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: The Human Experience
In Non-Duality we don't really dwell on the issue of the soul and its existence. Non-Duality points to a truth higher than both worldly and spiritual things. Truth with a capital T is that there is only This. It means that there isn't really a multitude of objects and beings. There is just One, an Infinite One. It's not even one, it's no number. Reality is indivisible infinity.
Let's understand this a little. Consider that there is only One. There is nothing other than this One, because that would mean there are more than one. For this One to be all there is it can't really have any limits. There is nothing else that could limit or form a boundary around it. So this One is infinite. But if it's infinite then it's not really one. Hence it is no number. We can't really understand infinity, as it defies explanation. Even the words infinite, limitless, boundless, unending, have to use the opposite terms to describe what it is. We have to say, it's 'not' finite or limited, and it is 'without' boundaries or ends. It's a bit like describing silence as soundless.
It's important to understand this essential aspect of Non-Duality before discussing the soul. Just as we are not a human, we are also not a soul. There are no true limits that divide the Infinite One into a multitude. Multiplicity is a play within the reality of indivisible infinity. The world appears as a play of separation, where the reality of indivisible infinity seems to be divided up into separate forms. So the world appears to be full of many creatures or beings, and we can also consider that there seem to be many beings at a less dense level of separation and solidification, which we call souls. We may view that a soul inhabits a human body in a similar way to how a human would put on a diving suit to be able to interact in the underwater world.
So there is the real Truth that there is only one indivisible infinite This, and then there is the play of the world, where things are not wholly true but appear to be closer to the Truth or further from the Truth. Though in reality there is only ever the Truth. With all that said, accepting that the world is a play, we can fairly ask what is playing out here on Earth?
Earth can be considered as a school for souls. There are many things here for the soul to experience and learn. We can consider that in the play of the universe souls go outwards exploring, developing and experiencing. The principal experience here on Earth is what seems to be dark, heavy, hardened, resistant, dense separation. The soul experiences what it's like to be a being separate from the world. This separation seems to be much more defined than in what we would call more spiritual realms. We even think of the planet and human life as material, where it is simply spiritual formation at a lower, denser level.
We can consider that the soul incarnates as a human and experiences a life of being close to some and distant from others, uniting with some and clashing with others. The soul can also experience what we call "rock bottom" where the content, complete, fullness of Oneness is reflected as the distraught, lacking, isolation of being separate from others. The soul experiences the opposite of its true nature here on Earth. It experiences severe limitation and separation. That's the extreme opposite of the reality of indivisible infinity. The soul can experience the terrifying extremity of limitation, where the play of the universe seems to become a cruel reality of its own. But this is only a temporary experience.
The play of separation is within the apparent world of opposites and reflection. So the soul seems to live and die, recede and return, over and over. But as the soul develops through this play, it goes through the limitation process, hits rock bottom, then starts to recede. It's a similar natural process as the tides rushing in and rushing out, or the lungs breathing in and breathing out. The soul eventually turns inwards from the outside world. The soul experiences 'being' human, then recedes and knows that it is not human. It recedes further and knows that this also means it is not a soul.
The grand awakening from this initiation of the soul on planet Earth is the revealing that it is not these things. The true nature of the human and the soul is This Infinite Oneness. The human and the soul are found to be only a play of limitation and separation. The reality of Indivisible Infinite Oneness is revealed.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Universe
Through the Non-Duality understanding we see that consciousness is all there is. Everything we know is known in consciousness. Everything we experience is experienced in consciousness. The universe itself is experienced in consciousness. Nothing can be known or experienced outside consciousness.
Let's understand that a bit more. You perceive the world through the human senses of seeing, hearing, smelling etc. We consider this to be our perception of the outside world, or the universe. You also perceive thoughts, ideas, and dreams, which we consider to be internal and in the mind. Yet the perception of both the internal and external happens in the mind. It is the mind that seems to be a central focal point of knowing or experiencing. The mind recognises a mountain in the distance through the aid of seeing. The mind recognises the voice of a friend calling from another room.
Seeing, hearing, smelling and so on, are all experienced right here. The perception of the mountain in the distance is right here. All distance is perceived right here. The ideas of inside and outside are right here. Although the mountain may be considered to be far away, we see it right here. It is here in consciousness.
We can go further, in realising that we are not a body that we see or feel. We see it. We feel it. We are not it. So too with thoughts and dreams. We perceive these. We are not them. We are where they are perceived from. They are neither far nor near from us. They are right here. But we are not something that we can perceive. The eye cannot see the eye. Consciousness cannot perceive itself. At best we can only perceive a reflection of ourself. And this is the obvious secret of the universe, looking right back at us.
The universe appears to be a reflection of who we really are. The true nature of consciousness, which is what we are, is unbound, undivided, perfect clarity. The universe appears within this perfect Consciousness as a world of reflections, where we experience limitation, separation, and confusion. The universe appears as a world of opposites, pushing and pulling, gaining and losing, rising and falling, separating and uniting. All the while Consciousness remains timelessly as it is.
Consciousness is like the screen in which the movie of the universe plays out. The screen remains unchanged by whatever seems to happen in the movie. Buildings may appear to be in the distance. Planets may seem to be huge in size. Burning fires may rage and torrential rains may soak the landscape, but the screen remains untainted.
