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: The Human Experience
The Non-Duality answer to the question, "Is there a me?" is that there really isn't anyone. The ideas 'we' have of who 'we' are are mere imaginations in the mind. But then there isn't even a mind or minds. There is only Beingness appearing to be otherness. There is not a 'me' thinking or a 'me' doing. These are labels that don't stand up to scrutiny.
We could say that humanity has made a mistake in identifying with the body, and feeling that 'I am this and not that'. There is a feeling or sense of personal identity that most humans have. It's a mistaken identity, but it's okay. It's not the truth, but it's okay. This sense of personal identity has developed from the experience of centralised senses. There is a sense, a feeling, and a belief, that 'I am this, perceiving that'.
But really we can't pinpoint who or what we are. There aren't any real limits. It's more accurate to say that the personal identity appears to happen, but it appears to no-one. So what I'm saying here is that there is no-one saying this. That can sound a bit ridiculous until it's recognised that really there is no-one saying anything. Words being written or spoken just happen. It's part of the flow of the appearance of the world. We could say that humans write and speak, and that's relatively accurate and useful, of course. But it's still not accurate, because we can't define the 'human'. We could also say the hand writes or the mouth speaks, but we can't really define that either. It's all just an appearance of flowing, movement, vibration, and so on.
Where are we in all of this? Well, we're nowhere to be found. Humans like to think we are personal and we are all separate people. That's the play of Oneness, appearing to be something other than what it is, appearing to be many. There is only this What Is or Beingness, no matter what appears to be. What Is or Beingness can't create something other than what it is. At best it can appear to be or seem to be what it is not. But that's all a play.
So there isn't really a 'me' separate from others. There is only always What Is. We are That. But there's no 'us' and 'That'. There is only What Is.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Universe
The term cause and effect is often used when referring to how things happen in the world. The assumption is that something causes something else to happen. But is that really how it is?
We may think, "I'm going out for a walk." That seems like we are the cause, and the effect is the body going for a walk. Or maybe a seed drops from a tree into a pond and ripples appear on the pond, spreading outwards across the pond. In that case we may consider that the seed falling is the cause and the ripples on the water are the effect. But when you look into it closely it's difficult to really identify the cause. For example, although I may vaguely accept that I made the decision to go for a walk, there is likely something that caused this decision. It may be that I haven't been outdoors for a few days, I need to stretch my legs or get some exercise, or some other reason that prompted the thought and intention to go for a walk.
In this example the decision can itself be understood as an effect rather than a cause. If you continue chasing the cause you find that there really is only a flowing of effect. We could say that each cause is also an effect, but it is more like a flowing of change. In the example of the seed dropping into the pond, causing ripples, the seed dropping is part of the nature of the tree. When the seed drops we can call it a cause or an effect, but really it is neither. There is only the flow of life. The tree grows from a seed that fell from a tree before; the tree grows seeds that eventually fall; one of the seeds falls into the pond; ripples flow. I'm sure there's a haiku there:
Tree drops seeds in soil
Seeds grow to become great trees
Seeds splash, ripples flow
Even here we are breaking apart this continual flow of life into segments. The human mind likes to do this to explain the world in finite terms. But really the world is infinite. There is no cause then effect or even cause-effect followed by cause-effect. There is only the continual flow of apparent change.
This leads to the non-dual understanding of choice. It's not that we choose what we do, where we go or what happens. The world just seems to happen. Thoughts seem to appear. Decisions seem to be made. Actions seem to take place. This is all the appearance of the flowing world. But it all appears right here and now. It is from the still point of Unchanging Awareness that this flow of change is experienced.
One may wonder what caused the world to appear, but this same understanding applies: there is no cause. Cause and effect are one and none. There is no beginning or end. The world only seems to appear. Space and time only seem to happen. Separation of the Singular nature of Reality only seems to happen. The Singular nature of Reality is never broken.
We don't need to be concerned with this seeming cause and effect. We are not part of this apparent flow. We remain as we are. Unchanging perceiving change, though truly nothing changes.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: Non-duality
In Non-Duality there is no finite, no definition of things. There are no limits. There are not many separate things. There is only an Infinite One without division or limitation.
Someone might object and say, "But there are limits. I was born and I will die. Everything comes to an end. My body is separate from other bodies. I am a being in my own right. I can't know what others think." Let's have a real look at these assertions and see if we can find any true limits.
Although we may think and assume, "I was born and I will die," it's not really clear who 'I' am and when I was born or began. It's impossible to define who 'I' am. We may say, "I am this body," but this body is changing all the time. We could say, "I was born at 2am on 28th January 1971," but that's just the registered time that the baby emerged from gestation. The time itself is subjective, as it's based on a manmade timeframe. It may refer to a point in time, but even that point is vague and never completely precise. Furthermore, being born isn't the beginning of the human body. The beginning of the human body can't be found. We could trace it back to the parents, but there is a continual unending flow back through generations and generations. Even what we consider to be 'human' is in a continual flow of evolution. Its origins flow from forms that we would not describe as human.
