David Hall's Non-Duality Blog
My name's David Hall. I'm the creator of this web site and its content. I live in Wales in the UK.
I developed the Celtic design software KnotWorker, I create electronic music as Goldcup7, and I've written books on spirituality and non duality.
Hope you enjoy this Non Duality blog. New blogs are added on Fridays.
Please use the Contact page if you have any questions or would like me to discuss a topic.
- Category: Spiritual Symbols and Patterns
- Hits: 1003
There is some wisdom to be found in understanding the four classical elements: earth, water, air and fire. They may seem a little dated these days when we have classified many elements in the periodic table and we know that water is made of hydrogen and oxygen, and that air contains a number of different elements like nitrogen, oxygen and argon. But there is a simple wisdom in the understanding of the four elements.
You see, the four elements are the expression of the reality that underlies the universe. Earth symbolises stability, unmoving, unchanging solidity. Water symbolises fluidity and continual change. Air symbolises boundlessness, transparency, clarity, being imperceptible but essentially present. Fire symbolises energy, vibration, expression and power. Even from a basic perspective we can see the progression from fire to air to water to earth. It shows the expressive force of fire contracting to air then water then earth. There is a range or spectrum of energy, from the most energetic to the least, from the most unstable to the most stable.
What's this got to do with Non-Duality? It's a way of understanding how the true non-dual nature of Reality is expressed in the appearance of the world. What that means is that the true non-dual nature of Reality is unseen, indivisible, unmoving, unchanging life energy. It's expressed in and through the world in the apparent separation of a Singularity into a spectrum of elements that range from near to far, from high to low, from light to dark, from fire to earth, from life to death. The four elements are the play of the Singularity expressed as an explosion and condensing of frequencies of vibration. In other words, the world of energy, gases, liquids and solids, is an expression of a Singular Reality as if blown apart. High energy is close to the heat, light and source of Life. Low energy becomes cold, distant and dark. Once apparently separated they can then interact as though they are different elements.
But even the most cold and distant of solid forms is not truly impermeably solid. There is only an appearance of solidity. Reality is a Singularity. It doesn't really get blown apart into a range of frequencies. That's just how it appears. The Reality is that there can never be anything other than the Singularity. The four elements are a play of separation that form the building blocks of the world, whilst the world remains timelessly as the Singularity.
The Singularity is the Quintessence. It seems to be the centre of the cross of the four elements, the place from which they have come, the source which separates outwards to form the elements. But truly the Quintessence is timelessly the whole of the elements, without separation. Picture a cross and consider each arm of the cross to be one of the four elements. It's not that the centre is the Quintessence. It is more like the Quintessence is the whole of the cross. The cross is truly undivided. The four elements are never truly separated. They only give the appearance of separation whilst remaining timelessly Whole, eternally One.
- Category: The Universe
- Hits: 1003
We all know about The Big Bang. It refers to the moment when the universe was created, when from a singularity this multiplicity exploded. Like a seed of potential, the unmanifest singularity split open explosively and grew into the universe that we see now. The universe continues its expansion with the momentum of this initial explosion. That's a simplistic version of it anyhow.
Let's look at it from the Non-Duality perspective. That is, the perspective in which it's recognised that the duality, separation or multiplicity only appears to be that. The universe only appears to have forms that are separate, whilst there is no true separation. It doesn't mean that we need to dismiss the Big Bang theory. All theories are flawed, it's just that some are less flawed than others.
We can understand the Big Bang theory and creation of the manifest universe in terms of Non-Duality. Consider what was 'before' the Big Bang. There was no 'before' really, because there was no time, or indeed space, before the Big Bang. There was only a spaceless timeless Singularity. Some may call it the Void or Emptiness, but it is a Full Emptiness, a Completeness. It is the unmanifest Whole. It cannot really be described accurately. Even 'Singularity' implies that it is one, whereas it is more an Infinite One, without limitations, boundaries or definitions.
So consider the Singularity, from which the Big Bang appeared. The Non-Duality perspective would be that this Singularity never exploded into many. The Big Bang only seemed to split the Singularity into many particles and opposing forces. The apparent world of duality, or The World of Opposites, as I call it, did not and cannot divide the Infinite Indivisible One. This appearance of duality, separation and multiplicity is a play of opposites within the timeless spaceless Singularity that remains eternally unchanged and ever-present.
