Spiritual Practice
- Written by David Hall
- Category: Spiritual Practice
You may have heard the terms 'the witness state', 'being the witness' or 'perceiving as the witness' being used with regards to spirituality and Non-Duality. It's useful to understand what this really means.
From where you are right now, you may see a room or buildings, fields or hills in the distance. Maybe a river, a sea, clear sky or clouds, maybe the sun, the moon or stars. There is a sense that 'I am here and I see that there'. You may hear sounds. Maybe cars, people talking, birds singing, or an aeroplane flying overhead. There is the sense that 'I hear sounds'. These perhaps are the main two senses, but there are other senses where we may feel that 'I experience that' - maybe a taste or the texture of clothing. It's the world of perceptions, and we have the sense that 'I am perceiving this'.
As well as the usual senses, we also perceive thoughts. Sometimes it seems that thoughts 'have a mind of their own'. They ramble on from one topic to the next. Other times it seems that we are intentionally thinking about something, like planning an event, deciding what we need to buy or say, or thinking about something that interests us. Either way we feel that 'I am thinking thoughts'.
We also experience emotions, such as sadness and anger, joy and relief. There is a sense that 'I am happy' or 'I am sad'. We feel sensations like aches and pains. There is a sense that 'I have a headache', for example. But in Non-Duality we like to know what is happening here more clearly. We like to know who is this 'I' that experiences these perceptions, sensations and feelings. Who am I?
From the Non-Duality understanding, we are not what we can see. The eye cannot see the eye, and I cannot perceive I. In everyday life we talk of 'I' as if I am a human being. But in Non-Duality there is no true limitation of any form. The human body has no true beginnings or ends by which it can be accurately defined. That's not who we really are. All that we can say for sure is that I know I exist. I see the body and the world. I hear sound and feel pain. I notice thoughts and thinking.
In Non-Duality we are the Witnessing of all perception, feeling and sensation. Some call it Awareness or Consciousness. We are Knowing. Saying we are 'The Witness' is less accurate than 'Witnessing', as 'The Witness' implies an identity. Identity requires definition and limitation, but Reality is limitless.
So there is a practice of 'Witnessing', or 'Being the Witness' if that feels more comfortable. It means not identifying with what is perceived and not getting caught up in the experience. It's observing the mind, the body and the world, witnessing thoughts, perceptions and sensations, without attachment to them. This is more in line with limitless reality than 'I am this form and I do these actions'. What is perceived is not the perceiver. Actions that are done are not done by the perceiver, they are witnessed.
This practice of 'Witnessing' is the untangling of attachment with forms. Moving from the sense of 'I am sad' or even 'I am happy', 'I am well' or 'I am in pain', to the witnessing of the feelings of sadness or joy, wellness or pain, without identification with them. The one who witnesses is not what is witnessed. This practice is about recognising that our permanent unseen presence is not something that is observed in the world of changing forms. Our permanent unseen presence is where we are perceiving from.
Seemingly paradoxically, to remove the false identification with limited form, we need to separate ourself from this. We need to step back and see that we are not a separate limited form. However, it is to be further recognised then that this world of changing form is not separate from who we are. All form, thoughts, humans, animals, buildings, mountains, rivers, planets, stars, appear in the Consciousness that we are. The error is in the belief that we are a limited form that comes and goes. The Reality is that we are timelessly Here. We are Unlimited Formless Consciousness and all forms appear in Consciousness, made of Consciousness, known by Consciousness.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: Spiritual Practice
There was a period of my life when I wondered what was the best way to live. How could I be a good person? How could I do the right thing? What was the right thing to do? So I made some changes and developed some principals, such as not eating meat, recycling, supporting good causes, not misleading people or being unkind, and making an effort not to do anything that seemed dishonest. I was even sometimes called 'Do Right Dave'...
All that is fine, and in some ways trying to be a better person brings one closer to the true nature of being. Or at least it can seem that way. 'The saint is closer to God than the sinner,' we could say. It's kind of true, relatively speaking, but not absolutely true. Let's break it down and build it up.
