Jeff Foster–Liberation in the Midst of a Very Ordinary Life
Posted by George Shears | Filed under Non Duality, Uncategorized
According to the Buddha and many other non-dualistic spiritual teachers, the vast majority of humans are imprisoned in the deeply conditioned illusion of separateness from others and from the universe.
This pervasive illusion is seen to be a primary root cause of the suffering of humans and, indirectly, of that inflicted upon other beings as well. It is also a major indirect source of the massive pollution and destruction that humans have caused to our planet and its biosphere.
In his Fourth Noble Truth and the Noble Eightfold Path, the Buddha offered a specific way to become liberated from this primordial “wrong view” of separate self-hood. As a key part of this path, he prescribed the ardent practice of “right mindfulness” as a necessary means of seeing clearly through this compelling illusion and awakening into the reality of “no self”–that is, to becoming enlightened. Down through the ensuing centuries, millions of people have followed this general pathway to liberation.
Advaita Vedanta, another major non-dualistic spiritual tradition, has offered a significantly different pathway to liberation. In general, it entails an intensive conscious process of self-inquiry whereby one persistently addresses the key question, “who am I,” until finally realizing one’s Real Self or True Self as being one with absolute reality and the entire universe.
As these two non-dualistic traditions have evolved down through the centuries, highly accomplished master teachers in each of them have developed and introduced a number of specific variations on the original themes for experiencing liberation.
Among modern teachers in the Advaita tradition, Jeff Foster stands out especially for exposing the subtle and paradoxical traps that commonly prevent people from experiencing how profoundly simple true liberation actually is. He focuses on this very articulately in a recent video in which he presents an excerpt from his book, An Extraordinary Absence: Liberation in the Midst of a Very Ordinary Life.
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This blog has been created as a resource to all people who are dedicated to increasing happiness and to decreasing suffering in their lives--and in the world--by learning how to live more wisely and skillfully.It aims to include a distillation of what I have personally learned in theses regards, along with the collective wisdom of many others.