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 Universe
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.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Universe
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.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: Spirituality
What is it that prevents enlightenment? We may understand the spiritual theory but still feel like we are a long way off from being enlightened. We may understand Non-Duality and know that there is only One, an Infinite Indivisible One. We may understand that concepts, labels and forms can never truly be defined. We may recognise that there are no limits, and there isn't a multiplicity. We may understand that this means we are not the separate identity that the mind thinks we are. We may grasp the teaching that identity is thought-based, and thoughts appear and disappear in the Awareness or Consciousness or What Is, and we know that we are That. But this knowledge, no matter how thorough it is, doesn't make us enlightened.
So what is it that is stopping enlightenment if I know and believe all the theory? It's the separate self, or rather the sense of being a separate self. It can't really be defined, because it's not real, it's a thought-based identity. Let's call it the ego. It's the ego that thinks it knows all this. It's the ego that claims it is the one who knows and believes Non-Duality theory. It's the ego that wants to be enlightened, or at least wants to find peace and contentment. But the ego generally values its identity too much. Without its identity it is nothing. If it lets go of its sense of self then it effectively dies or disappears. Enlightenment is the death of the ego, the end of the separate self that never really was. It is the ego that feels the need for enlightenment and the ego that prevents enlightenment. Kind of.
The 'kind of' issue is that the ego doesn't really prevent the enlightened state. The enlightened state is here already. It is the natural unlimited, undefined state of being. The ego is the sense and belief that it is a defined and limited being. So although the ego may claim the knowledge that there is no separation, the ego is still waving its flag of identity whilst it does so: "I know that there is no separate me!" This is where the issue lies.
The separate self cannot attain enlightenment. Only in making the ultimate sacrifice of itself is the enlightened state revealed. This means the death of separate identity, not death of the body. Some call the enlightened state the Kingdom of Heaven. It is the placeless place where there are no limits, there is only Freedom. The separate self cannot enter. It needs to discard its limits and its definitions of itself, which is what makes it a seemingly separate self. Only then, when there is no ego, is the Kingdom of Heaven revealed to be always here. Paradise is right here. Freedom, Peace, Love and Contentment is right here in the natural state of being. It is hidden or missed because of the ego's ignorance to it. The ego itself is the ignorance of the infinite indivisible nature of Reality.
The knowledge that we gain can only point to What Is. Knowing about Reality is not enough. We need to loosen and drop the identity of the one who claims to know it. This can take time and effort. The ego needs to work at unravelling itself, using the knowledge and practices learnt. Self Enquiry seeks out the source and nature of the identity, and realises that it is illusory and non-existent. The Infinite One is all. Worship and service to the whole lessens the strength of the ego identity, till the devotee is lost in the Infinite One.
Who realises this? No-one. Reality is an Infinite Singularity. It has no true accurate name or definition. It is no-one, yet all appear within it. It is Nothing yet Everything.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Universe
Imagine that planet Earth is one being. Within that one being there seem to be billions of beings, all made up of the body or substance of that one being, Earth. There are beings and non-beings, formations such as rocks, lakes, rivers, air, cars, buildings etc. The beings are the insects, fish, animals, humans etc. We could class plants as beings too, in that they seem to have their own existence or life force. There is air and water that seems to separate the solid forms of these beings and objects. All this is planet Earth.
What we have here is one being playing at being many beings. Within the form of this one being it divides itself with itself to create many beings. Through the use of density of form there can appear a separation of form. So some forms appear solid, some appear fluid and separate the solid forms. The seemingly solid forms of animals are separated by air and water. This juxtaposition of solidity and fluidity creates the appearance of separate beings within the one being. For example, the human body is mostly fluid but appears reasonably solid, and air, which is less dense than the human body, seems to separate these solid forms, creating the appearance of separate beings. Though it should be said that air and water flow through these seemingly solid forms.
So what seems to be happening here on planet Earth is that one body (the planet) is appearing as many bodies (animals, humans etc.). These bodies seem to be separated, but it is just another substance of the planet body that seems to create a separation. The play and flow of solid, liquid and gas in the planet body create the appearance of many bodies. But truly there is just the one body, planet Earth. Earth's solid forms, liquid forms and gas forms are all planet Earth. So there only appears to be a division in the planet's forms based on the contrast of density of form within the planet. The division of the planet is illusory.
We imagined that Earth is a being, albeit a somewhat spherical being. And why not? Ultimately even planet Earth is an appearance of separation in the universe. Planet Earth is one appearing as many. The universe is one appearing as many. The universe and planet Earth are expressions of one appearing as many. This is the play of the universe. The universe can't really be separated from something else. There can only seem to be a separation by means of appearances.
The universe is the appearance of One Being expressed as many separate forms, though never truly separated. This expression of 'one to many' is scattered and multiplied throughout the One Being. Or so it seems.