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.
- Category: Non-duality
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There is a core point of our being that is pure stillness. It is from that point of unchanging stillness that the world of change is experienced. When attention is focused on and caught up in the dynamic world we overlook that still silent point of being. If we don't notice it, how do we find it again?
The root to that true stillness is through the sense, "I am." Search who it is that experiences the world. Some think they are the human body. Some think they are a soul in a human body. But look deeper. Look for that point from which everything is perceived. We need to go deeper than thoughts. Thoughts and thinking are perceived. Who is it that perceives thinking?
Whether there are wild uncontrollable thoughts or gentle peaceful thoughts, there is still a deeper point that perceives them. Thoughts form an identity of, "This is me! Here I am!" But it is a mistaken identity, where thinking holds onto the human form. It is a sense of identity that changes. We perceive this changing identity and the thinking from a deeper level, from a point of changeless being.
Look for that true stillness that is the placeless place and timeless time, here and now. Although from the human perspective it is at the heart of our being, like the hub of the wheel of life, when it is found and recognised it will be known to be both the heart and the whole. It is the stillness within which the world of change appears. All things come and go within the timeless stillness of being. There is not truly a heart of being. There is only being. There is only perfect, peaceful stillness. It is within this still awareness of being that the world plays out its dynamic expression, like a movie on the still permanent screen.
- Category: Spirituality
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What is Non Attachment? Why is Non Attachment important? The simple answer is that it is our nature to not be attached. But let's explore and understand that better.
Non Attachment, or Detachment, is an important element of Buddhism. The aim is to bring about peace by letting go of attachments to objects, people, thoughts, and feelings. There is good reason for this. The Buddhist tradition focuses on how suffering is experienced due to these attachments. The Buddha became free from suffering and free from attachments, or rather the Buddha realised the true nature which is not attached and is without suffering.
When you recognise that reality is a Singularity it explains this. There is nothing other than the Singularity. So who or what is there to be attached to? That is the realisation of enlightenment, that there is no other. Non Attachment is the way to live in harmony with the true nature of being.
When we live by false concepts of separation, we consider ourself to be separate, and suffering ensues. By feeling attached to people, objects, thoughts or emotions, we strengthen the sense of being separate from them. We seem to get caught in the push and pull of the world.
Our true nature is without limits. There is not truly a border where we end and something else begins. Let go of these attachments and just be. It is the pure nature of our being just to be.
How do we practise this Non Attachment? By letting go. Let go of the importance of objects. Let go of depending on people for happiness. It does not mean that we should reject people and objects. On the contrary, by dropping attachment and boundaries we become more at one. Our interactions with objects, people, feelings and emotions become less selfish. When we let go we loosen the ties that bind. We realise our freedom. The clash between me and others fades. There is only an infinite oneness. It wipes out all boundaries of separation and attachment.
- Category: The Human Experience
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It may be accepted as normal, but it's worth noting that human life can seem dull, boring and dreary. For many people life is a suffering, a heavy, dark experience, where death is something to look forward to. This is the experience of life at the far edge of separateness.
This isn't what life really is, but here we experience the dense weightiness, sluggishness and dullness that is the expression of life at the far end of the Spectrum of Life. The human experience is one of feeling the weight of the world. It is the hardened dense world of matter. It weighs us down, slows us down, and gets us down.
This is the human experience of life. It is not the only way that life can be experienced, and even within humanity there is a range of experiences of life. There is a fresher, dynamic, more vibrant experience of life. Most people have occasional glimpses of it. Many people chase after it, looking for those experiences that bring out the feeling of freshness, fun and excitement. It's difficult to maintain that freshness, as human life soon sinks back to its average state.
This is how it is for humanity. But it won't stay like this. Humanity can and will change. There are higher states of life to reach, and we can bring that about in our human experience of life now and in the development of humanity. We are looking for a freer, fresher, dynamic sense of life. This is not the truth of life, but it is closer to the truth than feeling restricted, dull and weighed down. The truth is Pure Life, which is totally free, without restriction, and totally fresh without age or deterioration. It is the timeless state of Now, or the Fullness of Life. The Fullness of Life is complete oneness, without lack, without confusion, heaviness or restriction.
