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 Human Experience
- Hits: 392
The identity we have of ourselves is inaccurate. We may consider ourselves to be a man, a woman, transgender, a father, a mother, a student, a lawyer, a shop worker, a customer, etc. We may say we are Welsh, English, French, American, Dutch, Chinese, South African, or another nationality. We may look in the mirror and believe that that's me. We can call this identity the 'limited self'.
What's really happening here is that thought structures in the mind have developed attachments and associations through the life experiences, creating an identity with the body and a sense of being a 'limited self'. This is fine from the perspective of a human living and surviving on planet Earth. But it's not really true. Even from the human perspective, the body isn't really defined. There are no real limits or end points to the body. It may seem to have an outer shell, so to speak, but it is really porous. The body is always in a state of interaction with the environment, and although there is an appearance of solidity, it is illusory. The body is always changing and doesn't have any firm limits.
So identifying with a human form that is in a state of flux and has fuzzy edges isn't going to be accurate. This 'limited self' identity is even less accurate when we take a deeper look into the mind. Common human thought formations believe that the mind is inside the body, and thoughts are inside the mind, whilst the world is outside. But it is more accurate to say everything is experienced inside the mind. The identity and the thoughts are perceived right here in the mind, as are the sounds, sights, tastes, feelings, and bodily sensations. They're all experienced in the same 'place' that we call 'the mind'.
But we can go deeper still. When we realise that thoughts and the identity are perceived it can be recognised that there is a deeper awareness that perceives this. We may think, "Yes, that's me, thinking the thoughts." But really it is the thought-form identity that is thinking, "I'm thinking." You perceive this thought process. The thought process may think, "I'm thinking to myself," but it's the thought-identity that is thinking to itself. It isn't really you. It is the sense of being and the attachment to form that creates this thought-identity. Then thoughts arise as belonging to this thought-identity. This 'limited self' is itself a thought formation.
The thought-identity and the thoughts it generates are perceived by the Awareness that you are. Without the thought forms there is just Awareness. In fact, there is just Awareness, whether there are thought forms or not. There's not really a 'mind'. There is just Awareness or Consciousness, and the identity, thoughts, feelings, sensations and perceptions are perceived in Awareness. It's all a seeming fluctuation of Awareness, in Awareness, made of Awareness, perceived by Awareness.
The false identity, the 'limited self' is a reflection of the true unlimited Self. The more hardened, solid and restrictive the sense of 'limited self' is, the further it seems from the reality of complete, clear, unlimited Awareness. But this opposite or reflection of Reality, this distance from Reality, this condensing of Reality, is an illusion. There is only ever Awareness. There is no distance from Awareness. There is nothing other than Awareness. Awareness cannot be limited. The 'limited self' is only imaginary.
- Category: The Human Experience
- Hits: 390
It's a common human experience to feel incomplete. We may not realise it, but the search for fun, for love, for happiness, for excitement, for spiritual enlightenment, comes from the sense of being incomplete. In some ways it's a natural sense of feeling incomplete. If ever a being considers itself to be limited, then it feels it is less than the whole. And that's not right. Something will seem to be missing.
It's this wholeness that people seek. Wholeness is the true natural state. But human development at this stage of evolution causes it to feel limited, separate, lacking, wanting, and needing. From the physical perspective the interaction with the environment is necessary: humans need to breathe in air, drink liquids, eat solid food, and also do the opposite - expel solids, liquids and gases. That is part of human nature, of being a flowing quality of the planet. That in itself is fine. But human intelligence has developed further than other animals. Human intelligence has developed to become self aware. But this self awareness isn't accurate. Human self awareness concludes, "I am this body." But really the body isn't limited in this way - it is a flowing quality of the planet. The body isn't really limited and separate from the planet.
So here we have the development of human intelligence concluding that it is a limited being and there are other beings with limits. This limited human is inevitably incomplete. It will never be satisfied, trying to hold onto things, trying to seek happiness, looking for love and excitement, or spiritual enlightenment. The limited human being will not be satisfied, because the limited being is not an accurate identification. The world is unlimited, appearing as if there are limits. It is this appearance of the world that has fooled humanity. But it's all part of developing awareness.
There is no limited human. There is only the infinite What Is, Pure Consciousness. Its nature is as a singularity, without beginnings or ends, without want or need, complete, content, perfect peace.
The development of human awareness is an expression and blossoming of Consciousness in the world. It's not that the human being develops a higher awareness or consciousness level. It is rather that the errors and mistaken views of the human mind are lessened, revealing more and more the Pure Consciousness that is the true infinite nature of being.
