal psychological tendencies), reacting makes them stronger. A reaction is a conformation to the mind (negative conformation bias) that it is right and the “other” is wrong, because usually, a reaction from one draws a reaction from another. “Look, I always knew he was a rascal. I did the right thing.” A reactive mind self-sabotages relationships and destroys harmony. Reaction feels good in the moment, but brings suffering later in horizontal time. When there is no perceived enemy, it turns on itself.
It’s not a question of morality. Advaita doesn’t classify you based on mental traits. Nisargadatta Maharaj was a reactive personality, but he was reactive momentarily. After the moment passed, there was no registration, and hence, there was no suffering. Suffering happens when the mind records and retains a happening as personal “doing” of another, living in feelings of hatred, revenge, and resentment. A mind living in resentment is in love with its ailment. That said, even if one lives with constant registration (hatred, malice, revenge, ill-will, spite), Advaita message doesn’t prescribe a “cure” for these arisings. It simply points to the Source. So the message doesn’t tell you how to behave (which is usually based on society’s conditioning), but to BE, here-now.
With love,
Jagjot
