Written by David Hall

Category: The Universe

Published: 09 August 2024

All we ever know is consciousness. We never experience anything outside of consciousness. Thoughts, feelings, sensations, perceptions, are all in consciousness. Our experience of the mind, the body and the world are all in consciousness. Consciousness is our core state of being and knowing, within which life is experienced.

Although common human belief is that consciousness is in the body or the head, Non Duality sees it differently. The body is in consciousness. We may believe that we are in the body, but truly the body is experienced in consciousness. A useful way to consider the world, a theory if you like, is that the body and the world are condensations of consciousness. That is, the matter of the world and the body we experience in consciousness is a condensing of consciousness as hardened dense form. Thought forms can be considered as condensed consciousness also, though less dense than matter. It's a way of understanding the world as varying degrees of consciousness, in keeping with the fact that all we ever know is consciousness.

It's a useful theory in coming to terms with the prevalence of consciousness and recognising consciousness as the substance of the universe. In spirituality and science there is an understanding of the world as vibration. The world is seen as different levels of vibration. This ties in nicely with the condensed consciousness theory, when we consider that it is consciousness that is vibrating.

So we have a good theory there that the world appears as condensed consciousness vibrating at different levels or frequencies. But we can go a step further and say that although this is a good model for understanding consciousness and the universe, it's not wholly accurate. You see, really there isn't a condensation of consciousness. Consciousness stays exactly as it is. The condensing of consciousness is an illusory appearance. It is the 'maya', the magical or illusory appearance of the world.

The world only seems to be a condensing or vibrating of Consciousness. The true nature of Consciousness is perfect stillness, undisturbed and unchanging. Consciousness does not really become something else. Consciousness is beyond time, space and dimension. It is formless, complete emptiness. So how does the world appear in Consciousness?

Although ripples of consciousness seem to be perceived, and it could be said that over time and space the ups and downs cancel out, truly Consciousness does not vibrate at all. This appearance of a vibrating pulsing universe is like a reflection upon the still, perfect surface of the Infinite Ocean of Consciousness. The appearance of highs and lows, depth and distance, variety and change, is a reflection on the unchanging surface of dimensionless Consciousness.

It is not dissimilar to how a three dimensional landscape appears on a two dimensional TV screen, whilst the TV screen remains unaffected by any fires, floods, or explosions that happen in a movie. The depth in the movie is illusory. The time in the movie is illusory. The change and variety upon the screen is illusory. The screen remains as it is.

Suitably the appearance of the world is a reflection, as it demonstrates the opposite qualities of Infinite Consciousness. Form appears in the formless. Distance appears in the dimensionless. Time appears in the changeless. Limits appear in the limitless. Fluctuation appears in the stillness. Restriction appears in the free. Separation appears in the One.

Written by David Hall

Category: The Universe

Published: 06 August 2024

Most people know of the Big Bang Theory, where the universe that we see now, this multiplicity, was once a singularity. It's postulated that the singularity exploded, creating the universe from the interaction of forces that created the elements that make up the matter of the universe. Planet Earth and all creatures are formed from the stuff of stars, and all can be traced back to the singularity. It has been observed that the universe continues to expand from the force of the Big Bang.

I'm certainly not going to say that this theory is completely wrong, although I would say that no theory is completely right. The reason that no theory can be completely right is that it is a theory, and a theory is an expression with words and concepts attempting to describe something that is not of words and concepts. The words and concepts are at best a step down from the reality of what the theory is attempting to describe. So I would say it should be accepted that no theory is perfect. There is a spectrum of accuracy, from near perfect to far from perfect. But the True Perfection is inexpressible.

So, as long as we accept theories as not being wholly true, they can still be very useful. Let's examine the Big Bang a little. It seems to make sense, and the evidence is there to show that there was outwards motion from a super event. If it is assumed that space and time appeared from the singularity, then it can be accepted that there was no 'before' the Big Bang, as the singularity was timeless. The splitting of the singularity created space and time. But we need to explore the nature of the singularity more.

We can imagine a singularity. There are no separate things. There is no space or distance. No past or future. No division or definition of form. Just one imperceivable substance that has no beginning or end. We know a singularity has no beginning or end because otherwise there would be something other than it by which it was limited, and then we're no longer talking about a singularity. We could even say that the substance of the singularity is no substance. We can imagine that the singularity contained the potential for the universe, the potential for when the Big Bang happened and the potential for all change that happens thereafter.

(It is perhaps for another article to consider how the seed of the singularity is scattered, and continues to scatter further seeds that develop from the potential stored in the seed. This, after all, is the pattern that nature on this planet continues to demonstrate.)

It's very difficult to imagine how this perfectly stable complete singularity split and exploded to become the multiplicity we see now. But there is a simple answer: the singularity did not split. An infinite singularity cannot be divided. At best it can only appear to be divided. This multiplicity that we see as the universe is the appearance of division within the singularity. Remember, the singularity is beyond time and space - it was before time began, it remains, and it will be as it is at the end of time. The singularity does not (and cannot) change.

You won't find the singularity here or there. It is beyond space. It has no dimension. The best we can say is that is just here and now. The singularity remains whilst the explosive expanding universe appears within its field of infinity. We can go a step further in understanding how this seems to happen. We can say that the universe that appears is like the stretching out of the singularity into a multiplicity. This stretching does not divide the singularity. It merely creates an illusory sense of distance and separation, whilst remaining undivided. Just as the rainbow appears as an undivided flow of colour variation from white light.

Opposing forces, balance, imbalance, and the interplay of opposites appear because the apparent multiplicity must total zero. That is, the singularity remains intact, so any force must have an equal but opposite force to counter the seeming imbalance. What goes out must come in. Where the universe expands it must contract, albeit across the span of time. It is the appearance of time and space that is the imbalance and rebalance of the universe.

There is a sense with the Big Bang Theory that there was a point where the Big Bang happened and the universe has expanded outwards from there. This may appear to be the case, but if one were to trace the origin of the universe one would arrive at the singularity. At the point of the singularity there would be no inside or outside. The singularity can only be considered from outside of it. But within the singularity there is no outside or inside. Hence the singularity remains 'everywhere' yet nowhere. It has no space, yet space appears within it.

Hopefully that helps to understand the nature of the Singularity a little. It's hugely important to humanity. We are not separate parts of the Singularity. There is only the Singularity appearing as a multiplicity. Not just the animals and humans, but in fact every 'thing'. There are no 'things' of course. There is only the Singularity.

From the human perspective the Singularity can be considered to be at the heart of our being. Consciousness is all that we know. All human experience is within Consciousness. The universe is only ever experienced within Consciousness. We can consider then that the Singularity is at the heart of our conscious being. It is that point in us that does not change. It is the very essence of life that produces the appearance of what is alive and what is not alive, whilst Pure Life remains throughout. We are that. There is only Pure Life. We are the Oneness of all that is. We are complete. It seems to be at the heart of our being, but when we find that core point there is no inside or outside. The illusory sense of division and separation will fall away. The clarity of the Infinite One will shine.