How do we bring about this feeling of being complete? Really it's about letting go of the feeling of being incomplete, letting go of the sense of being limited. The recognition needs to dawn that I am not a limited being and I am not this body. Then should come a 'practising' of just being Awareness, without form, without attachment to this or that, acceptance without controlling, just simply being. This resting in the pure nature of just Being dissolves the sense of being a limited separate self, and the true nature of complete contentment comes through into the human experience.
This is usually a gradual process. It's called Enlightenment or Self-Realisation. It's simply the letting go of the erroneous belief of separation and limitation, and being as you are.
- Category: The Universe
- Hits: 383
It's useful to imagine a singularity. Really, I should say the Singularity, as there can only be one singularity. You can't have many singularities floating around, overlapping or bumping edges, because there are no edges to a singularity. The Singularity has no beginnings or ends, no inside or outside. It is formless, indivisible and dimensionless. Let go of the notions of time and space - they don't exist in the Singularity. There is no space or distance, no time or change. The Singularity is complete in its perfect, still, untainted nature.
Now, let's recognise what we're talking about here. This Singularity I've asked you to imagine is what was before the universe began. It's what was before time and space appeared. So really there is no 'was' about it. It's timeless. Confusion arises about this and we wonder, "How can something exist before time began?" The answer is that time is illusory. There is no 'before' time, because time only seems to appear. All we ever know is right now.
But let's continue imagining the Singularity. We're talking about the Singularity that gives rise to the apparent multiplicity of the universe here. Imagine it like a seed, completely contained and unexpressed. The opposing forces that will come into play in the universe are unexpressed, and we could consider that they are cancelled out, although really they've not split open yet.
We need to go further in understanding the nature of this Singularity. It is this Singularity that gives rise to the life of the universe. But life doesn't appear by chance. Life is the nature of existence or being. This Singularity is Life itself. The Singularity is alive before time begins. In the Singularity, this 'alive' means nothing. It just is what it is. It is only from our human perspective of conceptualising what seems to be either alive or not alive, that we can understand the Singularity as being Life itself, pure unexpressed Life.
What happens next? Well, there isn't a next. There only seems to be a next. It only seems that the Singularity burst forth into an expression of multiplicity. The universe seems to have appeared from out of the Nothing of the Singularity, dividing in two, splitting and reuniting, multiplying across the universe. This is the appearance of distance and change that we call space and time. The universe appears in the Singularity as if the Singularity opens up into a multiplicity and closes again, much like the opening and closing of a flower through the day. The universe continues to express the moment of creation right now.
It seems as if the Singularity divides itself and experiences separation and imbalance. It would be expected that the end of time and space will be the reuniting and rebalancing of the universe into the Singularity again. It's useful to understand this, because it's the reason for human life as we know it on planet Earth. But it's not strictly true, unless you recognise that the universe only seems to happen. The Singularity is right here now. It never went anywhere. It never broke. It never split. The Singularity does not change. Distance and change are illusory. There is nowhere other than the Singularity and there is no change in the timeless Singularity.
The conclusion is that there is no universe. There is only the Singularity. What we call the universe is a play of separation and limitation within the indivisible, unlimited Singularity. We must conclude then another aspect of the Singularity: that it has the ability to imagine. Not only is the Singularity alive, but it can imagine and create an illusory universe within itself.
You may think that it's not too dissimilar to the human mind, and you'd be right. The human mind is a natural development in the evolution of the illusory universe, expressing the unexpressed nature and origin of the universe. It's a development of becoming self expressing, creative, and self aware. The Singularity is alive and aware. It is the Heart of Awareness. From the perspective of the universe and beings in the universe, the Singularity shines like the heart of awareness in each being, the Being of all beings, the Heart of all hearts, the Self of all Selves. Although there is nothing other than the Singularity, the world appears as a division or stretching of the Singularity into what is close to it and what is far from it. The Singularity then appears to be the light of life at the heart of all beings. Pure Conscious Awareness.
But truly the Singularity encompasses all space and time. In the heart it is the whole. There is no far or near. There is no past or future. There is only the Pure Consciousness of the Singularity.
- Category: The Universe
- Hits: 385
Awareness is the nature of Being. It is the core of all experience. All that is experienced appears within Awareness. I use the word Consciousness synonymously, or sometimes say Pure Consciousness to give an understanding of its unchanging nature. The words Spirit and God can also apply to Awareness. Awareness is our timeless, formless nature, in which the appearance of space, time, individuality and separation are experienced. Awareness is the core shared nature at the heart of all seemingly separate beings.
