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: Spirituality
- Hits: 1097
What is Non Attachment? Why is Non Attachment important? The simple answer is that it is our nature to not be attached. But let's explore and understand that better.
Non Attachment, or Detachment, is an important element of Buddhism. The aim is to bring about peace by letting go of attachments to objects, people, thoughts, and feelings. There is good reason for this. The Buddhist tradition focuses on how suffering is experienced due to these attachments. The Buddha became free from suffering and free from attachments, or rather the Buddha realised the true nature which is not attached and is without suffering.
When you recognise that reality is a Singularity it explains this. There is nothing other than the Singularity. So who or what is there to be attached to? That is the realisation of enlightenment, that there is no other. Non Attachment is the way to live in harmony with the true nature of being.
When we live by false concepts of separation, we consider ourself to be separate, and suffering ensues. By feeling attached to people, objects, thoughts or emotions, we strengthen the sense of being separate from them. We seem to get caught in the push and pull of the world.
Our true nature is without limits. There is not truly a border where we end and something else begins. Let go of these attachments and just be. It is the pure nature of our being just to be.
How do we practise this Non Attachment? By letting go. Let go of the importance of objects. Let go of depending on people for happiness. It does not mean that we should reject people and objects. On the contrary, by dropping attachment and boundaries we become more at one. Our interactions with objects, people, feelings and emotions become less selfish. When we let go we loosen the ties that bind. We realise our freedom. The clash between me and others fades. There is only an infinite oneness. It wipes out all boundaries of separation and attachment.
- Category: Spirituality
- Hits: 1087
It's a question many have considered: Is there a soul, and if so what is it? Let's start by considering the body. It's generally accepted that the human body is made of matter. I would elaborate further and say that 'matter' is a name for substance. We could call it 'vibrating energy'. I call the vibrating energy of the universe 'spirit'. Then what we call 'matter' is more like the appearance of dense hardened spirit.
There appears to be different levels of vibration throughout the universe. This is really a play of opposites within Infinite Spirit, which allows the appearance of spirit and not spirit (what we call matter). But this play is really a stretching out of spirit to appear close to or far from spirit. But it's all just spirit. So matter is the appearance of dense hardened heavy spirit.
Now we understand that, let's turn to the body again. It's a bundle of vibrating spirit within a dense range of frequencies, we could say. It can be considered that, just as a solid cup can hold liquid water or even gaseous air, the material body can hold lighter spirit. It's probably more accurate to say that the denser human body can be a receptacle for, or a channel for, a higher flowing spirit. This then makes it viable to consider that a higher form of spirit sits within the denser materialised form. We can consider that there is an unseen inner spirit form within the visible material form.
It seems equally acceptable that the hardened material form is more limited than a lighter freer form of spirit. It is conceivable that when the hardened form (the human body) breaks down, the lighter freer spirit is released. This lighter freer bundle of spirit energy we can call 'the soul'. The soul can be considered as the bundle of spirit energy that experiences planet Earth through the human body (or any other material body). Once released from the gravity of the human body, the soul is generally free to withdraw from the density of Earth back to its higher spiritual level.
However, it's also conceivable that the soul may form a bond or deeper attachment with the human experience, and may be drawn back to Earth again to inhabit another human body. As the pattern of rainfall and evaporation shows, and the pattern of waves upon the shore, there can be a circular process of coming and going. Here we are considering reincarnation and the seemingly endless wheel of rebirth.
It can be considered that the soul gains experience and develops by becoming lost in the world of matter. The pull of the material world seems to trap the soul and subjugates the soul. It may seem that the wheel of rebirth is endless, but it is a process of being lost and being found. The soul may, through many human experiences, come to the ultimate realisation. Firstly, it may recognise that it is a soul and not a body. But that is not enough. It must continue the search inwards to find that not only is it not a human form, but it is not a soul form either. Truth is formless, without beginning or end.
This deep realisation is termed nirvana, liberation, enlightenment, or self realisation. It is the deep recognition that the truth is not limited, defined or separate. There is only what is. There never were many souls who go out into the world and animate human forms or other forms. There is only One, an Infinite One. This realisation frees the soul from maya, the illusion of separation and attachment.
Ultimately then, there is no body and there is no soul. There is only What Is.
- Category: The Human Experience
- Hits: 1083
It's important to understand the ego and its influence in each human life and humanity as a whole. The ego is the sense and belief of being a separate self, an entity separate from others. The ego grows from the mind's identification with the human form. The stronger the ego, the more it is identified with the human form and its sense of importance in and against the world. The extreme ego has a hardened mental shell that protects itself from others and distances itself from others. It clashes with others, often other egos with hardened mental shells. We are talking here of a clenched fists, angry, hateful, destructive ego, narcissistic and sadistic. It sounds harsh, but that's the extreme of the ego. It will cause misery and suffering to others wherever it goes.
Human history has seen this kind of ego dominate others and enrol others in its egotistic aims. We should be cautious of giving power to ego dominated people, yet it continues to happen. Sometimes people see a person with a strong ego as charismatic, and that may be the case, as it can often present as a distinctive personality with a certain charm and flair. A good lesson to learn is to recognise the ego when you see it, and to know its pitfalls.
Recognising the ego in others can also lead us to recognising the ego in us. Ultimately we experience the body, the perceptions, the feelings, the thoughts, and the identity within the mind. We experience the ego identity. It is not who we are. It is more like the opposite of who we are. The ego is the sense of separate self. Our true nature is the infinite and undivided selfless self. The ego is incomplete. It needs and wants. Our true nature is complete, without need or want.
