Spirituality
- Written by David Hall
- Category: Spirituality
We often have a sense of greater and smaller, and in spirituality this can be that some people or beings are spiritually more advanced than us and some could be considered less advanced. For example, some people may have a guru that they consider spiritually advanced, and in that sense worth following and listening to. They may see others who appear to have no spiritual outlook on life and naturally consider them to be less spiritually advanced.
What do we mean by 'spiritually advanced'? We may mean more in touch with the spiritual side of life, more in touch with God or the divine, or more aware of the infinite nature of being. Some people may be considered more spiritual because they go to church, a mosque or temple more often than others. But spiritually advanced implies that they are more in touch with the spiritual realms beyond what we see as the material, physical world.
It may also be considered that there are beings more spiritually advanced than humans. That is very likely. Earth's profusion of life forms does not appear by chance alone. As I've explained elsewhere, chance is based on order. There is an orderly randomness. And there is an underlying energy in the universe, which we could call a spiritual energy. It is this energy that forms stars, planets and life forms within planets. So Earth will not be the only planet in the universe that has developed a profusion of life forms. It's likely also that similar life forms have evolved on other planets, or indeed in other realms. The pattern of 'many from one' is expressed throughout the universe, so it is inevitable that life forms arise having a central body and limbs that extend outwards from the body. In other words, humanoid life forms are to be expected, with legs, arms, head, fingers and toes.
So with the likelihood of other planets like Earth in the universe, that means there are probably beings further along the evolutionary path than humans. It is likely there are beings physically, technically, mentally and spiritually more advanced than humans, just as there are animals on this planet less advanced in those ways.
We're talking here about spiritually advanced humans and non-human intelligent beings. Some may say that their consciousness is more advanced, and there is something in that. But there is an important developmental leap. This leap is from the apparently finite to the infinite. What the spiritually advanced being realises is that the world and its own being are not finite. The spiritually advanced being is not limited by any form it may seem to take. It is a freeing of the mental limits of identity.
When we see a spiritually advanced being, we see a life form, but that is not who they are. When they see you they do not see you as a life form. They see the One Infinite Being. All that they know, see and experience is the One Infinite Being. There is no other being. So it is the same for you. Mentally there may be a labelling and conceptualising of separate life forms, but there is no real separation. All that you ever see, know or experience is the One Infinite Being. The difference in the spiritual development is the recognition of Oneness. Mentally identifying the world as separate gives rise to selfish urges and the need to survive and to feel content and complete.
Spiritual advancement is in the dropping of this sense of separation, and becoming the selfless being that we are. It doesn't mean that we feel whole or complete. It's not a feeling, as such. Rather it is more that the feelings of being incomplete dissolve and the natural state of completeness and freedom is revealed. This is then expressed more clearly through the advanced spiritual life form.
So, an important thing to recognise here is that although we may see a spiritually advanced being and wish to be more like them, they are none other than our own being, the Infinite One Being. Equally, those that may appear less spiritually advanced are also our own being. Any spiritual development, great or small, is less than our innate Beingness. All spiritual development, and indeed the whole expression of the universe, including the more subtle realms, is a play of evolution and development within the Great Infinite One Being, who remains timelessly complete.
- 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: Spirituality
The aim of spiritual seeking is often enlightenment. With Non-Duality the aim, once one understands the teaching, is to realise the non-dual nature, to achieve Liberation, Enlightenment or Self Realisation. There are lots of questions about this, sometimes about the fear of totally letting go of everything. Let's consider that.
Certainly, for Self-Realisation there is a need to let go of everything. The other terms mean the same really, Liberation, Enlightenment, Moksha, Nirvana, etc. They all point to that recognition of Reality as it is. That Reality is without limits or division. So the person we think we are is not who we really are. Spiritually minded people, of course, would recognise that they're not the human body. Some may believe that they are a soul.
The soul is and isn't accepted in Non-Duality. It is accepted as being part of the play of Maya, the illusion that is the appearance of the world. There is the material dense world that humans live in, and there is the finer, hidden world of souls and the spiritual realm. This includes the development of the soul, incarnating in human form, getting caught in the wheel of Samsara, the endless round of rebirth. The soul lives life after life after life, learning, making mistakes, getting tangled up in karma. But in Non-Duality this is seen as the play of the Infinite One Being seeming to become many, but not really.
We could consider souls as sparks of divine spirit. But that's not strictly true. They're not really sparks of the divine spirit released into the world. The world is the Divine Spirit, only appearing to be less like or more like the divine. Just as the human body isn't really limited, neither is the soul. There really is no divide in the Infinite One. What seems to divide the Infinite One is also the Infinite One - the space and the substance are the Infinite One.
