The Universe
- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Universe
We all know about The Big Bang. It refers to the moment when the universe was created, when from a singularity this multiplicity exploded. Like a seed of potential, the unmanifest singularity split open explosively and grew into the universe that we see now. The universe continues its expansion with the momentum of this initial explosion. That's a simplistic version of it anyhow.
Let's look at it from the Non-Duality perspective. That is, the perspective in which it's recognised that the duality, separation or multiplicity only appears to be that. The universe only appears to have forms that are separate, whilst there is no true separation. It doesn't mean that we need to dismiss the Big Bang theory. All theories are flawed, it's just that some are less flawed than others.
We can understand the Big Bang theory and creation of the manifest universe in terms of Non-Duality. Consider what was 'before' the Big Bang. There was no 'before' really, because there was no time, or indeed space, before the Big Bang. There was only a spaceless timeless Singularity. Some may call it the Void or Emptiness, but it is a Full Emptiness, a Completeness. It is the unmanifest Whole. It cannot really be described accurately. Even 'Singularity' implies that it is one, whereas it is more an Infinite One, without limitations, boundaries or definitions.
So consider the Singularity, from which the Big Bang appeared. The Non-Duality perspective would be that this Singularity never exploded into many. The Big Bang only seemed to split the Singularity into many particles and opposing forces. The apparent world of duality, or The World of Opposites, as I call it, did not and cannot divide the Infinite Indivisible One. This appearance of duality, separation and multiplicity is a play of opposites within the timeless spaceless Singularity that remains eternally unchanged and ever-present.
This is why there is no end to the universe. Although it seems to be expanding, really there are no limits to its expansion. There is nothing beyond the universe. There is no 'other' that is beyond it. The universe has no boundaries. The edge of the universe cannot be found. Similarly, the smallest final particle cannot be found. There will always be deeper and deeper search into the infinite. The answer of the universe can never be found. The answer is right here all along. The answer of the universe is right Here and Now.
Time and space are the great play of the universe. The Singularity is Here and Now. There is no outside or inside. There is no near or far. These opposites are a play of reflection within the Singularity. The Invisible appears. The Indivisible appears divided. The One appears as many. The Infinite appears to be limited. The Formless appears as form. The Peace appears as conflict. The Reality appears illusory. The Unchanging appears as continual change. The Unmoving appears as motion. The Timeless appears as time. The Infinite One Being appears as many separate beings.
So the Big Bang explodes apparently outwards into the infinite. The reflective nature of the manifest universe means that a Law of Opposites applies throughout the universe. What goes out must come in, to restore the apparent imbalance of seeming to fall out of unity. So the expanding universe will in time return to the original state of Oneness. But truly it never left.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Universe
What's it all about, this ball of life spinning through the universe? Some say it's a random development. Some say it's a logical development. Some say planet Earth was created for a divine purpose. Some say it's a school for souls. Some say it's a cage for souls. Some don't really consider it at all.
Let's consider it properly here. The spherical shape of the planet is a logical development in the sense that it conforms to the laws of the universe. There are laws of interaction in the universe that give rise to spherical shapes, spinning and swirling patterns, and elliptic paths (such as those where planets spin around the sun). These laws arise with the apparent splitting of the Singularity into opposite forces. Elsewhere I've discussed the Law of Opposites, which is a simple way of understanding the forces at play in the manifest universe.
So spherical shapes form through the forces of motion and interaction that arise from the apparent splitting of the Singularity. We call them stars, planets and moons. Planet Earth develops seemingly randomly, although in line with the laws of the universe. The Law of Opposites allows the appearance of order and chaos simultaneously, or law and chance. Law and chance gives rise to the formation of mineral, vegetable and animal forms on the planet. We say 'on the planet', but really these forms are the planet. They're not really on it or in it. They are it.
Planet Earth is an expression of appearing to be a multiplicity whilst remaining as a singularity. This is the play of the universe repeating within itself. The Singularity doesn't split and become a multiplicity. It can only appear to become many. So it is with planet Earth. The planet seems to divide itself into competing forms. Plant and animal forms compete with each other to survive. The apparent multiplicity that is created in the planet follows the Law of Opposites in that some unite and some push away. Some animals go alone, some team up. The Oneness of Reality appears as one and many. The many can team up as one, or they split up and scatter. They interact harmoniously or they clash.
This interplay of opposites flows through the planet. The plants and animals seem to have their own will, their own life. But truly there is One Life. The planet is the life of all forms that appear within it. Though they may compete with 'others' it's only an appearance of 'others'. The diversity of the planet is a play of difference, when the reality is Oneness. Humans and animals may act as one life against other lives. They seem to live for a time then die. But this is all a play of alive and dead, animate and inanimate, within the Oneness of Life expressed as planet Earth.
There is no real division between life forms on planet Earth. All life is intertwined, or rather, flowing. Where one life seems to end, it transforms gradually into other life. It's all One Life playing at living and dying, whilst remaining as Life. Humans breathe flowingly with the air of the planet, drink the water of the planet, and eat the food of the planet. It all flows through, seemingly in then out. But the air, fluid and food interact with the body. The body is part of it all. A part that only seems to be discrete. The human body only seems to have a defined form. Truly it is continually changing and moving, whilst flowing with planet Earth.
