Advaitavada: The Wisdom of Non-Duality

Rejuvenation – A Spiritual Foundation presents:
“Advaitavada: The Wisdom of Non-Duality” by Prof. Dr. Kapil Kapoor – Padma Bhushan Awardee, renowned scholar, former Professor of English, Concurrent Professor of Sanskrit Studies, and Rector at Jawaharlal Nehru University.

This inspiring talk marks the first session in Rejuvenation’s upcoming series of spiritual discourses designed to deepen inner awareness and enrich the collective consciousness of our society.

Through these talks, Rejuvenation aims to awaken spiritual understanding, cultivate self-inquiry, and bring timeless wisdom of our scriptures into the modern seeker’s life.

Beyond Meditation: Ashtavakra and Advaita’s Deeper Call

In the Ashtavakra Gītā, two seemingly opposite statements puzzle many: “The practice of meditation keeps one in bondage” (1.15) and “When a weak man gives up meditation he falls prey to whims and desires” (18.75). Advaita Vedānta resolves this by distinguishing between dhyāna (technique-based meditation) and nididhyāsana (natural abidance in Self). For the immature seeker, meditation steadies the mind. For the mature knower, clinging to meditation sustains duality. Liberation is not attained by practice but by knowledge, effortlessly lived.

A Journey from Worldly Noise to the Quiet of Consciousness

I no longer seek guidance from heart or mind, for both belong to the restless play of duality. Instead, I turn inward, where Advaita Vedanta reveals the true relief of emptiness: the Self as pure awareness, untouched by sorrow or delight. Solitude is not misanthropy but clarity—a freedom from humoring the world’s illusions. To abide in stillness is to realize that the knower of light and darkness is itself eternal.

I WISH TO ABANDON WORDS FOR THE MOST PART

Ramana Maharshi reminds us that silence alone can reveal the whole truth. Words, bound to duality, divide what is indivisible; silence unites and liberates. Even seekers well-versed in scriptures often remain entangled in the world of appearances, missing the essence. True teaching, as Ramana showed, does not lie in dialogue but in presence—in the quiet where the Self shines unobstructed. Silence is not emptiness but fullness, the eternal ground of being. To rest in it is to discover that truth is not attained but simply lived.

Hindus, Christians, and Muslims

When I say “Hindus are fools, Christians are fools, and Muslims—don’t even ask—are the biggest fools,” it is not about communities but about ignorance itself. Advaita Vedānta teaches that as long as we cling to rituals, dogmas, and imagined separations, we remain bound by Māyā. The fool is not the Hindu, Christian, or Muslim, but the mind that mistakes the finger pointing to the moon for the moon itself. Wisdom dawns only when we see beyond labels and realize the Self—one without a second. All else is shadow-play.