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 Tuesdays and Fridays.
Please use the Contact page if you have any questions or would like me to discuss a topic.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: Spiritual Practice
The practice of remaining present during activity is a practice of no-practice. Meaning that one recognises one's stillness whilst activity happens. Stillness in activity. But how do we do this non-doing?
A good example is driving a car. If you don't drive you can tweak this example, as it works with catching a bus, a train, a plane, or a boat. Within the activity of the world there arises in us a desire or intention to make a journey. It's not really that we decide it. It may be noticed that there is a decision making process, but this is part of the flow of the world. In Non-Duality we are not the flow of the world per se. We witness the apparent flow of the world. We witness the formation of the plan to travel. It may be to go shopping, to meet up with someone, to go to work etc. The reason doesn't matter for this example. The important point is that we are aware of the development of this reason. We are not this decision making activity. We perceive it from a point of stillness and non-action.
The reason to move and travel flows naturally from the activity of the world. It influences the mind activity and the body activity. We witness the movement of the body, directed by the mind, which in turn is directed by the worldly factors that led to making this journey. The body gets in the car. The driving of the car is fairly automatic, in that practice has made it reasonably effortless. The body has been trained to drive through practice and repetition. We witness the driving of the car. Remaining present means that we don't identify as the active mind or body during this process. We witness this. We are the Stillness that perceives the apparent motion of the mind, the body, the car and the world.
Whilst driving there may be times when the car behind gets too close, the car in front drives too slowly, a car speeds past dangerously, a call pulls out in front, or we get stuck in traffic. At these times the mind may start to complain, and the body may verbalise this. This is often a habitual reaction. The mind maybe gets anxious about the car behind or arriving late, or annoyed at bad drivers. But, remaining present, we witness this. We are not the mind or this mental activity. Indeed we are not the mind activity or the body activity. We are not going anywhere. We, Consciousness, do not travel. We don't drive. We don't think. We are aware, and awareness requires no activity. The thinking, the driving, the moving, appears within Consciousness.
So the practice in this driving scenario is to not get caught up in the mind activity, the body activity or even the car and travelling activity. It is to remain as the Stillness, the Awareness or Consciousness in which this mind activity and apparent travelling is perceived. We can never go anywhere. You've never been anywhere other than where you are. It may appear that the body travels from here to there, but we, Consciousness, do not travel. Travel and all motion or activity appears within Consciousness.
We don't need to practise to be still and aware. Our nature is Unmoving Awareness. We don't need to do anything to be what we are, and in truth we can't do anything. We may say we walk somewhere or drive somewhere, but Consciousness does not walk or drive. The walking and driving appears to happen within Consciousness. So the shift is from identifying with the activity of the world. There needs to be a withdrawal from latching onto thoughts and believing that we are doing the activity. The non-practice of Presence is in just being as we are, not identifying with the activity of what seems to happen. Remaining Here whilst the world seems in perpetual motion.
It is similar to recognising that the sun doesn't spin around the Earth. It is the sun that remains as it is, whilst the Earth spins around and around. We are like that still centre around which the world spins. But more accurately we are neither the centre nor the outer limits. We are the Limitless that appears to have a centre and outer limits. We are the Infinite Consciousness in which this play of limitation and motion appears from the perspective of a central point of view.
It is not us, Consciousness, that practises being the Still Awareness. That is our nature. It is the mind, or the mind activity that attempts this practice. But mind cannot achieve Stillness. Mind is itself activity. Yet when the mind withdraws from identifying and returns to the Stillness it is found that there is no mind. There is no activity. There is only an appearance of activity. Stillness is here all along.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Human Experience
Humanity, and indeed planet Earth, is on a path of spiritual evolution. Life forms on the planet don't just randomly evolve. There is an underlying directive force in the universe, firstly a push towards outer limits, then a returning inwards to the limitless. This is all spread across a vast expanse of space and time.
Life on planet Earth appears at the far end of the spectrum of density. By density, I mean density of spirit. What we call matter is more like an appearance of limited, separated, dense spirit. It is the far end of the vibrational universe, where forms become more separate, dense, seemingly more limited, and less interactive and flowing. So life forms on planet Earth appear of a denser, solidified nature. Yet they are evolving to become freer, less limited and less dense. The natural interaction of forms at this far end of density is to be hardened and clashing, less collaborative and more competitive. Hence the survival of the fittest. Seemingly separate life forms compete against each other.
Nevertheless, animals on planet Earth are highly developed life forms. They've evolved, and they're evolving towards increased intelligence and awareness. Animals just see the world as it is. They've not progressed to the stage where humans are at yet. Humans have reached the stage where we can think about the world, label things, define things, and understand cognitively how the world works. I'm reminded of the 'Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil' mentioned in Genesis in the Bible. It's where humanity has moved on from the basic animal nature to thinking, gaining knowledge, and gaining self awareness, a recognition that 'I am this body'. In some ways it can seem like a step back, out of the blissful unaware state, into thinking, worrying, and seeing the challenges and difficulties of 'me and the world'. At this stage the ego develops - the mind's sense of being a separate being, defending its borders, strengthening its position, and asserting its importance. This ego nature rules the human world. It's an evolutionary step forward, but certainly not the culmination of evolution.
The next step for humanity is to develop this 'self awareness' further. For all humanity's confidence in its sense of being right, all its knowledge and conceptualising is inaccurate. It's sense of self is misplaced. Its sense of right and wrong, good and evil, is a separating of the world. The sense of separation, of me and the world, is flawed. Truly there is no separation. This appearance in planet Earth of many different life forms is illusory. It leads humanity to believe that separation is real and the ego is right. But it's not. These many life forms can also be considered as one planet expressing itself in seemingly many ways. There comes a change of perspective. A deeper understanding, that there is not 'me and the world'. There is only this.
As self awareness continues to develop, it turns inwards. It turns from seeing the world of many separate forms. It turns from the difficulties of competing against the world. It turns to a recognition of the underlying Oneness of what appears to be a multiplicity. As the ego nature continues its development it is recognised that the greatest ego is not the one that dominates and wins, it is the one that surrenders itself in service to the whole. The greatest ego gives up itself, reduces its sense of importance, lets go of its belongings and ideals, to bring peace to the world. In religious terms this can be recognised in the sacrifice of Jesus, giving up his life to save others. It's a move towards dropping the limits and defenses of the ego, in favour of the Oneness of the whole.
This next stage of evolution is in letting go of the limits that seem to define. Recognising that limits are illusory. There is only One Infinite Being, expressed as many beings and non-beings. What Is is expressed as what is and what is not. But truly there is only What Is. Humanity evolves to a point of enlightenment, where the separate individual, the ego, is seen to be false, and the Oneness of What Is is realised.
- 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.