800 AD – 2024: Timelessness of Unity
Certain teachings have emerged throughout history to illuminate a timeless truth: the indivisible unity of existence. Though cloaked in their respective eras’ cultural, religious, and philosophical language, these teachings resonate with a universal clarity, offering paths toward understanding life as an expression of an interconnected, eternal reality. Spinoza’s rational monism, Dōgen Zenji’s emphasis on Buddha-nature, Ibn Arabi’s Sufi vision of wahdat al-wujud (unity of being), and Shankaracharya’s Advaita Vedantic realization of Brahman are not merely disparate insights—they are deeply aligned in their core intention. This vision continues to unfold in modern spiritual paths such as the Diamond Approach®, offering seekers a bridge between ancient wisdom and contemporary understanding. These teachings underscore the timeless relevance of discovering the eternal within the fleeting.
Podcast Discussion
Spinoza’s Rational Mysticism: The Vision of Unity
Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677) articulated a philosophy that boldly declared all existence to be one: an infinite substance he called “God or Nature” (Deus sive Natura). For Spinoza, God was not a distant, personal deity but the essence of all that exists. His monism posited that everything—matter, mind, and life—was a mode of this infinite reality.
Spinoza’s ethics revolved around understanding this unity. Freedom, for Spinoza, came not from escaping the world but from comprehending its necessity. By recognizing that all things unfold according to the natural laws of this infinite substance, individuals transcend the illusions of separateness and align with the flow of existence. This was not a dry intellectual exercise but a deeply transformative vision of life—a realization that the boundaries we impose between “self” and “other,” “mind” and “body,” are artificial.
The more we understand particular things, the more we understand God.
Ethics, Part V, Proposition 24
Spinoza’s philosophy thus invites us to see beyond dualities; a perspective strikingly echoed in the mystical traditions of the East.
Dōgen Zenji: The Interdependence of All Things
Dōgen Zenji (1200–1253), the founder of the Soto school of Zen in Japan, articulated a vision of reality that dissolves boundaries between the mundane and the sacred. His teachings on Bussho (Buddha-nature) emphasize the inherent perfection of all phenomena, much like Spinoza’s assertion that everything is an expression of God or Nature. For Dōgen, sitting in meditation (zazen) is realizing this truth.
One of Dōgen’s most profound contributions is his exploration of uji (being-time), which aligns with the timeless perspective shared by Spinoza. For Dōgen, time is not a linear sequence but an interpenetration of all moments, where the past, present, and future exist simultaneously within the eternal now. This echoes Spinoza’s view of eternity as the perspective of reality seen in its totality beyond human notions of temporal progression.
To study the self is to forget the self;
to forget the self is to be actualized by the myriad things.
Genjōkōan, Dōgen’s Shōbōgenzō
Both Dōgen and Spinoza urge us to embrace the present not as a fleeting moment but as the gateway to the eternal. Their teachings remind us that liberation is recognizing the sacredness inherent in all things precisely as they are.
Ibn Arabi: The Unity of Being
In the 13th century, the Sufi mystic Ibn Arabi (1165–1240) offered a metaphysical vision that resonates deeply with Spinoza’s monism. Ibn Arabi’s doctrine of wahdat al-wujud (the unity of being) asserts that all existence is a manifestation of a single divine reality. Like Spinoza, Ibn Arabi rejected the notion of separateness between God and creation. For him, the world is not other than God but an expression of divine attributes manifesting in infinite forms.
He who knows himself knows his Lord.
Indeed, you are not other than Him,
and He is not other than you.
Futuhat al-Makkiyah, The Meccan Revelations
Ibn Arabi’s emphasis on experiential realization aligns with Spinoza’s rational exploration. He taught that through self-knowledge—“He who knows himself knows his Lord”—one can awaken to the truth that the self is not separate from the divine. This parallels Spinoza’s call to understand oneself as a mode of the infinite substance.
Furthermore, Ibn Arabi’s mystical poetry often points to the paradoxical nature of existence, where unity and multiplicity coexist. This dynamic interplay mirrors Spinoza’s understanding of the infinite substance expressing itself in myriad finite forms. Both thinkers challenge us to see beyond the surface of appearances and recognize the oneness underlying all diversity.
Shankaracharya: The Non-Dual Reality of Brahman
Brahman alone is real, the world is an appearance,
and the individual self is not different from Brahman.
Vivekachudamani, Crest Jewel of Discrimination
The Advaita Vedanta teachings of Adi Shankaracharya (788–820) echo Spinoza’s vision with striking clarity. Central to Advaita is the realization that Brahman—the ultimate, non-dual reality—is the sole truth, while the world of names and forms (maya) is an illusion born of ignorance. Shankara’s famous aphorism, “Brahman alone is real; the world is an appearance; the self is nothing but Brahman,” could almost serve as a poetic restatement of Spinoza’s metaphysical framework.
