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.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: Spirituality
Humanity tends to label some things or places as sacred, holy, or spiritual. For example, there may be a sacred spring that has been considered to be a stream or well with spiritual significance. There are churches, mosques and temples that are considered holy. Even in my writing I describe some symbols as being spiritual. These things and places seem to have a peace and holiness about them.
This is wonderful, and there are some places that seem more spiritually significant than others, but in Non-Duality we recognise that there is only the Infinite One. There can't really be anything other than the Holy One. There can't be a place that is holy and another place that is not. There can't be a spiritual object or person and a non-spiritual object or person. There is only the Holy One.
This appearance of spiritual and non-spiritual, holy and unholy, sacred and profane exemplifies the error of dualistic thinking. It is just a play within the holiness of the Infinite One. We may consider these opposites and recognise that they are not clear cut, black and white. There is a spectrum or continuum of difference between them. So between the sacred and profane there is a wide scale of difference, including what we may describe as 'most sacred', 'secular', 'irreverent' and 'unholy'. This is the way with opposites. They can be considered as a continuum.
But this continuum of opposites is just a play of stretching out Oneness into otherness. There seems to be what is close to Infinite Oneness and what is far from Infinite Oneness, but Infinite Oneness is all there really is. Nothing can be far from the Infinite One. It can only appear to be near or far. This 'spiritual' recognition breaks down the whole dualistic view of reality. There is not a divide of the Holy One into holy and unholy. Even in the supposed division, we can recognise a non-separate continuum. Indeed, this continuum is the only way that a division can seem to appear. It's not a division at all. More like a stretching out of Oneness.
We're getting to the recognition here of the nature of the apparent separation in the world. This apparent separation of the Holy One can never happen. It can only pretend to happen. Separation, near and far, can only appear in Infinity by method of illusion. There is no unholy. There is no heaven and hell or a world in-between. There is only the Holy One, no matter what appears to happen.
There is only the Sacred. There is only the Spiritual. Reality is this sacred, holy, spiritualness. We give it these special names and utilise the sense of opposites to emphasise its significance. Really, the Holy One isn't special or not-special. It just is. There aren't holy or unholy places or people, there is just what is. But it's not a mundane What Is. It is holier than can be imagined.
It is the higher of the opposites that points to that which is beyond appearance, and the lower of the opposites that allows it to seem to appear by contrast. This Holy of Holies doesn't really appear. Appearance is its opposite. It is unseen, for who can see it? There is none other than the Holy of Holies. We cannot say here it is or there it is. It is right here, everywhere and nowhere. In no place and all places.
If we search for holiness we mistakenly presume it isn't here already. If we think we have found holiness, then we mistakenly believe that there is something other than holiness. So what do we do? We rest assured that there is only the Holy of Holies. If we think otherwise, recognise that this thinking is just a play of opposites. There is only the Holy of Holies.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: Non-duality
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.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Human Experience
The Non-Duality understanding clearly explains the reason for humanity's dissatisfaction with life and search for happiness. Desire arises as a consequence of the sense and belief of being a separate individual in the world. This is not who we really are. Reality is an infinite, indivisible Singularity. This is our true nature, our true Being. So when the mind identifies as a limited separate being, it will inevitably feel incomplete. It will never be satisfied. There will always be something missing. It will never be content.
On a lower 'physical' level the human body is somewhat incomplete and needs sustenance from the environment. There is a human urge for union with another human, primarily for the purpose of procreation, but humanity has evolved beyond the need to just survive and procreate. The human mind has evolved. Desire has evolved in the mind, arising from the sense and belief of identifying as a separate individual. This apparently separate individual has wants and desires beyond the 'physical' needs of the body. The mind itself is seeking the peace of union. Reality is Oneness, so this sense of being separate brings with it the feeling of being incomplete, wanting without satisfaction, and ultimately suffering, not being content.
The mind that identifies as separate will initially look outwards for what it feels it wants and needs. It tries to find satisfaction in the world. People look for love, search for happiness, use substances to give some relief or escape from this yearning and unfulfilled desire. They occupy themselves with things to do, to keep the mind from falling into loneliness and yearning for something. This is an understandable search, but ultimately nothing lasts. This is where the mind turns to spirituality, and spiritual teachings that say to practise meditation to bring about peace.
The mind seeks to end its suffering, and after trying to find peace and happiness in the world, it turns inwards to find peace in itself. Meditation seeks to calm the mind. In calming the mind, a clarity is found, a peace and contentment. Without the mind's chatter, and ultimately without the mind's sense and belief of being a separate individual, there is no sufferer and no suffering. The body may encounter pain still, but there is only an experience of this without the mind's sense of suffering.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: Spiritual Symbols and Patterns
The wheel is a wonderful spiritual symbol of the universe. Imagine a cart wheel, with a central hub and spokes spreading outwards from the centre. It is used as the symbol of Buddhism for good reason.
The wheel shows how we seem separate from each other. There are billions of people on the planet. We all seem to be separate and distant from each other in some ways. All the people are like the spokes on the wheel. The further we are from the centre, the more separate it seems we are. This applies also to the soul's journey, as it seems to go out from the centre and become more defined and separate from other souls.
This apparent material world appears as a world of separates - so many different life forms, fighting for survival, clashing against each other. The world seems to be far from the centre of Oneness. It is reasonable to expect that there are worlds less dense and less competitive than this one. Worlds that are closer to the centre of Oneness will be less antagonistic. The borders between objects and beings will appear less defined.
It's useful to understand this perspective, that the human form appears defined and separate from other forms in the world, as it is far from the centre of Oneness. Yet, the centre of Oneness is at the heart of all human forms. The centre of Oneness is that core nature which isn't separate. Indeed, at the heart of all beings is One Being. In the centre it is recognised that none are separate. There is only the Wheel. There is only the One. No souls or worlds really stray from the centre. That's the play of the universe in the Oneness of Being. Souls only seem to go out into the world. People only seem to be defined, discrete, and separate from others. Worlds only seem to be dense, heavy and hardened, or to have degrees of density. The higher levels of spiritual manifestation - the more spiritual worlds if you like - would still only seem to be at a lesser distance from Oneness.
Oneness is always here. It can never be broken. The spokes on the wheel only seem to be separate. Really, there is just the wheel. In Non-Duality the aim for the seemingly separate selves that we think we are, is to deeply recognises that there is only One, there are no others, and for this realisation to permeate and dissolve the sense of separation in the human form.
The wheel also demonstrates space and time. The spokes stretch out from the still dimensionless centre, like the dimensions of distance and depth. The turning of the wheel signifies the motion of the world, the change that gives the appearance of time. This spreading and swirling pattern repeats throughout the universe. The significant point is that the centre remains still. Motion cannot appear without Stillness. This still centre is the Heart of Oneness in which the world of motion appears. Truly it is without dimension or change. It is the Here and Now in which the depth and motion of the world is experienced.