3rd Millennium Spirituality

The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend a personal God and avoid dogmas and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual as a meaningful unity. - Albert Einstein -

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it. - Buddha -

One can know one’s Self only with one’s own eye of knowledge, and not with somebody else’s.
- Ramana Maharshi -

In oneself lies the whole world, and if you know how to look and learn, then the door is there and the key is in your hand. Nobody on earth can give you either that key or the door to open, except yourself. - J. Krishnamurti, You Are The World -

Nonduality

3MG is a Nonduality site. 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 separation. 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.

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…there is nothing whatever mysterious about this matter…the apparent difficulty is due to our conditioning…an inability to perceive the obvious owing to a conditioned reflex which causes us persistently to look in the wrong direction! - Wei Wu Wei -

NONDUALITY -”Thou Art That!”

Look for the truth exactly on the spot where you stand. - Buddhist Mantra -

That in whom reside all beings and who resides in all beings, who is the giver of grace to all, the Supreme Soul of the universe, the limitless being — I am that. - Amritbindu Upanishad -

That which permeates all, which nothing transcends and which, like the universal space around us, fills everything completely from within and without, that Supreme non-dual Brahman — that thou art. - Sankaracharya -

The seeker is he who is in search of himself. Give up all questions except one: ‘Who am I?’ After all, the only fact you are sure of is that you are. The ‘I am’ is certain. The ‘I am this’ is not. Struggle to find out what you are in reality. To know what you are, you must first investigate and know what you are not. Discover all that you are not — body, feelings thoughts, time, space, this or that — nothing, concrete or abstract, which you perceive can be you. The very act of perceiving shows that you are not what you perceive. The clearer you understand on the level of mind you can be described in negative terms only, the quicker will you come to the end of your search and realise that you are the limitless being. - Nisargadatta Maharaj –

If you’ve been on a spiritual quest for a while, you’re probably familiar in one way or another with the teaching of Nonduality. Although there are many “brand-name” versions of it, such as Zen Buddhism, Taoism, Advaita Vedanta, and others, the word Nonduality is a generic term, a translation of “Advaita,” which means “not two.”

Traditionally, Advaita is a branch of Vedanta, the philosophy derived from the Hindu Vedas. Advaita is often expressed as a form of Jnana (wisdom) Yoga, which uses persistent inquiry into the nature of reality as its main discipline. Summed up briefly, Advaita teaches that suffering is a result of being ignorant of your true nature. It teaches that nothing exists but consciousness, and consciousness is what you truly are. When you recognize that your true nature is consciousness, you are enlightened.

Surprisingly, there are many resources on the Internet dedicated to teaching Nonduality. But very few of them are purely scholarly, theoretical or descriptive. Many, in fact, have dispensed with the teaching’s traditional complexities in favor of going straight to its heart. Many are hosted by self-realized teachers, including an increasingly large number of Westerners, who offer instruction and guidance online – in other words, satsang (association with truth) in cyberspace.

Why is this teaching becoming so popular and widespread? There are several reasons.

Like a good scientific hypothesis, it is elegantly simple and clearly focused, especially in the stripped-down and condensed expression found on many of the web sites. It can be easily grasped in theory. It can even be encapsulated in one sentence: you already are what you are looking for. Or, the one you are searching for is the one doing the looking.

Moreover, it is an ultimate puzzle. No matter how clearly you grasp the central teaching of Nonduality, it confounds the mind. Yet, in the process, it may cause a profound shift in understanding, an awakening from a false or illusory identity as a separate self to recognition of consciousness as one’s true Self. (The illusion of a separate self, which is also called the ego, is a kind of phantom, a process in which consciousness falsely identifies with transitory phenomena that arise within it, especially the body. The logic of the process creates the impression that whatever events arise in consciousness are not just happening – they are happening to that separate and vulnerable self.)

Nonduality teaches that spiritual awakening, also known as enlightenment, is your birthright. It is inherent to your nature. Although it is sometimes said that nothing can be done to become awakened, the evidence of personal experience doesn’t support that claim. Many people, including some of the best known teachers, have awakened just by thinking about or reasoning out the fundamental claims of Nonduality, or by self-observation, or by following Ramana Maharshi’s advice to ask themselves persistently, “Who am I?” Nisargadatta Maharaj, for example, said that, shortly before his teacher died, he told him, “You alone are, deny existence to everything except your Self.” Nisargadatta did not doubt him: “I was merely puzzling over it, until I realized that it is absolutely true. I found that I am conscious and happy absolutely, and only by mistake I thought I owed being-consciousness to the body and the world of bodies.” Thereafter, Nisargadatta became one of the most important teachers of Nonduality in modern times.