Both Shankara and Spinoza assert that liberation comes through understanding. For Shankara, this understanding arises from directly realizing one’s identity with Brahman, while for Spinoza, it involves intellectual comprehension of the universe as an expression of the infinite substance. In both cases, the result is freedom—not freedom from the world, but freedom in the world, born of alignment with reality as it is.
Shankara’s Advaita and Spinoza’s monism thus converge on a profound insight: the essence of existence is one, and the path to liberation lies in seeing beyond the illusions of separateness.
The Diamond Approach: Bridging Ancient and Modern Wisdom
The Diamond Approach, a contemporary spiritual path developed by A. H. Almaas (Hameed Ali), integrates Western psychology and ancient spiritual teachings to offer a modern understanding of human potential. Central to this approach is the recognition of reality’s “essential nature,” a timeless presence that underlies all phenomena. This echoes the insights of Spinoza, Dōgen, Ibn Arabi, and Shankara while translating their timeless wisdom into a language accessible to modern seekers.
The Diamond Approach emphasizes the process of inquiry—a deep, open-ended exploration of experience—to reconnect with this essential nature. This inquiry mirrors Spinoza’s rational investigation, Dōgen’s meditation, Ibn Arabi’s mystical self-knowledge, and Shankara’s non-dual realization. It recognizes that the path to truth is not about adopting beliefs but about discovering reality directly.
The truth is not somewhere else; it is right here. But we don’t see it because we are preoccupied with trying to be something, trying to get somewhere, or trying to avoid something. The process of inquiry reveals the truth of the moment and connects us to the timeless presence of being.
Moreover, the Diamond Approach acknowledges the complexities of modern life, integrating psychological insights to address the obstacles that prevent individuals from experiencing their true nature. In this way, it offers a bridge between ancient metaphysical truths and contemporary human challenges.
The Timeless Message: Unity as Liberation
What unites these diverse teachings is their insistence on the unity of existence. Whether through Spinoza’s rational monism, Dōgen’s Zen practice, Ibn Arabi’s mystical vision, Shankara’s Advaita Vedanta, or the Diamond Approach’s modern inquiry, the message remains clear: liberation arises from understanding that the boundaries we perceive are illusions. The self is not separate from the whole, and the divine is immanent in everything.
These teachings transcend cultural and historical boundaries by pointing to experiential truth. They invite us not to adopt dogmas but to see reality as infinite, interconnected, and sacred. This is why they remain timeless, resonating across centuries and disciplines.
Living the Eternal in the Now
In a world increasingly fragmented by ideological divisions and technological distractions, the teachings of Spinoza, Dōgen, Ibn Arabi, Shankara, and the Diamond Approach offer a profound reminder: the ultimate truth is not something to be grasped but something to be lived. It is found not in escape but in full engagement with the present moment, seen through the lens of unity.
The timelessness of these teachings lies in their ability to awaken us to the eternal within the transient. They remind us that while the forms of life are ever-changing, the essence of life—whether we call it God, Nature, Buddha-nature, or Brahman—remains constant. To recognize this essence is to find freedom, not as an escape from life’s challenges but as a deeper participation in its unfolding mystery.
Thus, the insights of Spinoza, Dōgen, Ibn Arabi, Shankara, and the Diamond Approach continue to illuminate the path for those who seek answers and the direct experience of truth itself. In their vision, we find a map of reality and an invitation to live fully, courageously, and authentically in harmony with the infinite.
End Note on Religious Controversy
The Diamond Approach, Advaita Vedanta (Shankara’s philosophy), Ibn Arabi’s teachings, and Spinoza’s philosophy challenged their times’ dominant religious or philosophical norms by emphasizing universal truths and individual spiritual insight over institutional dogma. Shankara’s Advaita Vedanta re-established Hinduism’s non-dualist foundation during a fragmentation period, countering Buddhist metaphysics and internal sectarian divides. However, it faced criticism for its rejection of the world as maya. Similarly, Ibn Arabi’s mystical Sufi philosophy, emphasizing divine unity (wahdat al-wujud), provoked fierce resistance from orthodox Islamic scholars, who feared his ideas blurred the boundaries between Creator and creation. Spinoza’s pantheistic philosophy, equating God with nature and rejecting traditional notions of divine intervention, was condemned by both Jewish and Christian authorities of his time as heretical, resulting in his excommunication from the Jewish community and banning his works.
The Diamond Approach, though emerging in a modern secular world, parallels these historical tensions by prioritizing experiential truth and psychological integration over established religious frameworks. Like Shankara, Ibn Arabi, and Spinoza, it seeks to reconcile the relative and the absolute, offering a spiritual path that transcends traditional boundaries. All four philosophies share a unifying vision: the dissolution of ego or separation to uncover a deeper, unified reality. However, their critiques of institutional authority and literalist interpretations of scripture made them controversial, even as their transformative insights reshaped spiritual landscapes and left enduring legacies.