So we can say the soul seems to be limited but really isn't. It takes on human form and experiences human life. That's what's happening here. The human world is heavy and dense. Dark clouds loom over it sometimes. Humanity is limited by the hardened physical limitations of matter and the hardened mental limitations of the human mind. The human mind develops a pointed sense of itself as a separate individual in a competitive world. This is the opposite of Reality, which is selfless and limitless, whole and complete. But the human experience allows a lot of possibilities. Personalities develop. There is a great variety in the One. All humans are different and express their particular developmental experiences as well as the influence of the soul.
The release of the soul from the endless round of rebirth comes when the soul's attachment to matter and form is dissolved. This comes about when the sense of being a separate self is released. It is the Self-Realisation that there is no self. It is Nirvana, the extinguishing of the sense of being a separate self. It is Liberation, freedom from the bondage of illusory limitation. When this Enlightenment occurs, when the sense of being a separate self is no more, there is no subjugation to karma. It is clear that not only is the body unlimited, the mind and the soul are unlimited. This means that there is no body, no mind, no soul. There is only What Is. This What Is is here right now. It is only the sense and belief of limitation that makes it seem otherwise. But that is the development of humanity in this time.
So when Self-Realisation occurs, it doesn't mean that the world ceases to exist, being sucked back into the Singularity. The Singularity is always timelessly here. Nothing changes, only the sense of being a separate self is nowhere to be found. The human in which this realisation occurs does not identify as a human, a mind, a soul, or anything. It just is. Yet the human life continues. The Awakened Human (for want of a better expression) still has its personality but without the person. It has its flow and role in the human world, as momentum has always been active in it anyway. The human life changes in a way that it is no longer guided by the selfish aims of a separate self. There is no ego in the Awakened Human, so the human life flows naturally with the way of What Is.
Similarly with the soul. It doesn't mean that the soul is dissolved upon Self-Realisation. The soul flows with the spiritual nature of the universe in further play and adventure, in the Divine Play of Multiplicity.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: Spirituality
It may seem that the spiritual journey is a long one, or indeed a never-ending story. Well, it is and it isn't. It can seem like there's a lot to learn. Some people practise meditation all their life and feel they never reach the goal, so to speak. The goal for meditation and other spiritual practices is often Enlightenment. There can develop a frustration for the spiritual seeker, that they have been meditating for many years, they have changed their diet, they have studied the enlightened masters, but they still haven't become enlightened.
The problem is that the seeker never will become enlightened. True Enlightenment, Self-Realisation, Nirvana or Liberation, is the loss of the seeker. Self-Realisation is the recognition that there is no seeker and there never was a seeker - there is only What Is. This realisation is more like the dropping away of identity, the sense of limitation and separation, whereby what really is is revealed to have been always as it is. This Infinite Reality is not something objective that can be found. Searching for it is an error. Trying to achieve it is flawed. Yet we search and try, because the seeker feels a need to be complete, to achieve enlightenment, oneness or happiness.
This Infinite Reality, the revealing of which is called Enlightenment, is never hidden. The seeker develops as a sense of being a limited being that longs for wholeness. Wholeness is the natural state, but when there is a sense of being limited it feels that we have fallen from the blissful state and we need to find it again. Not only is this evident in spiritual seeking, but in all humanity's search for happiness. Humanity's sense of separate identity gives rise to the sense of being incomplete. Being an individual and being separate from the whole are two sides of the same coin. But it's a mistake. There are no limits or divisions in the Whole.
Enlightenment, Self-Realisation, Nirvana or Liberation, is the dropping of the belief and sense of there being limits. The seeker will remain dissatisfied until its sense of being a limited being is dropped. So in Liberation there is no seeker. The seeker never was. Who achieves this self-realisation when the realisation is that there is no limited self?
Nobody achieves it. It is a recognition of Nothingness. Well, it's not even a recognition. It's just the natural Beingness without the clouding of the human sense of identity and limitation. It's the end of the ego, the end of the identity, the end of the person. That can sound bleak. It is a death of sorts. It's not something that people generally want to hear or accept. Who wants to hear that the person they think they are isn't real, and in fact they are Nothing?
But it's not really bleak. This dropping of identity and limitation is Freedom. It is Liberation. Truly you have no limits, to the extent that there is no 'you' or 'me' or 'them'. There is only What Is. But while we still seek to find it we chase our own tail. It doesn't mean we have to stop meditating or start acting in a free way, doing what we want, because it makes no difference. It means that the answer is here already whatever seems to happen.
It helps to know that you are not the limited being that was assumed to be limited. It helps to know that it isn't a world of 'me' and 'them'. There is just What Is. Knowing this, why not live that way? Of course, it's not really you that does this or that, or chooses this way or that way, or even you that assumed you were limited. You are none of this. Are you the seeker? No. The apparent seeker is perceived. The sense of being frustrated is perceived. The sense of feeling incomplete is perceived. The realisation that there is no 'me' is the end of frustration and feeling incomplete. But it doesn't happen to anyone. It just is. Reality just is. It can't be found by looking for it. It's here already.