Well, from the human perspective it seems that Awareness is at the heart, the core, the centre. From the human perspective Awareness is the still centre around which the world seems to move. Yet there is nothing other than Awareness. The world appears in Awareness, made of Awareness, perceived by Awareness. Awareness really has no inside or outside, no separation of opposites. Awareness has the qualities of a singularity: unlimited, unseen, undivided, unmoving, uncreated, unchanging, complete, formless, flawless, spaceless, timeless.
By contrast the world appears to be a World of Opposites. Awareness perceives form and change, limitation and division, creation and destruction, birth and death, waking and sleeping, individuality and multiplicity, gain and loss. The World of Opposites appears within the Singularity of Awareness like a reflection of Awareness's own imperceptible nature. The world shows what cannot be seen. Forms appear to express the formless.
In the world there seems to be a separation between the subject and the object, the observer and the observed. This is like a stretching of Awareness into 'one being aware of another'. When attention is focused on an object there seems to be a narrowing and limiting of Awareness. This is similar to what the human experience does. It seems to narrow Awareness to a point of individuality aware of many. But it's only a play. Awareness does not become human. Awareness remains as it is, whilst the human form appears as a focus of Awareness observing itself.
All apparently separate limited human beings are Awareness perceiving itself as the world, seemingly as something other than itself. It is like the archetypal sacrifice of God, giving up immortality to experience the mortal world, giving up infinity to experience limitation. But truly God doesn't give up immortality, freedom and infinity. Awareness is unharmed and unchanged by the world, just as conflict in a dream doesn't cause the body to be harmed.
This World of Opposites we experience is only a play of separation within the undivided limitlessness of Awareness. Nothing is near or far from Awareness. Nothing is before or after Awareness. Awareness does not sleep or wake just because the body shuts down for the night. Formless timeless Awareness is not born, nor does it die. The World of Opposites is all a play in Awareness, made of Awareness, known by Awareness.
- Category: The Human Experience
- Hits: 356
This is a question that concerns many people and causes some to not believe in God: How can a loving, all-powerful God allow evil to continue in the world? Let’s explore this.
To get to the bottom of it we need to understand both God and evil. We understand evil as the opposite of goodness and kindness. We usually relate it to human actions. So when a human does something that is harmful, cruel and causes suffering to others intentionally, we call this evil. As good people, we don’t want this in the world. We want the world to be peaceful and we want people to get on with each other, to be loving and kind, and the world will be a better place. Certainly that’s a noble aim, but the evil actions of people make it seemingly unachievable.
What evil shows us is the opposite of Godliness. Godliness is oneness with all. Evil is the extreme of separation from all. Evil is the action of clashing and breaking apart, isolating one against another. It is the extreme development of the force of separation, where a separate individual is in opposition to the world rather than being one with the world.
God is Oneness, an infinite Singularity. There is only God. God has no limits or divisions. God is Pure Love, the Oneness of Being. God is Pure Goodness, the perfect nature of being. The world appears as though this Singularity of God is separated and scattered, and the pattern of separating and scattering continues throughout the world. But God does not truly become divided. God remains timelessly as One, throughout the apparent separation in space and time. God remains as the high standard of perfect goodness throughout the imperfections of the world.
The world can be seen as incomplete and divided, a hardened dense world of clashing and opposition. Animals kill other animals, humans harm other humans or animals. People seek to dominate others, to win over others, and this selfishness leads to evil actions. The world can be seen as divided, but it isn’t really. There is only God. This appearance of the world is God seeming to be divided. Truly there are not many people or many animals fighting against each other. There is only ever God, the Infinite One Being.
The wise do not see a world of division. They only see God. The world can be considered as an expression of God through the medium of opposites. The appearance of selfishness is inevitable, as this expression of God that we call the world is a contrast of opposites. The invisible formless Oneness of God is made visible by the appearance of form and separation. But selfishness taken to the extreme results in this appearance of evil, that seems so distant from the Singularity of God. But it is illusory. There never is a distance from God. God is right here, whether the world appears to be good or evil, close to God or far from God. God is timelessly here, no matter what appears to happen.
So, back to the question: How can a loving God allow evil to continue? God does not see evil. Evil is only seen from a limited perspective, such as humans see. God is complete goodness, without opposition. God does not see others. God does not see beings harming other beings. That is only seen from the narrowed mistaken human perspective, believing that the world is separate and there are others. The highest human good is to recognise the oneness of all and live in peace and oneness with all, letting go of the mistaken sense of being separate. It is then that God’s true nature is realised in the human being. This is the aim for humanity in its evolution through time and space, to come to the true nature of Oneness that is always here beyond the sense of separation.
It is the same Oneness at the heart of all humans, all beings. Though they may believe otherwise, and though they may explore the opposing selfish nature for a time, it is inevitable to return to the peace and oneness of being, that is God. Evil and selfishness does not last. God is eternal. There is only God.