Is the Unity of Opposites the Truth? Non-Duality and Oneness from a Theravāda Perspective

DESCRIPTIONIn this Dhamma talk, Bhante Joe examines the “unity of opposites” and asks whether Buddhism regards good and bad, saṃsāra and Nibbāna, or consciousness and its objects as ultimately one. Contrasting Theravāda teachings with Taoism, later Buddhist philosophy, and New Age non-duality, he explains the Buddha’s categorical distinction between wholesome and unwholesome kamma, while showing how gain and loss, pleasure and pain, praise and blame, and status and obscurity continually turn into one another. The talk explores feeding, becoming, compassion, the formless attainments, radiant consciousness, and Luangta Mahā Bua’s final insight—showing why even the most sublime unity must be investigated, relinquished, and transcended through dispassion on the path to the unborn and the end of suffering.Tune in with fellow practitioners for dhammavinayapatipada online events and community practice!BI-WEEKLY MEDITATION via ZOOM*North America — 1st Sunday and middle Sunday of the month: 7-8:30pm*Australia — 1st and middle Monday of the month: 7-8:30pmhttps://dhammavinayapatipada.com/monthly-meditation-meetings/LUMA CALENDAR*Subscribe for updates on special events https://luma.com/dhammavinayapatipada?k=cFind out more...Linktree https://linktr.ee/dhamma.vinaya.patipadaWebsite www.dhammavinayapatipada.comWelcome!TIMESTAMPS00:00:00 — Is Bad Necessary in Order to Recognize Good?00:00:26 — Perennial Philosophy and the Unity of Opposites00:00:34 — Taoism, the Tao, and Non-Duality00:00:56 — Are Saṃsāra and Nibbāna the Same?00:01:38 — New Age Spirituality and Universal Consciousness00:02:25 — Theravāda Buddhism: Good and Bad Are Not the Same00:03:14 — Unwholesome Kamma, Decline, and Lower Rebirth00:04:04 — The Eight Worldly Winds: Opposites That Keep Turning00:04:26 — Wealth, Generosity, Poverty, and Stinginess00:05:49 — Power, Jealousy, and Rejoicing in Others’ Success00:06:24 — Why Buddhism Does Not Celebrate the Unity of Opposites00:06:34 — “What Is One?” All Beings Subsist on Food00:07:18 — Feeding, Identity, Becoming, and Rebirth00:08:00 — “Interbeing Is Inter-Eating”00:08:33 — Skillful Identities and the Noble Eightfold Path00:09:14 — Compassion: All Beings Are Like Us00:10:10 — Formless Attainments and Infinite Consciousness00:11:27 — Luangta Mahā Bua and the Radiant Mind00:12:03 — The Subtle Ripple: Consciousness as Avijjā00:12:49 — Impermanence and the Instability of Sublime States00:13:09 — Transcending Unity Through Dispassion00:13:51 — Letting Go of Radiant Consciousness00:14:10 — Nibbāna Beyond Words, Concepts, and Proliferation00:14:33 — Bright Kamma, Dark Kamma, and Neither-Bright-Nor-Dark Kamma00:15:00 — How Opposites Sustain Craving and Saṃsāra00:15:26 — The Noble Eightfold Path Beyond Bright and Dark00:15:50 — The Unborn, Unmade, and Unconditioned00:16:12 — Buddhism’s Radical Aim: The End of Suffering