The Dharma of Oneness: Beyond Rules and Rituals

THE CONFLICT I started following Advaita Vedanta, which took me to a world of oneness. But I still had to live in this society. I looked to the Apastamba Dharmasutra for answers, expecting wisdom on daily living. What I found was a shock: rigid caste hierarchies, exclusions, and rules that felt entirely backwards. "It's not what I thought. It's all casteist and rules which seems backwards." This creates a profound cognitive dissonance. On one hand, the philosophy (Advaita) tells you everything is one. On the other, the religious law (Dharma texts) tells you some people are superior by birth and others are born to serve. THE TRAP OF LITERALISM This isn't just a Hindu problem. We see it in Christianity, Islam, everywhere. Humans divide themselves and fight over the very texts that are supposed to bring them closer to the Divine. "We get into the literal word too much and we forget to see the meaning behind it." The realization? "Belief and asking questions is the only path to enlightenment." Blindly following a manuscript—whether it's Apastamba or anything else—often leads to a dead end. The text is a map, not the territory. NISHKAM VS. SAKAM BHAKTI We discussed the difference between doing things for a result (Sakam) and doing them for the love of it (Nishkam). "From the stories, the nishkam bhakts are always shown facing more challenges." It seems counterintuitive. If you surrender, shouldn't life get easier? But perhaps the challenge is the point. The friction is what burns away the ego. BEYOND HEAVEN AND HELL Every religion uses the concept of heaven and hell to enforce morality. "Do good, or else." But in Advaita, where there is no separate soul to go to hell, what drives good deeds? It forces a maturity in the seeker. You don't do good because you fear punishment; you do good because you understand that hurting another is literally hurting yourself. The motivation shifts from external fear to internal clarity.