Doubt about your true nature is the only enemy of spiritual awakening. Understanding is the key to defeating doubt.

To develop your own understanding, read about Nonduality from a variety of sources. As already mentioned, many Eastern teachings, particularly Buddhism, Taoism and philosophies derived from the Hindu scriptures, are expressions of Nonduality, but there are also an increasing number of modern teachers who speak or write on the subject with exceptional clarity.

It might also be useful, although not necessary, to practice some form of meditation, preferably a simple, easy method that you are likely to use persistently and consistently. Spirituality is simply understanding your own true nature, and meditation is a key to quieting your mind sufficiently to allow that understanding to arise. Specific approaches to meditation may be found throughout the Internet, as well in libraries and in bookstores. Some excellent resources can be found on the Spirituality page.

Although a teacher can be very useful, Nonduality doesn’t necessarily require one. A valid teacher can only point the way to understanding – nothing more. The rest is up to you. For that reason, it is generally wise to avoid manipulative teachings and teachers who try to control you or make you feel guilty about any aspect of your life, such as diet, sex, sleep, etc. A spiritual person is a fully human person who lives a free and normal life. While others may help you by pointing the way to spiritual understanding, there is ultimately only one authority in your spiritual life, and it is you. Never give that authority to another.

Not even a methodology, other than persistent inquiry, is necessary or desireable for awakening. Although most teachers have struggled to find their true nature, some of the greatest, such as Ramana Maharshi, came to their realization spontaneously. Other great teachers who are categorized as Nondualists, such as J. Krishnamurti, never used or advocated any methodology at all. Krishnamurti merely required close attention from his audiences, in the hope of igniting within them a spontaneous revolution in awareness.

For those who have broken away from conservative and repressive religious backgrounds, one of the more attractive features of Nonduality is that it does not promote morality as an ideology, or as an end in itself, or as a goal of spirituality. Rather, where it is mentioned at all, morality – expressed mainly as compassion – is seen to be both a stepping stone to self-realization and to follow naturally from it. Once you understand that there is nothing but consciousness, there is little reason or motivation for harming another. Since everything and everyone exists in consciousness, and you are that consciousness, you see others as yourself. When Jesus explained to his disciples that how they treat others is how they’re treating him, he was telling them that there is no separation.

But what ultimately makes Nonduality attractive is that its realization is readily available to everyone simply through understanding. While most schools of yoga promise enlightenment only after many years, even lifetimes, of tedious, strict, dedicated practice – and then only with a final push over the edge from an enlightened master – Nonduality, on the other hand, offers enlightenment right now, in this instant, if you can only “get it.” And, increasingly, as we head more deeply into the third millennium, there are many who are “getting it.”

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The amazing thing is that we actually search for That. We think it is somewhere in the future, but it turns out to be ever-present. We think it is hidden, but it turns out to be always obvious and self-evident. We think it is something to be acquired, but it turns out to be our very own self. In fact, it turns out that there is nothing else other than our self. We are already That. There’s nothing to be found, nothing to be solved, nothing to do but just stop searching and rest in Being – the here and the now, just as it is. It’s amazing that we could ever have missed seeing it! And, upon seeing it, all we can do is laugh! - DLT –

SPIRITUALITY

At 3MG, spirituality refers to an open attitude and approach to the varieties of religious experience, freed from dogma, conservative religious and moral ideology, and other sectarian limitations. It tends, therefore, to be individualistic, tolerant and democratic. It refers primarily to understanding gained through personal experience, not through belief. Although belief may be used as a means to understanding, if it becomes an end in itself and becomes inflexible, it turns into nothing more than an ideology.

The practice of yoga, for example, is a form of spirituality, because it requires no belief of any kind. An atheist or an agnostic who practices yoga can benefit from it as fully as a theist can. Likewise, Zen Buddhism, although commonly classified as a religion, not only does not require any kind of belief, it ultimately transcends every form of belief and conceptual thought.

Belief is ultimately irrelevant to spirituality. Only understanding or seeing finally matters.

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COSMOLOGY

Wonder and awe, combined with knowledge and understanding, are the gateways of our future spirituality. – DLT

Cosmology asks fundamental questions about the universe, such as: where did it come from and what is its nature? Modern cosmology, which is based on scientific theory and evidence, often comes under attack from creationists. While fundamentalist creationists try to claim that the ancient Hebrew creation myths found in Genesis are literally true, “intelligent design” creationists are more subtle, claiming that the complexity of the universe suggests intelligent design and that evolution can’t produce complex structures.