The 'saint' is the good person, doing good things, being kind to others, helping others; being selfless, we might say. This is close to God, where God is Oneness. The 'saint' is close to Oneness by being less self-centred and more focused on the whole, showing love and kindness to all. The 'sinner' on the other hand is selfish, looking out for 'number one', all taking and no giving, and showing hate and disdain for others. This certainly seems far from godliness, and it describes someone who selfishly puts themselves as more important than the whole. The 'sinner' seems far removed from Oneness.
That's how it seems. But truly Oneness is here throughout. There only appears to be differences. There only appears to be far from God and near to God. God, or the Infinite One, is right here where everything appears. Nothing is outside of God. Goodness seems to be close to Reality or the Truth of Being Infinitely One. Badness only seems to be far from it. But there is no inside or outside of the Infinite One. The apparent opposites of near and far appear within the unbounded space of the Infinite One.
We can never be far from God or near to God. We are never really a sinner or a saint. That is the appearance of the world as if it was the Infinite One separated. But this separation doesn't happen. We are never a person of any kind, though we may experience the life of a person. I call it the human experience. The human may make changes to be a better person, and that is good and fine, and in keeping with the understanding that there is only One and our true nature is this Infinite One.
There comes a point when the 'saint' (in the human experience), becoming closer to oneness, lets go of the ideas of being a 'saint', being a person doing actions, whether good or bad. This letting go is Freedom. It is the Freedom of just being. Some say it is freedom from karma, and in a way it is. The Infinite One is not subject to karma, the Law of Opposites. When the identity as a human doing actions is dropped, the person is no more, and it is clear that there is only ever the Infinite One. Actions of the human may continue, but there is no attachment to them, no separate person doing actions.
So you see here the path from doing bad, to doing good, to not identifying with doing at all. The question of whether an action is good or bad no longer arises. There is no choice to make. There is no seeing the world or actions as good or bad. There is the clear knowing that there is only God, the Infinite One. No saints or sinners. No heaven or hell. No near or far from God. Only the Infinite One.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: Spiritual Practice
Stillness Meditation is not about making the body and the mind still, it is about being the Stillness that we are. We are the still essence that perceives the movement of the mind, the body and the world.
Usually in meditation the aim is to still the body and mind, and that's fine. But we can never make the body and the mind truly still. Nothing in the world is truly still. It is the reflective nature of the world that makes movement appear. It is the reflection or opposite of True Stillness. This is the real nature of the world, just as the real nature of a movie is the screen. Stillness is the underlying and pervading nature of the moving world.
So in meditation we can 'sit back' into the unmoving, unchanging, formless, aware being that is not just the essence of our being. It is the essence and the whole of all apparently separate beings. It is at the heart of each being, yet it is That in which the beings seem to appear.
This Stillness Meditation is the untangling of identity with movement and change. We withdraw from the fascination of the world and the distractions of the body and the mind. It helps for the mind to know that its identity is not this body. It helps for the mind to know that any limited defined identity is flawed, and that our true nature is without limits. Indeed, our true nature is aware of the apparent movement and activity of the mind.
We need to bring the mind deeper to rest in the witnessing of the mind and the body. Effectively the mind untangles itself from its false identification, as we remain the Unchanging One perceiving change.
In practice we allow the body to sit comfortably. Before closing the eyes, we recognise that we are perceiving this. We close the eyes. There are still sounds, but we recognise that we perceive them right here. We allow the mind to ease off a little. Thoughts will likely still appear, but we withdraw further from the thoughts to the perceiving of them. This may involve some to-ing and fro-ing, as we withdraw then become caught up in the thinking again. But none of that thinking is important right now, so we let it go again and observe.
With practice we go deeper. That's when the untangling of identification takes place. It is the mind that is going deeper to the source or essence. The nature of the mind is not separate from the source or essence, of course. It is the source or essence. This Stillness Meditation seems to bring the mind inwards to the source of Awareness, where there is really no inside or outside. There is only what seemed to be the source.
