Dualities such as attachment and abhorrence, kindness and cruelty, greed and benevolence, truth and false are all qualities of the prakruti (the worldly self), and the Self (our real Self) is beyond all duality. The nature of the real Self is non-dual. Thus, our true nature is non-dual!

The true nature of the Self is non-dual, but there is Ignorance of the (real) Self

Owing to ignorance of the Self, illusion arises, which in turn gives rise to duality. The whole world is immersed in duality. Until you acquire a state of non-duality, duality remains.

Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan, an enlightened being, illustrates:

“As long as your belief of ‘I am John (please insert your name here)’ exists, everything (insults, etc.) will taste bitter, but for me the poison has turned into nectar. Respect or insults, sweet or bitter are all dualities. We are free from such dualities; we are beyond such dualities. That is why we do these satsangs! After all, eventually everyone wants to achieve the state beyond duality, don’t they?”

He further explains:

“Duality means that if a person has pity in his nature, he will inevitably also have its opposing quality, cruelty, at the other end. This attribute becomes apparent only when it surfaces, but when it does, he will destroy everything around him. He will make all kinds of wrong dealings, he will even forsake his home, his wife and children.

Pity is an egocentric virtue (arising from the belief of ‘I am John’ as there is ignorance of the real Self, hence), it is a virtue that exists in duality with its corresponding counterpart. Presence of pity on one hand is balanced by cruelty on the other hand. Only when it manifests, does one see the reality of this duality.

Good habits or bad habits are all qualities of the prakruti. There may be a King who is very benevolent and devout, but if he were to get lost in the jungle and not eat for days, would he be embarrassed to beg for food? Definitely not! What happens to his imperial and monarchical qualities at that time? Alas! His prakruti is crying out from within and he is trapped in circumstances that reduce even a King to becoming a beggar. If this can happen to a king, then what chance does a commoner have? It is the prakruti that makes you give alms and it is the prakruti that makes you beg, so where is your effort in that? A thief steals twenty rupees, goes to a restaurant and orders a nice meal and enjoys himself. On his way out he gives the remaining ten rupees to a leper, what is all that? This is all a play of prakruti. It is incomprehensible.

Gnani is above all Duality (since he dwells in the nature of the Self)

An abode of infinite compassion, the Gnani does not have a grain of pity. In the Gnani’s eyes, flows an endless stream of the elixir of love. Forever within Him, remains the spirit of comforting and saving and liberating all the creatures of the world who are suffering in agony the afflictions of the worldly life. It is because he has no illusion; and which is because the veils of ignorance from over his Soul (the real Self) have dropped. Thus, he can remain detached every moment, in every situation.

When one is Detached from John (please insert your name here), one’s Vision gets absolutely Clear

One is able to see the real truth then. And this is why many of those, who have had near-death spiritual experience, are able to see things (pertaining to the real truth) which they’ve never seen before, which they’ve never experienced before! It happens! They are in a position where they are able to do nothing, so that’s when things occur on their own.

So yes, there’s no free Will there, and therefore such Experience happened!

One cannot create this experience with one’s will; it just happens. In fact, the ideal space for such experience to happen is when there’s no will or wish, when it is spontaneous, it is natural! It does not necessarily have to be a near-death experience, it can happen anytime; but at the time when death seems near, in case of many, detachment from the physical and the exterior occurs on its own, which gives rise to the spiritual experience.

Talking about Parma Pujya Dadashri’s experience,…

In June 1958, one evening, at around six o’clock, Ambalal Muljibhai Patel (the worldly name of Param Pujya Dadashri), a family man and a contractor by profession, was sitting on a busy railway platform of Surat, in Gujarat, India, waiting for his train to arrive.

All of a sudden, a phenomenal spiritual experience of ‘Self-Realisation’ happened to Him, during which the answers to all spiritual questions such as, ‘Who am I, Who is God, Who created this world, Who governs this Universe, What is karma, How can one get liberated, etc.’ unfolded on their own.

During this experience, his ego got dissolved, all the impurities within melted away, and he realized his real Self. That moment onwards, he became totally detached from Ambalal’s thoughts, speech and acts, they were no more ‘his’ speech, actions or thoughts, the ownership was gone!

The Lord (Absolute Soul, the real Self) within him got unveiled and manifested with all his powers. He attained the ‘Absolute Vision’, which got established on the real Self within instead of the exterior physical self (the worldly self) of His as well as all living beings. Referring to the physical self of every living being as a mere packing, he would say, “In this world, I simply cannot see anyone as having faults. Even a pickpocket or a person of immoral character, is faultless in my Vision. I do not look at the packing. There are infinite varieties of packing. I see only the real which is pure.”

He thus attained the total faultless vision and saw the entire world as absolutely faultless. And he attained a state of permanent Bliss!! No worries, no complaints, no tension, no botheration, bliss and only bliss is what he experienced all the time!!!