All is One ( or maybe not )

Those unfortunate enough to be familiar with Buddhist Discussion Forums would be aware of the dreaded words "non duality" and also of what I have called the "Non Dual Thought Police", those who patrol the various discussions and jump upon any thought or idea expressed in simplistic dualistic language from a great height. 

What is "non duality" the innocent may ask, maybe thinking of the old joke "what did the Buddhist say to the hot dog seller?" Answer:- "Make me one with everything".

So maybe non duality is that "all is one" and perhaps to support this the line concerning the Buddha's death from Sir Edwin Arnold's poetic rendering of the life of the Buddha, "The Light of Asia", would be quoted and offered in support, i.e "the dewdrop slips into the shining sea". 

 However, the reality seems more that the shining sea slips into the dewdrop, and not so much that all is one, more that all is not two, another thing entirely.  The unique and precious individual is not lost in a murky nowhere land but finds themselves, hopefully, a friend of all, undivided by judgement, by creed or by colour.

 (This is supported by Pure Land symbolism, where gold represents the undifferentiated nature of enlightenment, while the lotus flower symbolises the unique individual - depictions of the Pure Land often display almost infinite golden lotus flowers blowing in the wind) 

Well, what has this got to do with anything? One wag once said:- "There are only two kinds of people in the world. Those who divide the world into two kinds of people and those who don't". So, in an ethical context, non duality supports the idea of a common humanity, one where we share more with others than anything that might divide us.

This itself is supported by various Buddhist texts, texts that speak of "one truth", a truth that can nevertheless find expression in infinite variety. Here are a few examples from the Mahayana scriptures:-

The Lord speaks with but one voice, but all beings, each according to their kind, gain understanding, each thinking that the Lord speaks their own language. This is a special quality of the Buddha. The Lord speaks with but one voice, but all beings, each according to their own ability, act upon it, and each derives the appropriate benefit. This is a special quality of the Buddha.

(Vimalakirti Sutra)



Just as the nature of the earth is one
While beings each live separately,
And the earth has no thought of oneness or difference,
So is the truth of all Buddhas.

Just as the ocean is one
With millions of different waves,
Yet the water is no different:
So is the truth of all Buddhas.

Just as the element earth, while one,
Can produce various sprouts,
Yet it's not that the earth is diverse:
So is the truth of all Buddhas.

(Hua-Yen Sutra)



I bring fullness and satisfaction to the world,
like rain that spreads its moisture everywhere.
Eminent and lowly, superior and inferior,
observers of precepts, violators of precepts,
those fully endowed with proper demeanor,
those not fully endowed,
those of correct views, of erroneous views,
of keen capacity, of dull capacity -
I cause the Dharma rain to rain on all equally,
never lax or neglectful.
When all the various living beings
hear my Law,
they receive it according to their power,
dwelling in their different environments.....
..The Law of the Buddhas
is constantly of a single flavour,
causing the many worlds
to attain full satisfaction everywhere;
by practicing gradually and stage by stage,
all beings can gain the fruits of the way.

(The Lotus Sutra, "Parable of the Dharma Rain")

Anyway, if anyone has actually got this far, to finish with a video that I have always loved, and laughed at, where an Aussie broadcaster attempts to tell the "make me one with everything" joke to the Dalai Lama (in this case it's a Pizza Shop rather than a hot dog seller).......