But how does a perfect, pure, dimensionless Consciousness give rise to a world of opposites and reflection? Well, one answer is that it doesn't really happen. The universe doesn't explode outwards from the Singularity of Consciousness - it's always right here. But it seems that it has, at least from a human perspective. Even if we consider that the universe is always right here, we must conclude that there is an illusion of separation and distance. So how does the illusion of the universe come about?
Consider Pure Consciousness as a perfectly smooth, endless blanket, before time or space began. If this blanket compresses within itself it can seem to form ripples. These ripples naturally give the impression of a duality, of highs and lows. Each crease has the appearance of a high peak and a low trough. From the perfect Singularity there then appears to be definition and a seeming divide into opposites. But the opposites of the peak and trough of a ripple in a blanket are only illusory, as the singular nature of it remains. A blanket isn't divided in two when ripples appear. It is the same with the appearance of duality on the Singularity of Consciousness. Consciousness is not divided; it only seems to be. Multiple ripples can continue and become the vibrations of energy that constitute the universe. All the while these ripples in Consciousness are nothing other than the Singularity in which they appear.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Human Experience
This article is similar to the 'How to Find Your Stillness' article but looks at it from the angle of finding freedom. Many people feel trapped in some way. We may feel trapped in our commitments, our life situation, a relationship, or job. We may feel trapped in the body. The body may feel sick or broken, as may the mind, and we may feel trapped in this. People end their lives because of this feeling of being trapped in a dark difficult situation. We want to be free. Freedom is the high goal that many would like to achieve.
How do we achieve freedom? Well, it can't be achieved because it's already here. You may recoil and say, "This is nonsense, I'm not free to do everything I want. I'm not free to fly into the air and take myself to somewhere peaceful away from my problems." But what I mean is that true freedom is here along, although overlooked. The mind believes, "I am this human and I am limited in what I can do. I am trapped in this." But that is just mind activity. You perceive this mind activity, but you are not limited by it.
The world appears to be a place of limited forms that have their own boundaries. There seems to be resistance and separation. The world can seem to be a hard place because of its restrictions, limitations, boundaries and resistance. These things are what hold the objects of the world together and prevent them from being merged into oneness. Without boundaries and resistance, the world would merge into a singularity. That's how it seems anyway, but let's look closer.
Consider a brick wall. It seems impervious. Humans can't walk through brick walls. If a human was surrounded in a closed room of brick walls, they would be unable to get out. But that's not the end of the story. If the human inside the closed room had a device that could send radio waves, then they could send a signal through the brick walls. Radio waves can travel through what seem to be impervious walls because of their long wavelengths. We know that what seems to be completely solid is only really relatively solid.
Now, the human in the closed room is relatively trapped because of the density of the body in relation to the density of the walls. The mind isn't trapped, but its identity with the body concludes it to think and feel that it is trapped. The mind then wants to be free. This is understandable in a room like this, but a similar thing happens with the mind in everyday life. The body may not be trapped in a room, but the mind can think and feel that it is trapped in a difficult life situation.
Really there is no true lack of freedom. The mind is always free, but it believes that it isn't. The mind takes on what it perceives as the restrictions and limitations of the world and assumes that it is trapped in these. This feeling and belief can intensify, causing the mind to continually worry about its situation, and become caught in its own mind-made web of restriction.
Let's get to the root of this, as that's the way to true freedom. The world can only appear as a world by aid of separation and restriction. The world appears as though a singularity split into opposite forces, where repulsion and attraction separate and unite, multiplying and spreading across the universe, before ultimately returning back to the singularity from which it came. As mentioned above, it is the restrictive force that keeps the universe from returning to a singularity. Or so it seems.
The reality is that the timeless, dimensionless Singularity that was before the universe is still here now. Really it is Here and Now, due to its dimensionless nature. So the Singularity doesn't really become two and spread out, multiplying. This is only a play of separation within the Singularity. As we saw with the brick wall, the restrictions that divide are only relative; they are not true restrictions. So the world of restrictions that appears is not truly restricted. There are not truly many objects in the universe. It is One Infinite Indivisible Singularity seeming to separate and divide itself, whilst remaining ever indivisible.
What this means to the human is that its freedom is in the dropping of imagined boundaries, because they are not real. The identity of the human is not its body, nor even its active mind. Its true identity is the endless Singularity. The body has no real limits and the mind has no real limits. The limits are only in the beliefs of the mental activity we call the mind. Dropping of these false beliefs brings about a clarity, an unhindered perspective of Life as Freedom itself, as One Infinite Indivisible Whole. Not a concept or idea of this, as that is still a mental picture that clouds the clarity of clear seeing. Just seeing without ideas or beliefs. Seeing Life as it is. Pure Awareness.
This isn't easy for the human, of course. But we can start by recognising the fact that the universe is endless and indivisible, and that we are not a being separate from others. At the very least, we can start living life that way and some clarity will come. We will recognise that we are not limited by the human form and the life situation. We will see that the life situation is a play of experiencing limitation. Life will seem to become freer and less serious than it was before. There is a further recognition that we are not limited by the mental activity that we perceive. This is all perceived in the Infinite Awareness that we are.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Human Experience
Life is full of activity, people busying about doing things, and if they're not doing things they're often sat watching other people on a screen busy doing things. We may take ourselves away from the busy world to somewhere tranquil, but still the mind can be busy thinking about things. Many people want to find some peace and stillness in their life.