Category: The Human Experience

Published: 01 November 2024

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It's a well-known question without a clear answer: Do we have free will? The reason for the unclear or unsatisfying answers is that the question has some flaws. The question is based on a vague assumption of 'we'. Really we need to know who 'we' are, then we can look at whether 'we' have free will.

The usual assumption is that 'we' are humans. But if you understand enough of what I've written previously this won't be a surprise: we are not humans. The 'human' is not really defined, as it is a flowing, changing quality of planet Earth and the universe. The 'human' is not separate, and although seemingly distinct, it is not truly distinct from the universe. If we trace inward to the core of our being we find that we are not 'human'. We are the same Infinite One Consciousness that is the nature of all seemingly separate beings.

So this separate individual 'me' can never be clearly defined. It is a flawed identity. Our true nature is limitless Consciousness. So instead of asking, "Does Helen decide what drink she will have?" it could be worded as, "Does Consciousness decide what drink Helen will have?" It's still a bit flawed, because 'Helen' isn't really precise and accurate, but we'll go with that.

In answering this we have to recognise that the flow of thoughts in Helen's mind decides what drink she will have, based on tastes and preferences developed through the human experience. Taste buds, availability, and life events all come into play for this simple decision. So it seems wrong to say that Consciousness is making the decision. Maybe if Helen's mind was pure and clear, untainted by thoughts, then Consciousness would shine through in all Helen's actions, including choices. For example, instead of Helen choosing coffee with three sugars based on an addictive preference for coffee and sweetness, a drink of water may be more conducive to Helen's health. Consciousness would have no preference as such, but the natural flow would be more in line with the true nature of Consciousness lighting up the human experience with love, goodness, peace and wellbeing.

So generally the mind plays a part in choices. The mind thinks that it is a separate identity making choices. But really there isn't a true identity, and what choices seem to be made are influenced by the flow of experiences. In other words, just as the 'human' is a flowing quality of the planet, so are the choices that the mind seems to make. It is all the flowing of the universe. There is no true division to enable us to say 'I' chose 'that'. There is a play of choice, an illusion of a chooser choosing choices. Truly there is only Consciousness.

But Consciousness is certainly free. There are no true boundaries to Consciousness. Consciousness is freedom itself. Consciousness doesn't choose, restrict, deny or allow. It just is what it is. What appears, appears. We're getting to the deeper questions of: Does Consciousness create the world, does it co-ordinate what happens in the world, and does it pre-ordain events to happen in the world?

Again we have some flaws in the questions here. There is an assumption that there is a 'world', but there is only Consciousness. There is an assumption that events really happen. Consider this: it would be wrong of someone to say, "I flew to the moon last night whilst I was sleeping." We know that it was a dream of flying to the moon - that didn't really happen. It is similar with the appearance of the world - it is like a dream within Consciousness. It doesn't really happen. There is no space or time for things to travel and change. Nothing ever happens.

So in an absolute sense, there is no choice, there is no choosing, because nothing ever happens. Consciousness just is what it is. This is the Absolute Truth, where no movement or change happens. Realise that so-called beginnings rise out of Infinity, and so-called ends return to Infinity, all the while being Infinity. So to say that Infinity begins or ends something is flawed. There is only ever Infinite Consciousness.

But we can make a concession, a step down from Pure Truth to relative truth, and say something to satisfy the mind somewhat. Well, I'll give it a try anyway. The appearance of the world arises in Consciousness, made of Consciousness, perceived by Consciousness. It is Consciousness that allows this appearance by means of opposites as if the Singularity of Consciousness splits into opposites and multiplies. As part of this splitting, the opposites of Creation and Destruction arise from the Singularity simultaneously. So although Consciousness/God doesn't make anything happen, from the human perspective it can appear that Consciousness/God created the world, whilst seeming to destroy the Singularity.

But the opposite forces we perceive as separate are not really separate. The world isn't created and the Singularity isn't destroyed. The force of creation/will that seems to make things happen is cancelled out by its opposite, destruction/restriction. Everything that seems to be done must be undone, so the nature of the Singularity remains. This is the Law of Opposites that applies to all aspects of the appearance of the world. The Singularity of Consciousness/God remains as it is. The appearance of the world of multiplicity is illusory.

So, to answer the question: Do we have free will? There is no 'we', no separate individual that makes choices. There is no will to do something, because nothing really happens. But there is freedom. Freedom is the pure nature of our Infinite Being. 

Category: Non-duality

Published: 20 December 2024

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From the Non-Duality understanding we can consider three steps to enlightenment. They're not really three steps, of course, but it might help to describe it this way. We can consider there to be an appearance in the human world of three stages of recognition, leading to the full Self-Realisation of our true nature.

First it needs to be recognised that the world is illusory. That means recognising in the mind that the world is not what it appears to be. The world seems to be a multiplicity of forms, and it seems that we are a human form in the world but with a separate discrete identity. This is how it seems, but this is not what it is. Non-Duality teaching points to the recognition that there are not many. We could say there is only One, but it's an Infinite One. There is only the Infinite One.

So the second step after the recognition in the mind that the world is illusory, is for the mind to find out "Who Am I?" I am not illusory. The only thing I can know for sure is that I exist. What I am is another matter. This second step to enlightenment is the turning inwards of the mind, not getting caught up in the illusion of the world, but withdrawing the focus of attention towards where we are experiencing from. We experience the mind with its sense of identity with the body (which we now recognise as illusory), we experience thoughts, feelings, sensations, and perceptions of the world. We experience all this right Here. The second step is recognising this Infinite Oneness of Being as what we are. Some call this God or Infinite Consciousness. It's not enough to know this logically in the mind, because that's just the mind thinking. In this second step the mind is turned inwards towards where the mind is experienced from, the essence of Being.

