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: Non-duality
It's difficult to find peace in the world. By nature the universe is continually moving and changing. If a peace is found then it's only a temporary peace. However, there is a Permanent Peace. It's not something to be found, but it's at the heart of all the searching. Permanent Peace is timelessly present whilst the world spins around. In the world it is like the still centre, and this pattern repeats throughout the universe - a still centre at the heart of movement and change. We see it in the strong trunk of a tree, from which the branches grow outwards. It's in the swirl of water going down a plughole, and the eye of the hurricane as it whirls around. It's in the opening and closing of a flower and the seeming stillness of our view from planet Earth as the stars and planets move round.
These pockets of peace that we perceive aren't wholly accurate. Planet Earth isn't really still. Nothing in the world of movement and change remains still. It's just that they can seem still or they can represent stillness temporarily. Yet there is a True Stillness. It is this True Stillness from which and in which this world of motion is perceived. True Stillness is beyond time and space. Time and space appear within its timeless spacelessness. It's an infinite indivisible Singularity. It's always Here and Now.
Eckhart Tolle often mentions Presence or Being Present in his talks. He sometimes mentions The Present Moment. It's not really a moment in time, of course. He is referring to the timeless Now. This Presence is the true nature of all things. It is That in which time and space seem to stretch out. All the while, Presence is right Here, Now. It is the pure, perfect peace. It's not made of anything. Presence wasn't created. It is timeless and formless. It's an unshakeable Singularity. It cannot be moved or harmed. It cannot be broken or split in two. It is the true nature of the seemingly ever-moving world.
Presence has no beginning or end, no inside or outside. How do we know it's here? Because we know. The very fact of being aware tells us that we are here. We are the Aware Presence that is here. It's not that because there is a human there is Presence. The human is perceived because of Presence. Presence comes first. Well, it would be more accurate to say Presence is timelessly present, before any appearance of first and last. It reminds one of the Bible quote (John 1:8), "Before Abraham was, I am." It means that before the world appeared, Being was present. We can think of it like this: before the universe began, Presence was all that there was; but there was no time, no past or present tense, just Presence, Now. So Presence was before any appearance of beginning. It remains as it is throughout all apparent time and change, and is all that there is once time seems to come to an end.
It's difficult to understand it if one is firmly rooted in the notion of time as reality. The problem is that time isn't reality. Presence is Reality. That's why the question of what was before the beginning doesn't seem to make sense. There is no beginning, or end. There is only the timeless Now/Presence/Peace, and in this the world of time and space whirls around.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Human Experience
In a novel we usually read about a main character, their experiences and adventures, and interactions with other characters. There is a spiritual Non-Duality analogy here. The novel is like the human experience perceived by and in Consciousness.
The story of the character and its adventures in the novel only come to light when the book is read. Before that it is dormant. There are words in a book that aren't being read. But when we read the book it comes to life. We follow the adventures of the main character and we learn about its world and the other characters in it. If our attention is withdrawn from the book it no longer plays out the story.
So it is with human life and the human experience, as I call it. Each human life only plays out becomes of the Life that illuminates and animates it. We are the Life, not the human being. We are that in which the human story is brought to life. We are the Awareness or Consciousness in which the human experience plays out its story. We perceive the human life, right through its sense of identity and personality, its thinking, its feelings and activities. We are the witness of this. Well, to put it less inaccurately, we are the Witnessing of the human experience.
Without the Witnessing there is no story, there is no human life, no animals, buildings, oceans, planets, stars. Everything that is known or experienced from the human perspective appears in Consciousness. Consciousness is Aware Beingness. That means that the nature of being, or existing, is intelligent awareness. It is One Aware Being that perceives all. It is like the reader of the novel. Without Aware Being nothing is perceived - effectively the universe is dormant, closed up.
So what does that mean for humanity? It means that my true nature, your true nature, all humanity's true nature, is not what we see but where we are seeing from. I don't just mean what we see with the eyes. What the eyes see is known by the mind. What ears hear is known by the mind. What the body feels is known by the mind. What knows the mind? What perceives the thoughts? It is this Witnessing that the novel analogy points to. It removes us from being caught up in the never-ending story, and brings us back to where we are looking from. It brings us to the unshakeable reality of Aware Being.
So why not say it is the Witness? Sometimes it's helpful to describe Aware Being as the Witness, but this can imply that the Witness is a distinct being with its own identity. But Aware Being is endless. It's not really a Being, but more a Beingness. It's just What Is. That's why Witnessing is less inaccurate. I say 'less inaccurate' because no words or theories can be wholly accurate. There is a flaw in language and any attempt to express Formless Reality. Aware Being is formless Awareness, a knowing or intelligence prior to knowledge of things. We could say it is Nothing, but it is also Everything.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: Non-duality
Awareness is the natural state of being. It requires no effort to be aware. Being aware is not an add-on to who we are. Being Aware is the natural state of pure clarity before add-ons appear.
