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.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: Non-duality
Okay, this is going to be perhaps a more advanced Non-Duality exploration. The basic understanding is that there is only One, an Infinite One, which is really no number, there is no true separation of things in the world, there is no separate identity, and our true nature is That Which Is, the Infinite One Being or Beingness, Pure Consciousness or Aware Being. Recognition of this infinite indivisible oneness, or the dropping of the notion of separation and division, is Enlightenment or Self Realisation.
This Pure Consciousness or Aware Being in which the world appears (as everything appears in consciousness) is formless, complete, content, timeless, dimensionless, unmoving and unchanging. The world of motion and change that appears within the Changeless is known to be an illusory appearance, a play of change, and has been called Maya or Lila. So form and change are illusory. Reality is dimensionless stillness, complete and content.
We can go further in the understanding of Maya. The world that appears seems to have fallen out of the Singularity of Being. Where once, timelessly, there was no appearance of the world, there now seems to be an appearance of time and space, ever changing and moving. The Singularity is not broken, yet the world appears as if it did break, was divided, causing ripples of interaction and fluctuations between opposites. This world of opposites appears as a division of the timeless and formless Singularity, stretching out in time and space.
So this is the nature of the universe, an interplay of opposites (or 'The World of Opposites' as I call it) that seems to have appeared from the primordial Singularity. In Taoism this is described as the opposite forces of Yin and Yang arising within the oneness of the Supreme Ultimate. The appearance is not really 'from' the Singularity. The Singularity remains. So the world appears in the Singularity. It appears in the Pure Consciousness. There is no true division of Consciousness into what it is and what it is not. It's all Consciousness always.
Now to take this to a deeper level, so to speak. If Reality is formless and there is nothing other than this, how does the form of the world appear? The answer must be that it does not really appear... This seems to go against our observation, but it can be understood. Where does this form of the world begin or end? It doesn't. The apparently separate forms are not separate, so there are not numerous forms. We could say the universe is one form flowing through different appearances or expressions. Consider it like one continuous piece of string making many different shapes or forms, rather than many separate pieces of string making separate forms.
So the world appearing is not separate from the one in whom it appears. We usually consider the world as a subject-object appearance, but it is more like Awareness being aware of itself, or Consciousness knowing itself. There are not forms separate from the seeing or knowing of them. We could call it one form, but it is not just form. The one form is 'part of' the formless knowing of it. So the form and the formless are one. The form and the perceiving of it is like the stretching of Aware Being into the subject-object relationship of knower-knowing-known.
Aware Being, which is timelessly self-aware, seems to stretch itself apart in what we call space and time, and sees itself within itself. But the substance of 'form' (or what appears) is nothing other than the formless in which it appears. The form only seems to be 'solid' or dense because there is an apparent restriction, and restriction prevents it from being seen through. Yet the restriction or solidity of anything is only relative. Form cannot be wholly restrictive. The shapes and forms that are seen are not true shapes and forms. They only appear to be forms. They only seem to restrict awareness.
The forms that are seen are made of consciousness. Everything is consciousness. There is only consciousness. So there are no forms. Only formless, unseen Consciousness.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Human Experience
We generally all experience pain and suffering, whether it's psychological or physical. We may suffer the psychological pain of loss, rejection, loneliness, abuse, anxiety or depression. Physical suffering can be experienced with body aches, injuries and illnesses of many kinds. It may be questioned why a benevolent God allows us to suffer. Let's explore this from the Non-Duality viewpoint.
In Non-Duality pain and suffering can be understood as part of the apparent interplay of opposites within the infinite singularity of Being-Consciousness-Bliss. It goes like this. Infinite Being is formless and unexpressed. For Being to be expressed contrast is necessary, so this apparent world of interplaying opposites appears to show what is like Being/God and what is not like Being/God.
Let's break that down. There is One Infinite Being. We can call this God, Being, What Is, Isness, Consciousness, The Great Spirit, The Self of selves, and so on. The nature of Being is timeless, formless, stillness, peace, completeness. It is an unmanifest singularity. For it to become manifest (as the world we now perceive) there needs to be a contrast, an opposite, so that What Is stands out from what it is not. This apparent division of What Is into 'what is like it' and 'what is not like it' can be considered the creation of the universe. The division into opposites interacts and multiplies creating the world that we now perceive. In Non-Duality tradition it is described as the apparent interplay of opposites. I call it the World of Opposites.
From Being's Oneness there appears separation and distance. From Being's timeless Stillness and Peace, there appears movement and conflict. From Being's Contentment there appears pain and suffering. And so on, with Good and evil, Right and wrong, Love and hate, Harmony and disharmony, Freedom and limitation etc. The extreme opposite of the Oneness of Being is the hardened isolated selfish ego that focuses on itself against the Whole. We call its actions evil. It is seemingly so far from the love, peace and contentment of Being-Consciousness-Bliss that the ego appears as a reversed reflection of Wholeness.
There is no-one to blame for this apparent interplay of opposites. Rather it is for the seemingly separate ego to come to the realisation that there is only ever Being-Consciousness-Bliss, and the play of opposites and separation is not what it seems. Being can never divide itself into Being and 'not being', and nothing can ever be separate from the Whole. So the separation that gives rise to the world never really happens. It only seems to happen.
The individual that seems to go out into the world as the ego and becomes hardened and far from Being/God, faces pain and suffering in the clashing world of duality. It then rejects this and turns back to the oneness of the Whole, the Heart from which it came. Though truly it never left. It only felt like it had become hardened and separate and distant from the Whole. The Wholeness and Content Completeness of Being-Consciousness-Bliss is timelessly here all along.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: Non-duality
Let go of the belief of being somewhere in time. That's not you. You are not in a place and you are not in a certain time. The space and time that is perceived appears within you, within Consciousness. The mind, body and senses through which Consciousness perceives a localised world of space and time is not you. All that can be perceived by you is not you.