This is why there is no end to the universe. Although it seems to be expanding, really there are no limits to its expansion. There is nothing beyond the universe. There is no 'other' that is beyond it. The universe has no boundaries. The edge of the universe cannot be found. Similarly, the smallest final particle cannot be found. There will always be deeper and deeper search into the infinite. The answer of the universe can never be found. The answer is right here all along. The answer of the universe is right Here and Now.
Time and space are the great play of the universe. The Singularity is Here and Now. There is no outside or inside. There is no near or far. These opposites are a play of reflection within the Singularity. The Invisible appears. The Indivisible appears divided. The One appears as many. The Infinite appears to be limited. The Formless appears as form. The Peace appears as conflict. The Reality appears illusory. The Unchanging appears as continual change. The Unmoving appears as motion. The Timeless appears as time. The Infinite One Being appears as many separate beings.
So the Big Bang explodes apparently outwards into the infinite. The reflective nature of the manifest universe means that a Law of Opposites applies throughout the universe. What goes out must come in, to restore the apparent imbalance of seeming to fall out of unity. So the expanding universe will in time return to the original state of Oneness. But truly it never left.
- Category: Non-duality
- Hits: 992
In ancient Chinese philosophy there is an understanding of opposites in the world, with the Yin and Yang forces or qualities. But these opposites were considered to appear within the Supreme Ultimate (Taiji), which is a Perfect Inexpressible Singularity. Let’s explore and understand what this means.
So we know that this seems to be a World of Opposites. There are opposite qualities such as light and dark, good and bad, clear and clouded, moving and still, truth and lies. But these are not the Truth. They have some relative truth, but they are not the Absolute Truth. So words spoken or written may be close to or far from the Ultimate Truth, but words can never be the Truth. The reason that words can’t be the Absolute Truth is because they are expressions dependent on opposites and relativity.
It’s useful to really understand this. In the world all words are less than true, all movement is illusory, all clarity is less than perfect, all goodness is less than perfect purity, and all light is darker than Pure Light. So even though the opposites may appear to be like and unlike the Supreme Ultimate, the Absolute, Reality, they are inevitably less than it. They are less than the Ultimate because they are expressed in the seemingly divided World of Opposites.
It seems as if the world has fallen out of the paradisiacal state of Pure Perfection. It seems that the Supreme Formless Singularity has been divided to create a world of forms and opposites. So all that appears in the world is less than Perfection. What the world has to offer will never suffice. Even the most beautiful is less than perfection. Even the kindest of people is less than the Selflessness of the Supreme Singularity.
This is why the Supreme Ultimate can also be called the Great Extremity, or the Supreme Superlative. It is the Highest of the high and low. The Greatest of the good and bad. The Purest of the pure and tainted. This world is like an expression of the Supreme Ultimate by means of contrasting opposites, those like it and unlike it. But they are never really it. The expression always falls short of Truth and Reality. The Reality is imperceptible, as there is no other, no separation, no division of what is and what isn’t. There only seems to be a division of the Supreme Ultimate. It is Pure Unseen Perfection. Perfect Clarity. Formless Being.
But there is a seeming paradox. The world that appears seems to be less than the Whole, less than the Supreme Ultimate. But it isn’t. There is only the Whole, only the Supreme Ultimate. The seeming paradox is that although the world is to be understood as being less than the Supreme, it is also to be recognised that there is only the Supreme. There is never more than or less than the Supreme Singularity. The opposites are illusory in nature. Oneness is never divided in two. The world only seems to be a World of Opposites.
I could say it is the Supreme Singularity reflecting within itself. But all statements about it will be less than the Truth. The closest we can actually come to describing the Supreme Ultimate is by saying nothing.
- Category: Spiritual Practice
- Hits: 999
Recognise the Spaciousness in which the world appears. Sights and sounds, thoughts and feelings, all appear in something. They cannot appear or be known without a field in which they appear. For example, a thought pops into the mind, "I must remember to call Jasper." The thought is perceived or known. It's difficult to say what the thought appears in, but it's a kind of empty space. We call it consciousness or the mind.
Take another example: we hear the sound of a car driving past. There is an awareness or knowing of the sound. There is a field like silence in which the sound comes and goes. It's not altogether different to how thoughts come and go in a space of awareness. It is ultimately the same space of awareness that perceives or knows the sound and the thought. The knowing of these is like the centre of perception. It is the same space in which all perceptions are experienced. Sights, smells, taste, touch, feelings, are all experienced in the same place of knowing.
