Nonduality and Beyond: Nature of Reality and Awakenings

What if everything you thought you knew about reality, about awakening, and even about "God" was just a tiny fraction of a boundless truth? This is the profound inquiry at the heart of A. H. Almaas's work, which invites us to step beyond pre-conceived maps and into what he terms the "fourth turning"—a view of totality that redefines our understanding of existence. In this video, Hameed explains that true understanding isn’t about fitting reality into any existing frameworks, but about being open to an infinite number of perspectives.  Scroll down to view video and summary of highlights.

Summary

By recognizing the objective helplessness of the mind to penetrate reality, we are freer to sincerely inquire into our lived experience with open curiosity, leading to a deeply embodied and transcendent realization. Each realization is experiential, not conceptual, and it informs the mind about what reality actually is. 

One danger is that the mind may want to hold onto each realization as ultimate truth, which prevents more aspects of reality to come through. For reality is endless in its possibilities and goes beyond the binary dual-nondual paradigm. There is no end to what you can learn about yourself and reality. The mind cannot control it. 

Perhaps the greatest delusion is the belief that awakening leads to the end of all delusion. As Almaas suggests, delusion itself can be endless, continually revealing more subtle layers. All of it is worth exploring. 

Our minds, when met with awareness, are inherently self-healing, self-actualizing, self-directing, and self-transcending. Recognizing our objective helplessness in the face of such vastness allows us to surrender, opening ourselves to the grace that guides us in understanding our own minds. It is as much exhilarating adventure as it is fundamentally simple and ordinary.