Reduced to simplicity, the difference between the evolutionist and creationist sides is that the evolutionist attempts to find out what is true based on scientific investigation, while the creationist declares, without any evidence, that the truth is already known, based either on the reading of an ancient text or on the arbitrary assertion of a divine intelligence. And while creationists triumphantly declare that evolution is “just a theory,” they conveniently ignore the fact that their religious beliefs and theology are theories too, but with the major and fundamental difference that religious beliefs and theology have no evidence or proofs to substantiate them. Yet, in spite of that, it seems that more than one-half of the American public naively believes the creationist side, which puts into question not only the public’s knowledge of science, but of scripture, as well.

Because creationists dismiss both modern cosmology and Darwinian evolution in one sweep, this page offers material explaining both concepts, as well as the ancient Hebrew concepts on which Genesis and other books of the Bible are based.

Isn’t evolution just a theory that remains unproven?
In science, a theory is a rigorously tested statement of general principles that explains observable and recorded aspects of the world. A scientific theory therefore describes a higher level of understanding that ties “facts” together. A scientific theory stands until proven wrong — it is never proven correct. The Darwinian theory of evolution has withstood the test of time and thousands of scientific experiments; nothing has disproved it since Darwin first proposed it more than 150 years ago. Indeed, many scientific advances, in a range of scientific disciplines including physics, geology, chemistry, and molecular biology, have supported, refined, and expanded evolutionary theory far beyond anything Darwin could have imagined.

RELIGIONS

Most major religions of the Far East, such as Buddhism, either demonstrate a high degree of tolerance or, at least, do not advocate intolerance, especially of other religions. That is why their sites are listed here.

Much of Judaism, too, displays a strong and admirable commitment to tolerance (although a growing orthodox community of intolerance and exclusion bears close watching).

Many other religions, however, are a different story. Although some Christian denominations are moderately or highly tolerant, Christianity as a whole is not. For example, the leaders of the two largest denominations in the U.S., the Roman Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Convention, militate against female clergy and against gay rights. As to Islam, many of its leaders, such as those of Sudan, Iran and the Taliban of Afghanistan, have developed a siege mentality towards the progressive values of the modern world and towards the West. They are resolutely intolerant and resistant to change and to the secular values which promote true freedom. Of the many sites which represent these religions, only those which do not advocate intolerance have been listed here.

Did Christ teach love or is that just a liberal bias? In the current climate, it’s hard to remember, but one thing is certain: Once a tight cabal of fundamentalists takes over any denomination, Christ’s teachings go out the window. The reversal of Christianity from a religion of love to a religion of hate is the greatest religious tragedy of our time. – Deepak Chopra

The national government will maintain and defend the foundations on which the power of our nation rests. It will offer strong protection to Christianity as the very basis of our collective morality. Today, Christians stand at the head of our country. We want to fill our culture again with the Christian spirit. We want to burn out all the recent immoral developments in literature, in the theatre, and in the press – in short, we want to burn out the poison of immorality which has entered into our whole life and culture as a result of liberal excess during recent years. – Adolf Hitler in his first radio address to the German people after coming to power in 1933

Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion. – Steven Weinberg, Physicist and Nobel Prize Winner


SOCIAL ISSUES

Those who say that religion has nothing to do with politics do not understand religion. – Mahatma Gandhi

The fundamentalist seeks to bring down a great deal more than buildings. Such people are against, to offer just a brief list, freedom of speech, a multiparty political system, universal adult suffrage, accountable government, Jews, homosexuals, women’s rights, pluralism, secularism, short skirts, dancing, beardlessness, evolution theory, sex. – Salman Rushdie

The national government will maintain and defend the foundations on which the power of our nation rests. It will offer strong protection to Christianity as the very basis of our collective morality. Today, Christians stand at the head of our country. We want to fill our culture again with the Christian spirit. We want to burn out all the recent immoral developments in literature, in the theatre, and in the press – in short, we want to burn out the poison of immorality which has entered into our whole life and culture as a result of liberal excess during recent years. – Adolf Hitler in his first radio address to the German people after coming to power in 1933

What is most revealing about the controversial social issues involving religion today – e.g., homosexuality, women priests, married priests, creationism vs. evolution, separation of church and state, etc. – is that tolerant religions, such as Buddhism, are not experiencing any crisis over these issues. Only intolerant, dogmatic and authoritarian religions are. They are the ones in confusion, in agony, in civil war. They are the ones trying to oust any individual or church which questions their intolerance. They are the ones trying to force their ideology on others.

