The Human Experience
- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Human Experience
We Non-Duality folk don't agree with sharing. I'm just having a little fun here, but it's true. In Non-Duality there is no sharing. There is no-one who shares, nothing that is owned, and no other to share with. So really we don't agree with sharing.- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Human Experience
Why not allow your human self to become a vessel of Love and Peace? It's the highest achievement for humanity. The reason it is the highest is because Love and Peace is reality. You could say it's the Way, the Truth and the Light. It surely is.- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Human Experience
Why do humans suffer depression? Why is it such a common condition or experience that people go through or live with. Let's explore this with the understanding of Non-Duality. Non-Duality is the recognition that there is no real division in the world, and what exists is one infinite indivisible Beingness, which we call Consciousness; all that appears is in Consciousness, made of Consciousness, perceived by Consciousness.
To understand human depression in this light, it helps to understand the human experience. What we (Consciousness) perceive through the human experience is separation, limitation, diversity and change. The One Infinite Timeless Unchanging Formless Consciousness experiences being a limited life form separate from other life forms. Consciousness experiences change through time, coming into being and fading away. The world that appears is like a reflection of Consciousness within Consciousness. It is as if Consciousness perceives the reflection or opposite of itself.
Consciousness cannot really perceive itself. One cannot truly see oneself. The best we can do is see the reflection of ourself, but this is never truly accurate. The reflection cannot be the perceiver. But here it is, this appearance of a world, perceived in Consciousness by Consciousness. It is an appearance that is a reflection of the unseen perceiver.
This perception of opposites, of separation, limitation, movement and change, is a reflection of the infinite oneness of reality. But it allows unlimited possibilities. It allows a world of diversity and interaction. It seems as if opposing forces stretch out the universe, dividing, uniting, clashing and joining. But really there is no division. The opposites appear as a spectrum or continuum. For example, we could call the space from one city to another a continuum of distance. We can't really divide that distance. We can call it so many miles or kilometres, but these are manmade measurements. There is no real division in distance. The theoretical opposites of the beginning and end points span a continuum of distance.
Why's that relevant to depression? We're getting there. You see, the human experience is one that seems to be far from the Oneness of reality. People feel density, weight, the slowness of change, and the pressure of life. This is life far from the true freedom of reality, where there is no heaviness, density or change. This human experience is of life seemingly far removed from the reality of oneness. Life is difficult. People feel isolated or clash with others. Yes, some people find a common bond (that must always happen), but groups of people with a common bond fight against other groups with a different bond. People, groups, nations, form their own sense of separation from others, and it appears important and real. This division and limitation inevitably leads to clashing, fighting, competition, isolation and depression.
The further from the reality of Infinite Oneness we seem to stretch, the more isolated, lonely and restricted we feel. Far away from Infinite Oneness life weighs heavy with limitation and separation. People struggle. Life becomes difficult and dark. Far from the clarity of Infinite Oneness, thoughts of confusion and depression reign. It's almost the norm for most people to experience this. It's a highly common human experience because of the ingrained belief of separation.
But no matter how far we may experience the darkness of depression, we are always here in Oneness. It is only an experience of depression, separation and limitation. Our true nature is the Consciousness that perceives all of this. Consciousness remains content and complete as it is, throughout any apparent positive or negative experiences. It helps to know that no matter how far we may seem to be from the light and clarity of Oneness, it is only an illusory experience we are perceiving. We can never be far from Infinite Oneness. You are not really limited or separate from others and the world. Your true nature is without bounds. Your true nature is content freedom. There is only an experience of lack and limitation.
The experience of turmoil comes and goes within the timeless peace of Consciousness. It is the false belief of separation that causes the experience to be so powerful. It is the belief of separation that leads to suffering.
But all this doesn't mean that if you are experiencing depression you can just snap out of it by thinking about Non-Duality. Dropping our mental boundaries helps. That means talking with friends or professionals about the experience. It means finding freedom, going for walks outdoors, breathing fresh air, being kind to self and others, and freeing the love of Oneness from behind the clouds that hide it. It means dropping the belief that the hard dark world is all there is. It's a play of separation and density that is perceived by and in the Oneness of Consciousness. And that Oneness is Love, Peace and Wholeness.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Human Experience
Part of this human experience, as I call it, is the experience of loss. We may lose someone close to us or we may lose a job, a house, or even have objects that were important to us lost or stolen. This loss can sometimes have a devastating emotional impact on us. Losing one's purpose if made redundant from a job can be very difficult to cope with, and it is a longer lasting sense of loss when we lose a loved one. It may be that they passed away, they chose to separate from us, or they are temporarily away from us due to work or other commitments. This separation increases the human feeling of loss.
The aim here is to understand what is happening with this experience of loss. It's hoped that this understanding will make the loss more bearable, as we recognise the inevitability of loss and the underlying completeness that remains but is overlooked.
So why must we experience loss? If asked whether we would like to lose those we love, the job we enjoy, the roof over our head, or those objects that have become important in our human lives, we would overwhelmingly say, "No!" But there is a certain inevitability about it - things in the world seem to come and go. Nothing lasts forever. Loss is inevitable. Loss is continually happening, as the apparent beings, objects and activities of the world come and go. The nature of the world we perceive is continual change.
In Non-Duality we may call this appearance of the world Maya or Lila, which means that it is illusory or not what it seems. In Non-Duality it is recognised that the universe cannot come and go anywhere. It is always Here. The universe or What Is cannot become something else. It doesn't really change. It only appears to change. This appearance of change is a reflection of the true nature of reality, which is timeless, formless, unchanging, and unmoving. The appearance of loss and gain in the world is itself illusory, as nothing is ever gained or lost. It only seems that way because of the appearance of change.
The universe of What Is remains timelessly complete. It doesn't really separate and divide. The world appears as if opposites have been created and they ebb and flow, separating and returning to each other, in the search for unity, wholeness and completeness. This is the play of duality that we call Maya. This is the apparent world of opposites that gives rise to the human experience of gain and loss.
Humanity has a sense of being separate from the whole. Humans generally need company, or they need to have space from company. It's all about separation and wholeness. When someone we love leaves us we feel bereft: there is an empty gap where once there was a sense of oneness. We feel we have lost them. We miss their company and how they made us feel more complete. This is part of human life in the world of change. There's no getting away from this, as nothing that appears in the universe will last. What appears must disappear. It is the Law of Opposites that allows this world to appear within the Wholeness of the Singularity.
Truly the Wholeness of the Singularity is always here, throughout the appearance of gain and loss. Where it may seem that those we love have gone, they have not. They are always Here, as we are always Here. There is truly nowhere other than Here. The appearance of separate individuals is the Singularity itself playing at being separate. Truly, all who you love, like, or dislike, are one, and you are that one also. There is no other. We are the Singularity. We are the Beingness that allows the appearance of separation whilst remaining whole.
Look differently at this apparent world of change, and know that it speaks of the unseen unchanging Wholeness that is always Here. Gain and loss seem to take place on the surface of life, but at the core is a whole, complete Oneness, and we are That.