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: 1132
It seems a strange question: was the universe created? It's generally assumed that the universe was created, whether it's believed that God created the universe or the universe exploded from a Big Bang. How could it not be created? Here we have a universe with stars and planets, and planet Earth with humans, animals, plants, and so on. Something must have made this happen...
The problem with creation is that it implies there is a cause. It implies cause and effect. But cause and effect are only conceptual terms for what seems to happen in the world. It's a useful model, but not wholly accurate. It would be more accurate to say that there is continual consequential change. It's not that one 'thing' causes something to happen, then that other 'thing' causes another 'thing', and on and on. There are not really any discrete or separate 'things'. So the terms 'cause' and 'effect' have an assumption of defined, limited, separate 'things'. The real experience is that there is not one then another then another. It's more that the universe unravels or unfolds continually.
There may appear to be lulls in the flow of change, but these are temporary and ultimately also part of the change. Any appearance of no change is illusory. There is only ever a pretence of stillness in the universe. Just as we may assume that cars parked out in the street are still, whilst really they are spinning through space on a planet that never stops spinning and moving.
We can assume that this appearance of the universe as change and movement came from a point of no change or movement. We can assume that the apparent universe did appear from nothing, yes. But it would be a full, complete Nothing - an unmanifest Singularity, from which everything appeared and in which it appears. An unmanifest Singularity has no time or space. It has no limits. So the creation of the universe is the appearance from this complete unmanifest Nothingness. What caused the appearance of the universe? That's the question.
Cause and effect are already questionable, so can we consider that nothing caused the appearance of the universe? Well, possibly, as what appears appears out of Nothing and in Nothing. Also, there is no appearance without the witnessing of it. Effectively, no seen without the seer. The seen and the seer arise simultaneously - what appears and the witness of this appear simultaneously. The universe and I appear simultaneously. The Singularity seems to divide into the knower knowing the known. It doesn't really divide, because the Singularity is always maintained.
It's difficult to accept that the universe only appears once there is one to witness it. It's generally accepted that the universe appeared long before it created beings that could perceive it. But all we can reasonably say is that the universe that I perceive seems to have existed before I perceived it. But by 'I' we mean the human being. The human being is part of the universe. Is there a possibility that the universe was perceived by that which created it or in which it was created?
So we come full circle to the question of whether the universe was created? Well, what exists is here timelessly, uncreated. Existence itself, or Being, is permanently timeless and formless. This is the universe. The visible or perceivable universe of forms that seems to appear in time and space is like an expression or reflection of Timeless Dimensionless Being. The universe isn't created or destroyed, it only appears to be created and destroyed within the permanence of Being.
That sounds like a complicated answer. The simple answer is that Being is the nature of the universe. It just is.
- Category: The Human Experience
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In a novel we usually read about a main character, their experiences and adventures, and interactions with other characters. There is a spiritual Non-Duality analogy here. The novel is like the human experience perceived by and in Consciousness.
The story of the character and its adventures in the novel only come to light when the book is read. Before that it is dormant. There are words in a book that aren't being read. But when we read the book it comes to life. We follow the adventures of the main character and we learn about its world and the other characters in it. If our attention is withdrawn from the book it no longer plays out the story.
So it is with human life and the human experience, as I call it. Each human life only plays out becomes of the Life that illuminates and animates it. We are the Life, not the human being. We are that in which the human story is brought to life. We are the Awareness or Consciousness in which the human experience plays out its story. We perceive the human life, right through its sense of identity and personality, its thinking, its feelings and activities. We are the witness of this. Well, to put it less inaccurately, we are the Witnessing of the human experience.
Without the Witnessing there is no story, there is no human life, no animals, buildings, oceans, planets, stars. Everything that is known or experienced from the human perspective appears in Consciousness. Consciousness is Aware Beingness. That means that the nature of being, or existing, is intelligent awareness. It is One Aware Being that perceives all. It is like the reader of the novel. Without Aware Being nothing is perceived - effectively the universe is dormant, closed up.
So what does that mean for humanity? It means that my true nature, your true nature, all humanity's true nature, is not what we see but where we are seeing from. I don't just mean what we see with the eyes. What the eyes see is known by the mind. What ears hear is known by the mind. What the body feels is known by the mind. What knows the mind? What perceives the thoughts? It is this Witnessing that the novel analogy points to. It removes us from being caught up in the never-ending story, and brings us back to where we are looking from. It brings us to the unshakeable reality of Aware Being.