The third step is in turning back to the world, with the recognition and clarity gained from step two. Effectively the mind is cleared of all erroneous thinking. Reality is perceived clearly without confusion. There comes the recognition that what was dismissed as the illusory world is nothing other than what I am. It's not that the illusion becomes real to us. Rather it is seen that there is only the Real. We are that, and there is nothing other than that. Reality is not a multiplicity. It's a Singularity.

Category: The Universe

Published: 12 November 2024

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Considering order and chaos gives us a useful glimpse into the nature of reality. The world seems to flow with an appearance of both order and chaos. By 'chaos' I mean the opposite of orderliness, which we can describe as randomness, where things happen by chance. For example, a tree grows according to the orderly 'pattern' stored in the seed, but chaos applies in the formation of the tree, giving rise to its uniqueness. So no two trees are the same. They follow a pattern (order) but there is chance (chaos) in where and how the branches grow.

Let's consider emptying a pencil case onto a table. If we tip up the case and let the stationery fall out it lands on the table in a chaotic fashion, with pens, pencils, rulers, erasers and so on scattered randomly. So there appears a scene of orderly objects scattered chaotically. It appears chaotic but there is an argument that the chaotic scattering is actually orderly. That is, the objects fall according to gravity and a complex array of forces applying to each object as they fall. These forces are the orderly forces of nature. The appearance of randomness is then not so random, but determined by natural forces. Similarly, the branches of a tree grow according to its orderly plan and the forces of nature, including gravity, the wind, the sun and other environmental factors.

It can be considered that Chaos is merely a play of order, where order creates the appearance of chaos, similar to how numbers are 'randomly' generated in a computer game. Random number generation in computer games often uses a 'seed' number, which can be taken from the computer's clock time and fed it into a complex algorithm to produce apparently random numbers that can trigger events in the game. So it's not really random. Other things can be used for the 'seed' number, such as the fluctuating electrical power supply, and that brings a more chaotic element to the randomness. But it could be argued that the power supply fluctuates in an orderly manner, according to nature's laws.

So is Chaos real? There is a scientific view that quantum physics is completely random, that there are random fluctuations in the quantum realm that are not orderly and give rise to randomness in the world. Or maybe it is just another appearance of randomness that will be found to have an orderly source.

From the Non Dual perspective there is not this play of order and chaos. There is only an appearance of opposites in separation, just as there is only an appearance of 'order and chaos'. The Reality is that there is only One, an Infinite One without division, form or limitation. In itself the One can be considered as complete order, as there is no confusion or randomness in simply being. It is an Order beyond the sense of 'order and chaos'.

Category: The Human Experience

Published: 15 November 2024

Hits: 1086

Human senses of perception are highly complex. They've evolved to get to this point. Let's look at the root of perception in order to gain a better understanding of its nature.

The human eye is a complex mechanism that picks out a range of frequencies within the electromagnetic spectrum and returns this to the brain, which in turn formulates the image that we see. There's a lot going on in this complex process, so it will help if we go back to the basics of perception. Perception, whether it is seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and so on, is founded on the interaction of vibration. When we see something, the eye picks up the vibrating frequency of light and sends that signal to the brain. With hearing, the ear picks up the vibrating frequency of air waves and sends that to the brain. Touch is the detection of contact between surfaces, for example the finger touching stone or the finger touching a petal - there is a sense of texture and solidity that distinguishes the vibrational solidity of a surface.

We could say that perception is an interaction, with the perceiver perceiving what is perceived. But it's not really clear cut and defined in that way. The interaction is fluid. For example, if a bell rings, the vibrating metal of the bell causes the air around it to vibrate. The vibration in the air waves is like a chain reaction causing adjacent air to vibrate. When the vibration in the air waves reaches the ear it is funnelled into the ear canal and vibrates the ear drum. The vibrating signal continues through tiny bones and through the cochlea to auditory nerves that take the signal to the brain. It sounds complex when we break it down like that, but essentially it is the flow of vibration.

We may describe different objects in this flow of vibration, but we could describe the objects themselves as vibrating atoms. We could go deeper and describe the atoms as vibrating energy. When you analyse it the world is a vibrating flow of energy. This vibrating flow of energy conforms to the appearance of opposites, so that we can describe a perceiver perceiving what is perceived, the subject sensing the object. But this conceptualising of the subject sensing the object is the human mind's view of what is happening. The mind thinks, "I can hear the bell." But basically energy is flowing. There is no beginning or end to the flow of energy. It keeps on flowing. No really defined cause or effect, just a continual flow of change.

So what we arrive at here is a recognition that there's not really a subject perceiving an object. The subject and object are only separated conceptually. There isn't a listener hearing sounds. There is a flowing vibration of energy. Our egos might insist this is not the case, and the ego will come up with reasons why it has a real defined existence. The ego will state, "I am the one hearing sounds and perceiving perceptions." But the ego itself is a flow of energy that isn't really defined and separated from the world.

What about Awareness? Elsewhere in these articles it's stated how Awareness is the nature of being - it's all there really is. How does this flow of energy relate to Awareness? The flow of energy that we call the world appears within Awareness, made of Awareness. It is not that Awareness is aware of the subject and object, the person and the perceived. Awareness is simply the nature of being and within it this flow of energy is perceived. It is the mind that conceptualises the sense of subject and object.

It may seem that Awareness is the heart of the subject, but truly there is no subject. This expression of separation of the subject and object and the interaction between them appears as though Awareness has separated itself out, but truly it never becomes separated. The sense of a perceiver, perceiving and the perceived appear within Awareness.

It's as if the flow of energy that is the world is a complex fluctuation of opposites within the simple unchanging singularity of Awareness.