The ego is the phantom ego, the mistaken identity, the great pretender, the false king. It is a bundle of thought forms that cling to its imagined identity with the human body. We perceive this. We are the Awareness that perceives the play of the ego and the world. It is through this sense of identity that we perceive the world.
What do we do about this pesky ego? There are things that we can do to lessen its control (it loves to control). Recognising that you are not the thoughts is a good starting place. See that the thoughts that arise are perceived by you but not thought by you. When thoughts about 'me' and 'mine' and 'others' run along, step back and know that you are perceiving them. Recognise that there are no limits to anything. There are no things. There are no limits that define who you are.
There are also practical actions that can be taken:
Peace - be at peace. Allow peace to permeate through the mind, the ego, the body, and to others and the world. You are the peace at the heart of being. You are unshakeable stillness. You cannot stop the motion of the world, but you can recognise the peace and stillness of your being. This allows peace to permeate through the human nature in its contact with others.
Acceptance - accept the mind, the ego, the body, others and the world. Let it be. Don't get caught up in it. It's okay for the world to be as it is. Know that you are unaffected by the ego's problems. This acceptance and realisation brings a centring of your being. It helps withdraw the mistaken sense and belief of identity and ego.
Love - be the love that you are. Allow love, the highest love, to shine through the mind and the ego, out into the world. Show kindness to others. Be selfless and caring and non-judgemental. Help where you can. But know that you are not the doer. You are not a body, ego or mind. This expression of love and kindness comes from the heart of your being and shines through the human form, bringing light into the world.
- Category: Non-duality
- Hits: 1086
Rene Descartes was a French philosopher who stated in 1637 in his Discourse on the Method, "Je pense, donc je suis." In Latin it is the concise, "Cogito ergo sum." The English translation is the famous, "I think, therefore I am."
In Non Duality we go a bit deeper than thinking. Thinking is known. We perceive thinking, as we also perceive the movements of the body. There may be an assumption that we are moving the body and that we are thinking the thoughts. But that is a thought assumption that we also perceive. To find our core nature we need to look deeper than what we can perceive. We need to look where we are perceiving from.
Essentially we can affirm that thinking is known, and thinking is secondary to knowing. Knowing is closer to the root of our being than thinking. All thinking, perceiving and feeling is known. Knowing is our core experience of the mind and the world. We could say, "I know, therefore I am."
How do I know I exist? Because I know. It should be clarified that this 'knowing' is equivalent to 'experiencing', and doesn't refer here to 'having knowledge'. Knowledge is something the mind acquires, whereas here we mean the pure knowing of experiencing. I can affirm that I am aware. It's useful to explore this awareness yourself. Are you aware?
Of course, the answer should be yes. You are aware that you are aware. You know that you know. This awareness or knowing is a core attribute of our being. It's difficult to go further back than being aware of being aware. But in Non Duality, our aim, for clear recognition, is to find that point where the world is experienced. Who is aware? Who knows knowing? Is there one who knows and a separate one who is aware of this?
Although we seem to have turned our attention inward to find who knows, we find that there is not a separate one knowing that we know. We are self aware. Our core nature is self aware. We are not really looking inward. Our self awareness is right here all along. But in searching for this core of our being, that part of us that seemed to be out there looking in is drawn inwards to the heart of being. The sense of being a separate self is drawn to the realisation of self awareness. This is the path of Self Enquiry that leads to what some call Enlightenment, Moksha, Nirvana, or Self Awareness.
This Self Enquiry leads to the dissolving of the false identity in the clear, unconfused, natural state of Self Awareness. I know, therefore I am.
- Category: The Human Experience
- Hits: 1081
Let's take it that you already understand and accept that the world is non dual, i.e. there is only One. The limits and divisions that appear, and which the mind labels, are not true. The One is an Infinite Singularity. I call it The Infinite One. It is the one being expressed as the apparent multiplicity of the universe. This recognition of the reality of Oneness helps us to understand the human condition.
Humans generally consider themselves to be the body. They may feel that they 'have a soul', which still means they are looking at spirituality from the aspect of being a body that owns a soul. This identification with the body is effectively the formless taking on form and believing itself to be the form. That's not what we are. This limitation and identity as the body rules the human world. That is, most human lives and the largescale decisions made by humanity come from this view of being limited separate beings.
Selfishness arises from this sense of being a limited separate self. Suffering arises. Lack, need, desire, sadness, loneliness, and despair arise because of this sense of being incomplete. Anger, envy, hate and blame arise because of the sense of me and them. All of humanity's problems come from the sense of being a separate self. The separate self is the root of all human suffering. But it's not true.
The mind has this sense of being separate, yet the truth is a Singularity. There is only infinite oneness. There is not truly a separate me and them, no more than ripples on a pond are separated. It is all the pond.
Recognising this sense of separation and the reality of Oneness can bring about a change. Peace is the nature of oneness. It is the heart of being, the still centre that encompasses all. Recognising oneness and living in the way of oneness can bring about a change in the human experience and humanity as a whole. There needs to come a recognition that the heart of our being is complete, peace, love and harmony. This sense of oneness dispels suffering, sadness, loneliness, despair, anger, hate and blame.
If we want an end to suffering we need to let go of the separate self. We need to live in the way of oneness, acknowledging the oneness of life. We need to allow the sense of oneness to spread through human life. We do this by letting go of holding on. We reclaim freedom by letting go. Let go of the limits that bind you, the attachments that define you, and the identity that hides you. Let the real you shine through. Allow the still, peaceful centre to be unrestricted. Allow the peace and love that is the heart of your being be unbounded.
You are the Infinite One, without limits. You are peace, love and harmony. Make it your life's work to be as you are.