Know that you don't really have an inside and an outside. You are not the movements of the mind and the body. Yet all movement appears within the Infinite Stillness that we are. There is none other than this Infinite Stillness. It is the Infinite One Aware Being. That by which all is perceived. If you can perceive it, it's not you. If it is seen to move and change, it's not you. You are the Unchanging Awareness that perceives movement and change. This Stillness Meditation is no meditation. It is just being as you are. Pure Clarity.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: Spiritual Practice
The practice of remaining present during activity is a practice of no-practice. Meaning that one recognises one's stillness whilst activity happens. Stillness in activity. But how do we do this non-doing?
A good example is driving a car. If you don't drive you can tweak this example, as it works with catching a bus, a train, a plane, or a boat. Within the activity of the world there arises in us a desire or intention to make a journey. It's not really that we decide it. It may be noticed that there is a decision making process, but this is part of the flow of the world. In Non-Duality we are not the flow of the world per se. We witness the apparent flow of the world. We witness the formation of the plan to travel. It may be to go shopping, to meet up with someone, to go to work etc. The reason doesn't matter for this example. The important point is that we are aware of the development of this reason. We are not this decision making activity. We perceive it from a point of stillness and non-action.
The reason to move and travel flows naturally from the activity of the world. It influences the mind activity and the body activity. We witness the movement of the body, directed by the mind, which in turn is directed by the worldly factors that led to making this journey. The body gets in the car. The driving of the car is fairly automatic, in that practice has made it reasonably effortless. The body has been trained to drive through practice and repetition. We witness the driving of the car. Remaining present means that we don't identify as the active mind or body during this process. We witness this. We are the Stillness that perceives the apparent motion of the mind, the body, the car and the world.
Whilst driving there may be times when the car behind gets too close, the car in front drives too slowly, a car speeds past dangerously, a call pulls out in front, or we get stuck in traffic. At these times the mind may start to complain, and the body may verbalise this. This is often a habitual reaction. The mind maybe gets anxious about the car behind or arriving late, or annoyed at bad drivers. But, remaining present, we witness this. We are not the mind or this mental activity. Indeed we are not the mind activity or the body activity. We are not going anywhere. We, Consciousness, do not travel. We don't drive. We don't think. We are aware, and awareness requires no activity. The thinking, the driving, the moving, appears within Consciousness.
So the practice in this driving scenario is to not get caught up in the mind activity, the body activity or even the car and travelling activity. It is to remain as the Stillness, the Awareness or Consciousness in which this mind activity and apparent travelling is perceived. We can never go anywhere. You've never been anywhere other than where you are. It may appear that the body travels from here to there, but we, Consciousness, do not travel. Travel and all motion or activity appears within Consciousness.
We don't need to practise to be still and aware. Our nature is Unmoving Awareness. We don't need to do anything to be what we are, and in truth we can't do anything. We may say we walk somewhere or drive somewhere, but Consciousness does not walk or drive. The walking and driving appears to happen within Consciousness. So the shift is from identifying with the activity of the world. There needs to be a withdrawal from latching onto thoughts and believing that we are doing the activity. The non-practice of Presence is in just being as we are, not identifying with the activity of what seems to happen. Remaining Here whilst the world seems in perpetual motion.
It is similar to recognising that the sun doesn't spin around the Earth. It is the sun that remains as it is, whilst the Earth spins around and around. We are like that still centre around which the world spins. But more accurately we are neither the centre nor the outer limits. We are the Limitless that appears to have a centre and outer limits. We are the Infinite Consciousness in which this play of limitation and motion appears from the perspective of a central point of view.
It is not us, Consciousness, that practises being the Still Awareness. That is our nature. It is the mind, or the mind activity that attempts this practice. But mind cannot achieve Stillness. Mind is itself activity. Yet when the mind withdraws from identifying and returns to the Stillness it is found that there is no mind. There is no activity. There is only an appearance of activity. Stillness is here all along.