We are aware of perceptions and sensations. We are aware of seeing, hearing, and so on. We are aware of emotions, feelings, and thinking. We, Awareness, perceive this.
When our eyesight starts to fail, we are aware of the failing eyesight. Awareness remains unaffected by the perceiving of the failing eyesight. When eyesight goes or we close our eyes, we are aware of the lack of light perception. It requires no effort. The eyes may focus on objects, the ears may tune in to specific sounds, but Awareness remains aware as it is. Awareness perceives the focusing or tuning in without effort.
When the body becomes ill, lethargic and achy, Awareness perceives the ill feeling and achiness. When the body becomes sleepy, Awareness perceives the sleepiness. Awareness doesn't become ill or sleepy.
When the mind becomes depressed or anxious, Awareness perceives the depression and anxiety. When the mind dreams or becomes deluded, Awareness perceives the dreams and delusions. Awareness remains simply aware throughout the human experience of sensations and perceptions.
When the mind is actively thinking, daydreaming, or meditating, Awareness perceives this without effort. Awareness doesn't think actively or daydream. It doesn't meditate or need to reach some exalted state of mind. Awareness remains timelessly peaceful without effort, throughout the activity of the mind, body and world.
The mind, body and world appear within the effortless Awareness. It is where we are perceiving from. It is the core nature of being - Aware Being. It is the natural state of Nothingness. The knowing Nothingness. The alive Nothingness in which the world of things appears. Formless, serene Beingness.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: Non-duality
Much is spoken about in Eastern and New Age spirituality regarding Awareness and Consciousness. But what really is it?
I use Awareness and Consciousness synonymously, so when I talk of Awareness here I also mean Consciousness. Awareness is like the page on which words appear, the canvas on which a painting appears, or the screen on which a movie appears. It is that in which all appearances appear. Awareness itself doesn't appear, but we know of Awareness by the fact of perception. Nothing can appear without the awareness of it. To use another simile, it's like knowing it's windy out by the sight of the tree branches moving.
Consider perceptions: sounds, sights, tastes, smells, and touches all appear in Awareness. Yes, they are facilitated through the human experience or perspective, through the human senses. But they appear in the same 'place', right here. That's not the whole picture. Human emotions are felt, as well as bodily sensations. Thoughts are also perceived, along with a sense of identity. This is all perceived in one 'place'. That 'place' we can call Awareness.
We are Awareness. There is one Awareness, and in this all apparently separate perspectives appear. It could be said that I can't see what others see, so we must be separate. But there is a focal point in Awareness, where the world is perceived form a human perspective, and human thought activity calls this 'me'. It's not really a separate me, it's just the assumption that human thought makes. I am not what is perceived.
This leads to another understanding of Awareness, another reason why we can't perceive it. The eye cannot see the eye. Awareness can never perceive itself. As well as being formless, pure clarity, Awareness couldn't possibly be the object of Awareness. This doesn't mean that Awareness can't be self aware. Awareness being aware means that it is self aware. What appears is a poor reflection of the formless nature of Awareness, yet nothing is known other than Awareness.
All is perceived by Awareness, in Awareness, made of Awareness. There are no true limits that separate out the subject and the object, the seer and the seen. There is just seeing, just Awareness. What looks to be far away in the distance is perceived right here. Sounds that are heard in the distance are heard right here. 'Over there' can never be perceived. Awareness is Here and Now, and it is in this timeless 'place' that space and time appear. Awareness and what appears in Awareness are one. It is all Awareness. What appears is by aid of reflection, so the world appears to be the opposite of unseen Awareness, yet there is always only Awareness. There is an appearance of duality - seer and seen - but it's true nature is Non-Duality, or Infinite Oneness.
This is why it would be wrong to say I am a human, I am male or female, I am short or tall, or I am a soul. It's perhaps more accurate to say I am the universe. There are no true limits that divide. Awareness is everything, yet nothing. The Whole is undivided. It may appear divided, but it remains infinitely One. Just as a movie on the screen appears to have many shapes and forms, depth and distance, yet it is singular. Just as a painting may appear to have different people, animals, and objects, yet it is just one painting.
Being aware requires no effort. It is the natural state. It is uncreated, timeless and formless. Awareness has no qualities. All appearances seem to come and go within its timeless formless nature.