The Consciousness that is the heart of all seemingly separate individualised perceptions is One. That means that although there seem to be many conscious beings perceiving the world of space and time from different perspectives, the core of where they are perceiving from is One Consciousness. It is similar to how the fingers of a hand reach out and have different touch sensations, the whiskers of a cat reach out and have individual sense abilities, and the numerous senses of sight and sound, and so on, reach out into the world and feed back to a central point of perspective. The One Consciousness is the heart of all perspectives that reach out into the world and experience the world of space and time.
This doesn't mean that the One Consciousness reaches out. It doesn't go anywhere. There is nowhere other than the One Consciousness for it to reach out to. The world of space and time is within Consciousness, is made of Consciousness and is perceived by Consciousness. Truly there is no 'reaching out'. There is no inside or outside. There is just Consciousness. You are That.
Okay, so earlier I said that all that can be perceived by you is not you. That's not entirely true. You see, there is nothing other than you. But the belief that you are the thinking, the believing, the feeling, the sensing and the body that is perceived, is a mistake, as it limits your identity to some of what is perceived and not the whole. Truly you are the Consciousness in which the whole is perceived. But the whole can only be perceived in an appearance of separation, through what we call space and time.
Where is this Consciousness? Nowhere. It takes up no location in space. Space is the illusion of distance and separation. There is an appearance of distance that we call space, yet this is only ever perceived right here. 'Right here' is no location. Location is a relative perspective of illusory space and distance. As all space appears within Consciousness, it is clear that Consciousness itself has no location.
It is a mistake to consider Consciousness as being something airy that isn't as solid as the world. The world is not truly solid. It is made of Consciousness and is only ever perceived in and by Consciousness. There is only Consciousness.
The time that is perceived is the flow of change within space. It can be considered as a fourth dimension, but in truth it is not a dimension, nor a thing at all. Time is a name and understanding given to the appearance of change within space. Space necessarily changes because it is the appearance of One Consciousness as if it has been exploded from a Singularity into a multiplicity, from Harmony into imbalance. It is the play of opposites within the unmoving singularity of Consciousness.
We, Consciousness, are nowhere in time or space. An appearance of time and space flows within the play of separation in the singularity of Consciousness. Withdrawing from the play of space and time, dropping the belief in a reality of space and time, brings awareness to the unmoving, unchanging Consciousness that is the heart and whole of all. It's right here now, nowhere, no-when. You are not really spinning around on a planet. You can't feel or perceive the point of peace, but when the belief of space and time is released, all there really is is Perfect Peace.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Human Experience
The human experience is like the extremity of separation. The human world is generally one of hard, cold limitation, darkness, heaviness, tension and restriction. It can be an experience of loneliness, feeling that I am separate from the whole world, and I am a being different to all other beings. It can be an experience of hate, whether there is hate from me or hate from others, seeing others as far removed from me. It can be an experience of lack, loss and despair, feeling that I need something to make me happy, feeling lost and confused. We can feel like we are a small speck in a vast world.
There's a reason for this: the appearance of separation. The world is an expression of the unmanifest Oneness of Reality. What appears as a world of many separate forms is the reflection or opposite of Reality. Oneness can't really be expressed. It's an Infinite Singularity, without any division between the seer and the seen. For the world, or rather, Oneness, to appear, it must seem to divide itself. It must appear to separate itself from itself in order to look at itself. That's what the world is - Infinite Indivisible Oneness perceiving itself as a reflection of itself. So we see a world of many separate beings and objects.
Many is the opposite of One. Separation is the opposite of Oneness. Distance is the opposite of Here. Time is the opposite of Now. The world appears as if it is the opposite of reality, a reflection of That which does not appear. From the human perspective, we experience a world far removed (or reflected) from the reality of Oneness. We experience the separate individual, the one who is separate from others. It allows the experience of loneliness, isolation, lack, need, and emptiness. It is the opposite of Infinite Oneness. Oneness is full, complete, free and unlimited, and there are no others to feel isolated from. These apparent negative feelings are the opposite of the reality of Oneness.
Our true nature is the Peace, Contentment and Completeness of Oneness. It is the human mind that falls into the belief that there is a world of separation and believes that it is a separate being in a cruel hard world. This belief is based on how the world appears, and it is a general assumption that 'I am this limited human'. The sense of being one separate from others has evolved on a planet seemingly far from the heart of Complete Oneness, blowing hot and cold with the opposites of Peace, Love and Contentment. It's a planet where the extreme opposites of the Infinite One Reality are experienced.
How do we find this Peace, Love and Contentment? Well, it's right here. It's just that the human mind doesn't notice it, because it is always present. Something that is always present doesn't move and doesn't change; it cannot be noticed. So the mind can't 'feel' this complete peace, but it can become evident when the sense of separation and restriction subsides. When we feel close to someone or a pet, when we feel close to nature, when we feel the release from difficulties, or when tensions are relaxed, the underlying Peace is revealed. We get a glimpse of the ever-present Peace. Usually, some other difficulties come along soon after or the sense of separation increases and obscures the underlying state of Peace.
But the aim would not be to have temporary glimpses of this Peace. The aim, for the spiritual seeker, should be the experience of complete Oneness. It's here already, but what's needed is for the sense of separation to be cleared out. The sense of 'me and others' needs to evaporate, be cast aside, allowing the true nature of Oneness to be freely evident. We can start by living a life of recognition that we are one, we are the whole, we are complete, no matter what appears to happen. Being kind to all others, as though they are ourselves, because there aren't truly many beings. There is only One.