So our practice is to recognise that space in which all things are perceived, known or experienced. We are that Infinite Spaciousness. How wide or deep is it? No width, no depth. It has no size because it is limitless and formless. It is that which perceives apparent limits and forms, yet is itself limitless and formless. Any limits of things are imaginary or conceptual. These imaginary or conceptual limits are perceived in this Knowing Spaciousness. Recognise this. We perceive the thoughts and ideas of things being limited. We perceive the sense of the world being made of separate forms. But this is just an idea or assumption of limitation and division in the world. The world we experience is only ever experienced in one place. The sense of distance and time is experienced in this Knowing Spaciousness right Here and Now.
Knowing Spaciousness can't really be known, as it is Knowing itself. Just as the eye cannot see the eye. But we can know it is here because we know. In other words, I know therefore I am.
The practice is to recognise that even the person or personality is known. We are not the person, the thinker or the body doing actions. Recognise that these are perceived and we are That which is naturally perceiving, or Aware. Thoughts float by in the Spaciousness of Consciousness like clouds drifting through the endless sky. Spaciousness is unaffected by whatever appears because it has no form or substance. Yet it is the Full Emptiness in which all things appear.
Who is it that is doing this practice or seeking to be aware of this Knowing Spaciousness. Truly there is no-one. There isn't really a limited person trying to do this. It is an activity in the mind. It's an activity of the sense of being someone seeking to find who knows this. It may seem a little odd, but basically it is Self Enquiry. It is the sense of self seeking its source. Recognise that this is perceived. This seeking is perceived. It is not who we are. We are the knowing of this. We are the Knowing Spaciousness.
- Category: Non-duality
- Hits: 992
It's difficult to find peace in the world. By nature the universe is continually moving and changing. If a peace is found then it's only a temporary peace. However, there is a Permanent Peace. It's not something to be found, but it's at the heart of all the searching. Permanent Peace is timelessly present whilst the world spins around. In the world it is like the still centre, and this pattern repeats throughout the universe - a still centre at the heart of movement and change. We see it in the strong trunk of a tree, from which the branches grow outwards. It's in the swirl of water going down a plughole, and the eye of the hurricane as it whirls around. It's in the opening and closing of a flower and the seeming stillness of our view from planet Earth as the stars and planets move round.
These pockets of peace that we perceive aren't wholly accurate. Planet Earth isn't really still. Nothing in the world of movement and change remains still. It's just that they can seem still or they can represent stillness temporarily. Yet there is a True Stillness. It is this True Stillness from which and in which this world of motion is perceived. True Stillness is beyond time and space. Time and space appear within its timeless spacelessness. It's an infinite indivisible Singularity. It's always Here and Now.
Eckhart Tolle often mentions Presence or Being Present in his talks. He sometimes mentions The Present Moment. It's not really a moment in time, of course. He is referring to the timeless Now. This Presence is the true nature of all things. It is That in which time and space seem to stretch out. All the while, Presence is right Here, Now. It is the pure, perfect peace. It's not made of anything. Presence wasn't created. It is timeless and formless. It's an unshakeable Singularity. It cannot be moved or harmed. It cannot be broken or split in two. It is the true nature of the seemingly ever-moving world.
Presence has no beginning or end, no inside or outside. How do we know it's here? Because we know. The very fact of being aware tells us that we are here. We are the Aware Presence that is here. It's not that because there is a human there is Presence. The human is perceived because of Presence. Presence comes first. Well, it would be more accurate to say Presence is timelessly present, before any appearance of first and last. It reminds one of the Bible quote (John 1:8), "Before Abraham was, I am." It means that before the world appeared, Being was present. We can think of it like this: before the universe began, Presence was all that there was; but there was no time, no past or present tense, just Presence, Now. So Presence was before any appearance of beginning. It remains as it is throughout all apparent time and change, and is all that there is once time seems to come to an end.
It's difficult to understand it if one is firmly rooted in the notion of time as reality. The problem is that time isn't reality. Presence is Reality. That's why the question of what was before the beginning doesn't seem to make sense. There is no beginning, or end. There is only the timeless Now/Presence/Peace, and in this the world of time and space whirls around.