The effects of this intolerance on society are profoundly serious. For example, in America it has been estimated that up to one-third of the teen suicides are gays who receive almost no support from society or religion for developing a positive self-image. In most schools they are the only students having no civil rights protections or recourse from the violence inflicted on them. They are the prime targets of school bullies.

PFLAG reports the following disturbing facts:

According to a GLSEN 2005 survey: “Only nine states and the District of Columbia have comprehensive anti-bullying laws that specifically address bullying and harassment based on sexual orientation and only three of these laws mention gender identity. Nine other states have ‘generic’ anti-bullying laws that do not specifically define ‘bullying’ or enumerate categories of protected classes such as sexual orientation or gender identity. The remaining 32 states have no laws at all.” (For more information on the hostile school climate, visit GLSEN.)

But here’s the most surprising part of this issue: instead of all churches taking a stand in support of these teens, many – particularly those of the religious right – work vigorously to undermine even the slightest attempt at support or protection by any social system. Others stand by silently, apparently more interested in protecting “values” or “tradition” than young lives. Even as America vehemently condemns child abuse as criminal, it looks the other way when religion knowingly encourages or allows abuse of young gays in the name of false principle and morality. This is a great shame to the nation and to its religious institutions.

In another example of the effects on society of religiously-based intolerance, science education in American schools is frequently undermined by religious extremists who overtly and covertly attempt to prevent the teaching of evolution as a fact. Other Western nations don’t debate the validity of evolution or allow religion to be taught in science classes; but unlike them, America has millions of politically active Christian fundamentalists who push a creationist agenda on our schools and on our textbook publishers. Many of our children grow up either knowing nothing about evolution or developing a disdain for it, because they have been taught that it is just a “theory,” rather than the foundation of modern biology.

ABOUT 3MG

The main purpose of 3rd Millennium Gateway is to promote a spirituality of openness and tolerance, based on understanding and awareness, and capable of changing with new learning and new discoveries. Recognizing that organized religion is often a major source of prejudice and tyranny, 3MG encourages spiritual freedom and independence from religious authoritarianism, dogma and moral absolutism. To that end, 3MG suggests the ancient and modern teaching of Nonduality, the realization of universal consciousness as one’s true identity.

3MG agrees with the common assessment of many spiritual leaders, such as Confucius and Jesus, that genuine morality is based on empathy and compassion, on treating others the way we want to be treated (see Shared Belief in the Golden Rule from Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance). That is the only universal morality, and it undoubtedly evolved as a product of humanity’s evolution and interaction as a social species. (See What Makes Us Moral: “The deepest foundation on which morality is built is the phenomenon of empathy, the understanding that what hurts me would feel the same way to you. And human ego notwithstanding, it’s a quality other species share.”)

There is no evidence or proof to support religion’s many different and contradictory claims of an objective or divinely enacted moral law. Morality is a human interest, not a divine one. It is written in our genes, not in the universe. (See Research On Human Nature Is Cause For Optimism: “…sophisticated studies within biology suggest that large-scale cooperation within the human species, including with genetically unrelated individuals within a group, was favored by group selection. There were clear evolutionary benefits in coming to grips with others.”)

In line with a morality of compassion, 3MG holds that all religions have an obligation to be tolerant and not impose their values on anyone, just as they would not want someone else’s values imposed on them. Intolerance disguised as morality or “principle” is still intolerance. Those, for example, who try to rationalize that they love the “sinner,” but hate the “sin,” inevitably end up hating the “sinner.” Jesus himself, the paragon of Christian morality, clearly condemned those who judge others.

Intolerance includes discrimination or second-class treatment based on gender, gender identification or sexual orientation. These groups are specified, not because of a limited concern, but because they are the ones currently attacked most frequently, and often viciously, under the justification of religion and morality. Witness, for example, the current attempts by organized religion to undermine the dignity and rights of gays, or to prevent women from becoming ministers or priests, or to be fully equal to men.

3MG is also a portal for people who are alert to the danger posed by the worldwide rise of authoritarian religious values, particularly Christian and Islamic fundamentalism, and who want to build a lasting foundation for spiritual freedom through spiritual awakening. To that end, 3MG disseminates information, it questions religious authority, it encourages individuals to look to their own internal authority to discover true spiritual understanding.

Finally, 3MG anticipates major changes in spiritual expression as humanity leaves its earth-bound frame of reference to explore space and, possibly, encounter new life forms. For example, such planetary-based concepts as heaven above and hell below will dissolve in the gravity-free void of space. To adapt, spiritual teachings will need to be as flexible, objective and rational as possible. Like Buddhism, they should be open to or, at least, not contradict an understanding and acceptance of well-established scientific knowledge.