Shattering Duality: Rabbi Rami’s Interfaith Glimpse into Vedanta

Swami Swahananda was 91 years old when I met him at the Hollywood Vedanta Society of Southern California in 2012. He would be dead a few weeks later. I had been studying Vedanta—Hindu philosophy—for over a decade under the guidance of my friend Swami Atmarupananda. I had come to Swami Swahananda to receive initiation into the Ramakrishna Order of Vedanta, into which he had been initiated over a half-century earlier.

Ramakrishna (1836-1886), one of the great mystics of the 19th century, was a devotee of Kali, the Dark Mother: “I do not worship Kali made of clay and straw,” Ramakrishna taught. “My Mother is the consciousness principle. My Mother is pure Satchitananda—Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. That which is infinite and deep is always dark-colored. The extensive sky is dark-colored, and so is the deep sea. My Kali is infinite, all-pervading, and consciousness itself.”

Devotion to the Mother

My attraction to the Mother began in 1969 when I was an undergrad studying privately with Teresina Havens, a retired professor of world religions at Smith College. Following in the spiritual footsteps of Ramakrishna, she showed me the many faces of the Mother—the Jewish Chochma/Shekhinah, the Hindu Kali/Shakti, the Buddhist Tara, and the Christian Sophia/Mary—and explained how these goddesses from varied pantheons were all gateways to Satchitananda, as Ramakrishna had said.

Of course, what is true of the Goddess, Ramakrishna taught, is also true of God: “I have practiced all religions—Hinduism, Islam, Christianity—and I have also followed the paths of the different Hindu sects. I have found that it is the same God toward whom all are directing their steps, though along different paths. You must try all beliefs and traverse all the different ways once. Wherever I look, I see men quarreling in the name of religion—Hindus, Mohammedans, Brahmos, Vaishnavas, and the rest. But they never reflect that He who is called Krishna is also called Shiva and bears the name of the Primal Energy, Jesus, and Allah as well—the same Rama with a thousand names …”

A Rabbi's Initiation into Vedanta

Having learned of my devotion to the Mother from Swami Atmarupananda, Swami Swahananda centered my initiation around Her. This was a private affair. Swami and I sat alone before an altar covered in flowers and dominated by a large photograph of Ramakrishna. There is no cost for initiation. All that was asked was that I bring roses for Swami to place at various spots on the altar. As it turned out, Swami was too ill to do this, and I did it in his place per his instructions.

Swami spoke to me softly throughout the initiation, and though he held two graduate degrees in English, his Bangladeshi accent made understanding him difficult and forced me to consult Swami Atmarupananda for clarification on several details. The ceremony was personal, intimate, and transformative. The highlight of the initiation was the transmission of a mantra that I was to recite daily and share with no one. I have done so for 12 years.

Vedic Mantra Practice for Liberation

As I experience it, the purpose of mantra japa (mantra repetition) is moksha: liberation from the maya (illusion) that I am apart from rather than a part of Brahman or Absolute Reality. As the Hindu philosopher Shankara (788-820) taught: Brahma satyam, jagat mithya, jivo brahmaiva naparah, which translates into English as, “Brahman is all that is; duality is an illusion; even I am nothing but Brahman.”

It is important to note that maya, too, is Brahman. When Vedantists say the world is illusion, they mean it in the sense of a magician’s illusion: Something real is happening, but not what you think is happening. When you see through the illusion to the truth of what is happening, you don’t dismiss the illusion; you enjoy it for what it is: lila, or play. This world, with all its joys and sorrows, is the play of Primal Energy—Kali, Rama, Allah, YHVH, Tao, God, Mother, Nature, Brahman, etc.—and because this is so, every aspect of life is precious and worthy of respect.

The value of mantra japa is expressed in the parable Rajjusarpa Nyaya (The Rope and the Snake): “Walking down a dark wooded path before dawn, you are suddenly confronted by a deadly cobra coiled and ready to strike. Frozen in fear, your entire world shrinks to this one instant. You can think of nothing else but this snake and your impending doom. Terrorized, your eyes fixate on the cobra. As the sun slowly rises in the sky, your vision adjusts to the light, and the coiled cobra is revealed to be a coiled rope left by the side of the path. Effortlessly and instantly, everything changes, though, in fact, nothing has changed. You see what was true from the beginning, and seeing what is true liberates you from reacting to what is false.”

We are constantly encountering terrifying cobras and reacting to what is false. Our religious and spiritual lives revolve around ways to remove the cobra, kill the cobra, or appease the cobra when, in fact, there is and has never been any cobra at all. There is no way to avoid cobras. But there is a way to see the cobra for what it is: a coiled rope. That way is reciting a mantra.

7 Interfaith Mantras to Shatter Duality

Only certain swamis can give mantras. That is why my teacher, Swami Atmarupananda, took me to his teacher, Swami Swahananda, for my initiation into Vedanta and mantra practice. But there are mantras that require no initiation and are no less effective in dealing with cobras. Here are four with which I have experimented and have found effective:

• La ilaha illAllah—There is nothing other than Allah (Islam)

• Ein od milvado—There is nothing other than God (Judaism, Deuteronomy 4:35)

• Aham Brahmasmi—I am Brahman (Hinduism, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10)

• I and God are One (Christianity, John 10:30)

For those coming to this from a New Thought perspective, affirmations may have a similar effect. Here are some adapted from Daily Word:

• I am a finite expression of the Infinite One.

• With each beat of my heart, I relax into Truth.

• The Energy of the Divine manifests this moment.

The key is to shatter duality without erasing diversity. You want to see through the cobra without denying the unique manifesting of the rope you mistook as the cobra. You recite your mantra daily to keep it readily available when you next meet a cobra. Rather than stand terrified and powerless, recite your mantra. Doing so settles your mind, softens your breath, and allows you to see the cobra for what it is and move on.

Learn more about the benefits of Vedic mantra meditation.