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: 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 be 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.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: Non-duality
What is meant by Awareness, Consciousness and Mind? There are differing views as to what is meant by Awareness, Consciousness and Mind. Similar to Rupert Spira, I use Awareness and Consciousness interchangeably for the same innate quality of Knowing, which is the nature of our shared Aware Being. Mind is then considered to be that field in which thoughts, feelings, sensations, perceptions and the world are experienced. The mind is known by Awareness/Consciousness.
Ultimately in Non Duality there are not these three different 'things'. The mind is not separate from Infinite Pure Consciousness or Awareness. The mind only thinks it's a mind.
It is like the mind is a movie of a limited human experience on the screen of Infinite Pure Awareness/Consciousness.
The intelligence of the mind is not the pure knowing of Awareness. The mind's intelligence is artificial in a sense that it is based on relative terms. For instance, we may feel that we know the sky is blue, because we know what the sky is, we know what blue is, and we see the sky appearing to be blue. The intelligence of the mind connects accepted terms and beliefs, which are based on other accepted terms and beliefs. The mind can construct a complex network of shared relative terms that can either be considered as true or false knowledge. Just like that sentence.
That's what the mind does. But it is ultimately flawed. No matter how accurate knowledge can be, it's is never truly accurate. It can only describe something based on terms accepted as true, and knowledge can never be what it pertains to know. For example, if we study Love and gain intellectual knowledge about Love, this knowledge is not the same as knowing Love. Or if we study what is known of a Kestrel, that knowledge is not the Kestrel itself.
So back to Awareness, which can be considered as Pure Knowing. There is no object to this knowing. There is nothing other than Awareness to be known. Awareness is Self-Knowing.