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: The Universe
- Hits: 1106
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: Spirituality
- Hits: 1105
What is it that prevents enlightenment? We may understand the spiritual theory but still feel like we are a long way off from being enlightened. We may understand Non-Duality and know that there is only One, an Infinite Indivisible One. We may understand that concepts, labels and forms can never truly be defined. We may recognise that there are no limits, and there isn't a multiplicity. We may understand that this means we are not the separate identity that the mind thinks we are. We may grasp the teaching that identity is thought-based, and thoughts appear and disappear in the Awareness or Consciousness or What Is, and we know that we are That. But this knowledge, no matter how thorough it is, doesn't make us enlightened.
So what is it that is stopping enlightenment if I know and believe all the theory? It's the separate self, or rather the sense of being a separate self. It can't really be defined, because it's not real, it's a thought-based identity. Let's call it the ego. It's the ego that thinks it knows all this. It's the ego that claims it is the one who knows and believes Non-Duality theory. It's the ego that wants to be enlightened, or at least wants to find peace and contentment. But the ego generally values its identity too much. Without its identity it is nothing. If it lets go of its sense of self then it effectively dies or disappears. Enlightenment is the death of the ego, the end of the separate self that never really was. It is the ego that feels the need for enlightenment and the ego that prevents enlightenment. Kind of.
The 'kind of' issue is that the ego doesn't really prevent the enlightened state. The enlightened state is here already. It is the natural unlimited, undefined state of being. The ego is the sense and belief that it is a defined and limited being. So although the ego may claim the knowledge that there is no separation, the ego is still waving its flag of identity whilst it does so: "I know that there is no separate me!" This is where the issue lies.
The separate self cannot attain enlightenment. Only in making the ultimate sacrifice of itself is the enlightened state revealed. This means the death of separate identity, not death of the body. Some call the enlightened state the Kingdom of Heaven. It is the placeless place where there are no limits, there is only Freedom. The separate self cannot enter. It needs to discard its limits and its definitions of itself, which is what makes it a seemingly separate self. Only then, when there is no ego, is the Kingdom of Heaven revealed to be always here. Paradise is right here. Freedom, Peace, Love and Contentment is right here in the natural state of being. It is hidden or missed because of the ego's ignorance to it. The ego itself is the ignorance of the infinite indivisible nature of Reality.
The knowledge that we gain can only point to What Is. Knowing about Reality is not enough. We need to loosen and drop the identity of the one who claims to know it. This can take time and effort. The ego needs to work at unravelling itself, using the knowledge and practices learnt. Self Enquiry seeks out the source and nature of the identity, and realises that it is illusory and non-existent. The Infinite One is all. Worship and service to the whole lessens the strength of the ego identity, till the devotee is lost in the Infinite One.
Who realises this? No-one. Reality is an Infinite Singularity. It has no true accurate name or definition. It is no-one, yet all appear within it. It is Nothing yet Everything.
- Category: The Universe
- Hits: 1100
Time can be understood as the continual transition of change. We know that planet Earth spins on its axis, giving the appearance that the sun spins around it. We divide one whole spin into 24 hours and call it a day. We divide one hour into sixty minutes and each minute into 60 seconds. We use these methods to measure what we call time.
Time is the flowing appearance of the universe. Without any change or flowing there is no time or sense of time. Time doesn't really go faster or slower. If the planet were to spin on its axis once in 12 hours that wouldn't make time faster. So time is constant in that sense.
It's important to realise that there are not really moments in time. There are never any definable chunks of time, like seconds and minutes. These are just human ways of measuring the continual flow of change. An hour isn't really made of 60 minutes. It is continual and indivisible. There isn't one minute then another then another and so on. Change just flows. So there are no real moments of time.
Really, there isn't even time. There is just an appearance of flowing change. This all appears Now. The appearance of change is a reflection and dispersion of a singular unchanging Oneness. Change is a reflection of Stillness. Stillness is the nature of Reality. There is truly nowhere to go and nothing to do, but in this Here and Now the dimensions of time and space can appear.
So there are no moments of time, just One. Well, really it's not even a moment of time. It's more like No Time. It can't be understood logically except by reflection of what it's not. Complete Stillness cannot be perceived, but by perceiving motion and change we can understand Stillness.
- Category: Spiritual Symbols and Patterns
- Hits: 1100
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 Human Experience
- Hits: 1097
Can you be in tune with the whole? Can you be so at one with the world that all your actions are in harmony with the world? Well, yes and no.
As long as there is a 'you' or a 'me' there is a sense of separation from the whole, a falling out of harmony with the whole. So 'you' can never be in complete harmony with the world or the whole. You will be more or less in disharmony with the whole. At best 'you' can be close to harmony. At worst, far from harmony. When close to harmony, the sense of 'me' is diminished to such a degree that 'your' actions are for others and for the whole, as best as 'you' can. When far from harmony 'your' actions would be disruptive and harmful to others and the world. The 'me' will be out of harmony to a greater or lesser degree. Or so it seems.
The good news is that there is a true Harmony. Harmony is the truth. Harmony is the truth within the appearance of disharmony. What appears to be you and what is believed to be you is not you. What appears has no limits. What appears is the Whole. There is nothing other than the Whole and it isn't really divided up into separate forms.
The human mind sees the world as separate and believes this, developing its sense of identity as separate from others or the rest of the world. This sense of separation is thought based and at the root of identity. This is the 'me' that can feel alone in the world, fearful of the world or angry against the world. The stronger the sense of separate identity, the more 'I' will feel distant, isolated, or at odds with the world. This is where the disharmony comes in.
The 'me' can't achieve harmony because it is by nature a sense of separation and disharmony. It's a separating out from the whole, like an imaginary cutting out a piece of the whole. But the whole is never truly separated. The Harmony is always here. The whole is always the whole. Nothing is gained or lost. It just is.
So what do we do to find this Wholeness? We let go of the sense of being separate. We allow the recognition of Oneness to permeate this sense of being separate, so that it gradually dissolves. Know that the sense of 'me' is witnessed, but you are not it. It appears and disappears within the whole. You are not this or that. You just are.