We have an understanding of what it means to die. We could say this is where the body is no longer animated. But even this death is not clearly defined, and we cannot say precisely when it occurs. Rather it can be recognised that the human body develops from a long undivided line of humans. It builds itself up by consuming nutrients from the environment, then it fades and eventually returns to the environment from which it is always made. So being born and dying is not as finite as we assume it to be.
Does everything come to an end? Well certainly nothing lasts. Everything that appears in the world will indeed disappear. It may take seconds, minutes, or years, but everything comes and goes. That doesn't mean everything ends. Rather there is a continual flow of coming and going. For instance, consider a drop of water landing on a pond. This creates ripples that flow outward from the source. The ripples are high at first but they lose their amplitude as they travel. They slowly fade and the surface is calm again. The ripples don't really end. They slowly fade back to the natural state, whilst their energy is transferred.
Is the body separate from other bodies? Only relatively so. The body is made of solid, liquid and gas, and it is separated from other bodies mostly by gaseous air. The body's apparent solidity of form against the spacious air appears as separate from other solid bodies. But this play of density of vibration brings about the appearance of separation. Consider water poured into a bowl made of ice. They appear separate due to the temporary solidity of the ice. But if heat is applied the water and ice become one. So there is only an appearance of separation due to the apparent density of forms. We could confidently say that all humans and animals are not separate from planet Earth.
How do I know I am a being and there are other beings? This is only suggested by the apparent separation of forms, that we've just seen isn't strictly true. The sense of who I am is generally based on a vague identity with this human body. But logically it doesn't stand. This finite being that I think I am is not necessarily who I am. I can't really find where it begins and ends.
So Non-Duality understanding is that we are not separate beings. Reality is an infinite singularity. We are That. It is understood that our nature is Consciousness, and all that we know is experienced by, in and as Consciousness. But if we are one Consciousness, why can't I know what others are thinking?
This is a common question. The answer is in understanding that within Consciousness there is an apparent variation of density that brings about a sense of the finite. Just as the ice bowl can hold water, so can the apparently finite mind hold its own thoughts. Thoughts are relative to the mind in which they form. The apparent separation of minds prevents the sharing of thoughts. However, that's not to say that there can't be communication between the apparently separate minds. To use another analogy, minds are like branches on the same tree, all connected by the central trunk. The Infinite Consciousness that we truly are is like the central trunk, but also the whole of the tree.
It is Infinite Consciousness that is the shared reality of all seemingly separate finite minds.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: Spiritual Practice
Stillness Meditation is not about making the body and the mind still, it is about being the Stillness that we are. We are the still essence that perceives the movement of the mind, the body and the world.
Usually in meditation the aim is to still the body and mind, and that's fine. But we can never make the body and the mind truly still. Nothing in the world is truly still. It is the reflective nature of the world that makes movement appear. It is the reflection or opposite of True Stillness. This is the real nature of the world, just as the real nature of a movie is the screen. Stillness is the underlying and pervading nature of the moving world.
So in meditation we can 'sit back' into the unmoving, unchanging, formless, aware being that is not just the essence of our being. It is the essence and the whole of all apparently separate beings. It is at the heart of each being, yet it is That in which the beings seem to appear.
This Stillness Meditation is the untangling of identity with movement and change. We withdraw from the fascination of the world and the distractions of the body and the mind. It helps for the mind to know that its identity is not this body. It helps for the mind to know that any limited defined identity is flawed, and that our true nature is without limits. Indeed, our true nature is aware of the apparent movement and activity of the mind.
We need to bring the mind deeper to rest in the witnessing of the mind and the body. Effectively the mind untangles itself from its false identification, as we remain the Unchanging One perceiving change.
In practice we allow the body to sit comfortably. Before closing the eyes, we recognise that we are perceiving this. We close the eyes. There are still sounds, but we recognise that we perceive them right here. We allow the mind to ease off a little. Thoughts will likely still appear, but we withdraw further from the thoughts to the perceiving of them. This may involve some to-ing and fro-ing, as we withdraw then become caught up in the thinking again. But none of that thinking is important right now, so we let it go again and observe.
With practice we go deeper. That's when the untangling of identification takes place. It is the mind that is going deeper to the source or essence. The nature of the mind is not separate from the source or essence, of course. It is the source or essence. This Stillness Meditation seems to bring the mind inwards to the source of Awareness, where there is really no inside or outside. There is only what seemed to be the source.
Know that you don't really have an inside and an outside. You are not the movements of the mind and the body. Yet all movement appears within the Infinite Stillness that we are. There is none other than this Infinite Stillness. It is the Infinite One Aware Being. That by which all is perceived. If you can perceive it, it's not you. If it is seen to move and change, it's not you. You are the Unchanging Awareness that perceives movement and change. This Stillness Meditation is no meditation. It is just being as you are. Pure Clarity.