So why not say it is the Witness? Sometimes it's helpful to describe Aware Being as the Witness, but this can imply that the Witness is a distinct being with its own identity. But Aware Being is endless. It's not really a Being, but more a Beingness. It's just What Is. That's why Witnessing is less inaccurate. I say 'less inaccurate' because no words or theories can be wholly accurate. There is a flaw in language and any attempt to express Formless Reality. Aware Being is formless Awareness, a knowing or intelligence prior to knowledge of things. We could say it is Nothing, but it is also Everything.
- Category: Spiritual Practice
- Hits: 1113
It might be thought that meditation is about being calm and still, sitting in a still position, calming the body, the breath and the mind. It sounds right, yes, but it's not exactly right. Calming the body is good, to give it peace and rest. Calming the breath sounds good too, to bring about the calm throughout the body. Calming the mind seems more like an essential part of meditation, not getting caught up in negative thoughts or thoughts that go off on tangents.
That all sounds good. But there is more to meditation than that. The benefits of meditation mentioned above are good for the mind and body, but there is a deeper knowing in meditation. You perceive the thoughts that may or may not be stilled. You perceive the breathing that may or may not be calm. You perceive the body that may appear to be still or moving. You see, the mind, the breath and the body can never truly be still. They appear in the World of Motion where everything is in a constant flow of movement. Even if the body appears to be completely still, we know that it is sitting in a spot on a spinning planet that is swirling through the universe.
There is a relative calm that can be brought about through meditation, though not True Stillness. Yet the True Stillness is here. It is the 'place' from which the mind, breath and body are perceived. You are the Stillness that the meditating mind and body is trying to reach. So it doesn't really matter if the mind is flowing, the breathing is heavy or the body is restless. It doesn't matter if the mind feels agitated and unable to concentrate. It doesn't matter if trying to control breathing causes breathing to be unsettled. It doesn't matter if the body is fidgety or uncomfortable. The highest aim of meditation is to just be as you are.
Being as you are requires absolutely no effort. You don't need to do anything. In fact, you don't really do anything. The witnessing of the mind, body and world just happens naturally, without effort. The movement of the world appears in the timelessness of Being. You don't need to try to be calm. You are Perfect Calmness already. You don't need to try to be still. You are Timeless Stillness itself.
There's no need to try to achieve peace or indeed to try to stop trying. There's no need to worry about failing. This trying and worrying, succeeding or failing, is a play of the mind perceived by You. You are complete already. You don't need to achieve peace. Whether the mind finds peace or not doesn't affect the peace that you are.
So in meditation when the mind becomes agitated or there is a focus on something, let it go. It doesn't matter. In fact, it's not you holding on, focusing, or letting go. You are the Awareness in which this appears to happen. These instructions are for the mind to let go of its identity with actions and trying to control the world. All is well. You are perfect peace as you are.
The mind may in time come to rest in the timeless peace of Aware Being, but the mind is not you. You are Aware Being already. So is meditation necessary? Not really. Nothing is needed to be the Still Peace that you are. But meditation is for the body-mind to come to the peace of the Aware Being that you are. Meditation naturally happens when the mind withdraws from identifying with the forms of the world.
Of course, you can 'meditate' wherever the body may be, whatever the circumstances. The meditative state of the mind is the withdrawing into the timeless nature of Aware Being that is always present. You are always Here and Now, wherever the mind or body may seem to wander. Even as the Earth spins around the sun, it appears in the Stillness of Awareness. This Peace and Stillness is with the body-mind wherever it goes. The mind will, in its own time, recognise this and find peace.
- Category: The Universe
- Hits: 1121
Planet Earth seems like an extreme expression of separation. Plants, animals and humans fight for survival. It's a planet of competition. Survival of the fittest. Let's understand what's happening here.
The planet appears as a heavy dense world of competing and clashing forms. Heavy tectonic plates separate and crush against one another, building up harsh, dense mountain ranges. Plants grow where they can. They compete with other plants that have separated from them in evolutionary history. They change and develop to survive. Animals develop, protecting themselves from other animals and the environment. Some animals hunt other animals and need to kill and eat them to survive. Even animals of the same species or family fight against each other, to defend their chosen territory or to protect themselves or their offspring.
