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: The Human Experience
The world isn't meant to be easy. Human life isn't supposed to be all wonderful. Don't expect life to be kind to you. You're not necessarily going to succeed in what you want to do and get what you want. That may sound harsh, but sometimes people expect that life should be good, fun and full of happiness. But that's not the case. There may be some fun times and some happiness, but there will certainly be some trouble. Let's understand why.
The simple answer is this: humanity is mixed up. There is a general human sense that, "I am this human being, these are my things, and I'm focused on myself and my life." If we live a lie like that, or rather if we live by a mistaken belief like that, the world is going to challenge us. If I believe that I am a human then problems occur, because it's a mistake. Humans are not really defined and limited, and that's not who we are. At the core of all humans, and for that matter all apparently separate beings, there is a Oneness. One Consciousness. We are that One Infinite Consciousness, not many different beings - that is the illusory play of form in formless Consciousness.
When this error of identification takes hold, when Infinite Consciousness is drawn into the belief of being a limited being, it creates an imbalance. It's like we've fallen out of unity and got caught up in a world of opposing forces. Then there needs to be a rebalancing. We need to be shaken out of it, effectively. That means that life is going to be tough, until we get to the point of realising that something is wrong here.
Humanity is caught up in this clashing of identity - I am this, that belongs to me, you are nothing to do with me, you offend me, I will win. The root of all evil is not money, it is the delusion of separate identity. A limited being defends its limits, imposes its limits on others, and encroaches on others' limits. That's where all the clashing comes from in this human experience.
There have been enough human experiences for us to confidently say that it's normal for human life to have problems. What can we do about this? Accept it. There's no point fighting against the world. The world is this rocking, rolling wave of forces clashing sometimes and quietening sometimes. That's the world, but that's not you. You are not in this rocking, rolling world. You are the still Infinite One Consciousness, within which the world appears.
In truth you have not fallen out of unity into the world of opposites. You remain as you are, the Infinite One, beyond time and space. The human experience is the play of the human world, experiencing limitation, clashing, distancing, the push and pull, the joys and sorrows. Know it is not you. You are unbroken by the appearance of the separate world. Your infinite nature remains unblemished by what seems to come and go.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Human Experience
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.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: Spirituality
The world is a dream in the Mind of God. That's a useful way to understand the world. There is nothing other than God. Although there may seem to be beings that are close to or far from God, this is all God. It's as if the Supreme Being dreams a dream of limitation and separation, when truly the Supreme Being is neither limited nor divisible.
This dream is like a reflection of God's true nature. The world moves, reflecting God's Stillness. The world changes, reflecting God's unchanging Timelessness. The world clashes, reflecting God's Peace. The world appears as many, reflecting the Oneness of God. The world seems limited, reflecting the Limitlessness of God. Creatures in the world battle and fight, reflecting God's Love. It is all a play of opposites.
But there is no real separation. There are no real limits. There is not this one fighting that one. This is the illusion of God's dream, that there can be many beings and forms that clash and interact. But truly there is nothing other than God. The dream is the play of the Mind of God.
Though the world can seem cruel, and lifeforms suffer and die, this is the illusory reflection of God's Love, Peace and Timeless Life. Human beings are like evolving beings in the Mind of God. They can wake up to the dream and recognise that there is only God. Where is God in the dream? God does not appear in the dream, the dream appears in God. But every being is like a portal of Awareness in the dream. The heart of every being leads to God. It is God that is the Awareness at the heart of all perception. It is God that sees and knows all. God is where we are looking from.
At least that's the play of the dream - that God can be found at the centre, at the heart of the experience. God is the dreamer of the dream, and the dream seems to be what God is not. Yet it is all God. The heart of the dream world of opposites is the centre of indivisible Oneness, the stillness and peace in which there are no opposites, the Infinite One in whom there is no inside or outside. There is only The Infinite One, The Supreme Being, God, The Self.
So what should humanity do about this? Wake up to the dream, and know that you are God. Not that the limited human you is God, but that God is the heart and whole of the world. Every place is the Heart of God, every seeming moment is the timelessness of God. Every experience is God's experience.
When you look at another being, they are the same being as your own, different on the surface but the same Infinite One at heart. Know that God is the Heart and Whole of the world, and live accordingly. Know that what pertains to goodness, truth, love, life, freedom and oneness appears to be closest to God, and is the right way to live in accordance with Truth. But know that there is no close to or far from God. That's the play of the dream in the Mind of God. There is only God.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: Non-duality
Where does the mind end and the body begin? This is an interesting question to consider. In Non Duality sometimes 'the mind' refers to the seemingly finite mind, sometimes it refers to Infinite Consciousness. There's no problem with this, as the seemingly finite mind can be considered as the peak of a wave on the ocean of Infinite Consciousness, which could equally be called Infinite Mind or Awareness. When the seemingly finite mind returns to Infinite Consciousness it is clear that it never really left and there never really was a finite mind.
This finite mind seems to get tangled up in identifying with the body, and limits itself accordingly. It's impossible to find where the mind ends and the body begins. The mind controls much of the movement of the body, and the state of the mind affects the emotions and even the physical health of the body. The eyes see the body (except from where they are seeing from) and other senses give a rounded picture of the body. We feel when there is a pain in the body, if the body is thirsty, hungry, tired or weak. All these perceptions and sensations of the body are experienced in the mind. It is the mind that is the centre of perception and sensation for the body. It is in this way that sometimes Non Duality teachers speak of the body-mind.
This understanding of perceptions and sensations appearing in the mind leads to a deeper recognition that the mind and the body aren't really separate. The mind is mistaken in its sense of identity with the body. The body and the world are perceived in the seemingly finite mind. Thoughts are also perceived in the mind, seemingly by the identity or ego. This ego or sense of identity is also witnessed. We witness our sense of identity in the mind. All that the seemingly finite mind perceives is witnessed by a deeper 'collective mind' or shared mind, that is Infinite Consciousness. Ultimately there is no finite mind, body, or world. There is only Infinite Consciousness.