So the diversity of life that planet Earth displays is the diversity of One. It is the One appearing to become many, and each of the many appear to be one in their own right. But we don't need to stop at planet Earth. The universe itself is a play of many whilst remaining One. The Singularity that is the One Life, the One Being, the One Spirit, whatever we call it, plays at being many. It can never truly become many. It can only appear to be many. Ultimately this brings us back to: Who am I? Each seemingly separate one of us, is truly the same One Life. The limits of who we are can only be imaginary.
The One Life is limitless. It doesn't really live and die. It doesn't really change and become something else. It only seems to, whilst remaining timelessly as it is. We are the timeless limitless Infinite Indivisible One.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Universe
Sometimes this question comes up: Is the world an illusion? Or even: Is the world a simulation? Let's have a look at this from the Non-Duality understanding.
We'll start with, 'Is the world a simulation?' Well, if it was then it's possible that whatever beings were controlling the simulation could also be considering if they are in a simulation, and so on and so on. It could be an endless rabbit hole of simulation anxiety.
Let's consider the possible illusion of the world. Maya is quite a well known Hindu philosophical term. It means magic or illusion and is used to describe the nature of the phenomenal world as illusory. It is the illusion that traps the soul in the endless round of rebirth, or samsara. The soul becomes entangled in karma, or the Law of Opposites as I call it, flowing back and forth between human incarnations, endlessly until enlightenment.
It's a useful understanding but not wholly accurate. No theory can ever be wholly accurate, anyhow. The Truth cannot be spoken or defined. It can only be pointed at, and that pointing is inevitably inferior to what it points to. Anyway, is the world an illusion? Ramana Maharshi explained, "The universe is real if perceived as the Self, and unreal if perceived apart from the Self. Hence maya and reality are one and the same." (The Self, with a capital S, is used to mean the true nature of being.)
What this means is that it's useful to understand the world as an illusion if one is caught up in it, caught up in the drama, caught up in the belief of separation. The belief of separation (or duality) is the crucial point. Non-Duality understanding explains that there is no duality. There are not many forms, many creatures, many people. The world is just One Being appearing as many. That's the illusion, that what seems to be a world of multiplicity, or many forms, is really just One, an Infinite Indivisible One.
As one breaks free from the belief of separation and duality, and explores the Non-Duality understanding, a realisation dawns. This apparent world of illusion cannot really be an illusion. There is only the Infinite Self, the Indivisible One. What appears to be something other than the Infinite Self is not 'other'. The illusion of multiplicity is only a mistaken perspective. The world is nothing other than the Infinite Self. So there really isn't an illusion, there is only the Real. There is nothing other than Reality. It's just that sometimes Reality is believed to be something it's not.
So there is a transition of development in Non-Duality understanding, from believing that the world is real, to recognising that it is illusory, to recognising that there is only the Real. There is a Zen quote attributed to Dogen: “Before one studies Zen, mountains are mountains and waters are waters; after a first glimpse into the truth of Zen, mountains are no longer mountains and waters are no longer waters; after enlightenment, mountains are once again mountains and waters once again waters.”
This doesn't mean that there was a duality and a world and later it is recognised that even the duality is the Infinite Self. It means that there never is a duality or world, and once this is realised the world can be spoken of without false separation, attachment and belief. There is only Reality, appearing to be mountains and waters.
Are the mountains, the waters and the planet a simulation? Well, yes and no. They're not really what they appear to be. There is only the Infinite Indivisible Self. We are That.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Universe
Time can be understood as the continual transition of change. We know that planet Earth spins on its axis, giving the appearance that the sun spins around it. We divide one whole spin into 24 hours and call it a day. We divide one hour into sixty minutes and each minute into 60 seconds. We use these methods to measure what we call time.
Time is the flowing appearance of the universe. Without any change or flowing there is no time or sense of time. Time doesn't really go faster or slower. If the planet were to spin on its axis once in 12 hours that wouldn't make time faster. So time is constant in that sense.
It's important to realise that there are not really moments in time. There are never any definable chunks of time, like seconds and minutes. These are just human ways of measuring the continual flow of change. An hour isn't really made of 60 minutes. It is continual and indivisible. There isn't one minute then another then another and so on. Change just flows. So there are no real moments of time.
Really, there isn't even time. There is just an appearance of flowing change. This all appears Now. The appearance of change is a reflection and dispersion of a singular unchanging Oneness. Change is a reflection of Stillness. Stillness is the nature of Reality. There is truly nowhere to go and nothing to do, but in this Here and Now the dimensions of time and space can appear.
So there are no moments of time, just One. Well, really it's not even a moment of time. It's more like No Time. It can't be understood logically except by reflection of what it's not. Complete Stillness cannot be perceived, but by perceiving motion and change we can understand Stillness.