Humans fight other humans, physically and verbally. They fight their close family members and those who are further separated from them. They build walls and fences. They mark out imaginary borders between territories and fight to keep these in place. Fighting, harming, abusing and killing is the extremity of separation. It is the furthest limit of limitation.
Why is this so important to understand? Because it explains the world as an expression of Oneness far removed. The expression of many separate limited forms is the reflection of the reality of Infinite Oneness. The universe appears as if the Singularity has exploded into a multiplicity. There arises an appearance of distance and separation out of the unmanifest unity of the Singularity. Planet Earth is an expression of this at the far reaches of separation, where forms appear solid, separate and clashing.
The apparent density of form is an expression of limitation, which in turn is a reflection of the Limitless. The scattering and evolutionary development of plant forms and animal forms is an expression of separation. Differences arise, to further express separation. Individual identity seems to arise, solidifying the appearance of separate forms distinct from one another. Fighting to survive becomes the natural way at the far reaches of separation. Some forms team together, but even teams fight against each other. Tribes fight against other tribes. Gangs fight against other gangs. Countries fight against other countries. It is a catastrophic demonstration of limitation and separation.
But we can see through it. Solid forms aren't as solid and impermeable as they seem. The limits we assume are not true limits. The world is only an appearance of limitation and separation. That is not the reality of it. The Reality is that the Infinite Oneness is never divided, never broken. The universe doesn't appear 'from' the splitting of a singularity, it appears 'in' the Singularity. There is no true division or separation. There is only ever One appearing to be many. Planet Earth is an experience of separation, but not a reality of separation. Even the Earth can be considered singularly.
There is only ever an Infinite One, no matter how limited, divided and separate it may appear. The appearance of limitation and separation is illusory. It appears as the reflection and contrasting opposite of Infinite Oneness. Humanity has the ability to recognise this and choose to live in line with Oneness. There are no others, only the appearance of otherness. Differences are the play of the world. Differences are to be celebrated as expressions of the Oneness in which they appear.
So, yes, planet Earth may be an expression of extreme separation, but this is a reflection of the reality of Oneness in which it appears. There is only One appearing to be limited and divided. It is the play of the World of Opposites within the Indivisible Infinite One.
- Category: Non-duality
- Hits: 1112
Can the Infinite be understood intellectually? Some may say it's impossible. But it is possible to have a limited understanding of the Infinite intellectually. We can understand the Infinite in finite terms, but we can't understand anything in infinite terms - there are no infinite terms. Even the word 'Infinite' uses the term 'finite'. We say it is not finite. It is un-limited. It is un-bounded. It is in-divisible.
Our whole intellectual understanding and knowledge base is founded on finite terms. We use measurements for time, distance, weight, energy etc. These measurements intellectually divide up the indivisible. Time isn't really made of segments. Time is the continual flow of change. But intellectually we measure it in segments of seconds, minutes, days, years etc. Similarly with distance. Distance isn't really split into segments of metres, miles, kilometres etc. These finite measures are used by the human mind to understand portions of infinity.
What we have is an infinite world being understood in finite terms. These finite terms can be useful but never truly accurate. Humanity can develop a great intellectual understanding of the universe in finite terms, and that's useful, but it needs to be recognised that it will never be wholly accurate. Any theory about the universe, reality and existence will be inaccurate. It's just that some are less inaccurate than others. Knowledge is seemingly limited.
There is a difference between knowledge and knowing that may be overlooked. We may have knowledge about how to make a spaghetti bolognese, but there is a knowing of this knowledge. The knowing of knowledge is the same knowing of feelings, sensations and perceptions. When a bird is seen to fly past, a car is heard driving by, or a train of thought flows by, these are known in the same way that knowledge is known. There is a Knowing. This Knowing, in Non-Duality terms, is Aware Being. It is the Awareness or Consciousness in which the world is perceived. It is the Formless that perceives form.
It is this Infinite Knowing in which the apparently finite knowledge of the infinite appears. Nothing is truly finite. All seemingly finite things appear in the Indivisible Infinite. Time is not divided. Space is not divided. Forms flow continually from this to that, without ever truly being divided into this or that. We have knowledge in finite terms, but the Truth is Infinite.