It is through the Way of Oneness that we can find the Fullness of Life that is here right now. It is from the state of unlimited being that we perceive this human experience. It is necessary to withdraw from identifying as human, and to recognise that we are perceiving the human experience. As we look deeper to the Heart of Oneness we find that life is more alive. We change our focus from the weighty world of matter to the fresh spiritual weightless sense of being.
We are not matter. We are not human. We perceive this human experience with all its ups and downs. We perceive this human experience as if it were far away from the Fullness of Life. But the Fullness of Life is right here, where we are perceiving from.
- Category: Non-duality
- Hits: 970
Most people would acknowledge that they are connected to the universe. From a human perspective we eat, drink and breathe, which is a flow of connectedness with the environment. We gain energy from this and absorb energy from the sun. This energy is used in our environment, so it's fair to say the human body is connected to the world.
Many people don't even consider this connection with the world. It doesn't occur to them or doesn't interest them. Some people, generally spiritually minded people, think about their connection to the world, or to the whole. Sometimes they feel connected to the whole or they strive to feel more connected. Some people may openly say they are connected to the whole.
The problem with being or feeling connected is that it implies we are separate. Connectedness relies on a subject-object relationship, where we feel that we are connected to the whole. The subject, me, feels connected to the object, the whole. Whenever we say that something or someone is connected it also implies that they are a separate thing or person. So although connected and separate seem like opposites, nothing can be connected without being separate.
It is a failure of words to be able to describe something as being 'part of' something else, when it's not a separate part. For example, it's not strictly correct to say my hand is part of my body, or to say my hand is connected to my body, because the hand isn't a separate 'part'. It's just the body, and we label a slightly vague area of the body as a 'hand'. The flaw lies in this inability to truly define anything.
So to say, "I am connected to the universe," means there is a separate 'I' who is linked to a separate universe. The statement will be inaccurate. So instead of saying, "I am connected with the whole," it would be more accurate (but still not truly accurate) to say, "I am the whole."
We can consider the sense or feeling of connectedness as a Spectrum of Separation, with feeling most closely connected at one end and seemingly unconnected at the far end of the Spectrum of Separation. But this is all a play of opposites. There is no connectedness and there is no separation. The opposite terms fool us. There is only What Is.
For spiritual progression it seems that a leap from dualistic terms to the nondual is needed. We need to leap from the close end of the Spectrum of Separation, where we feel most closely at one with the whole, to where we are the whole, where there is no division in What Is. This is the spiritual aim of Oneness. It is not where the separate self 'me' feels at one with the world, it is where there is neither separate self nor the world. There is only What Is. It is the absence of the illusory sense of separation. Non-Duality.
- Category: Spirituality
- Hits: 968
Let's understand these terms and how they all tie up in understanding Awareness, Consciousness, Beingness, or God. By those names I mean the same Infinite One Being. Some might find any or all of those names difficult. So let's clarify that first.
There are many names that are used for God or That Which Is. It is not here considered that God is a bearded man in the sky, watching over humanity. The God discussed here is much more personal than that, yet impersonal. That sounds confusing maybe, but what I mean is that the Impersonal is at the heart of all persons. The core of our being is That Which Is. God is that essential impersonal nature that gives life to the world and allows the appearance of personal beings, such as humans and animals.
This is the Immanence of God, being within all beings. Immanence means that God is within. Many of us seek that inner peace and stillness that is God's nature. Some people seek the Infinite Stillness within. Some people feel a personal relationship with God, which is a path to God. It is the path of worship and devotion, where the personal relationship draws the apparently separate beings towards the Infinite Being of God.
God can also be considered as Omnipresent, being everywhere present. The reason for this is that although God may seem to be at the heart of all beings, the heart is infinite. Nothing is outside of God. Limits are illusory. There really is only God.
Yet we can also consider God as Transcendent. That means that God is beyond the world. So how can that be? God does not appear in the world. God is beyond the appearance of the world, yet the world appears within God.
So firstly I said that God is within (Immanent), then I said that God is everywhere (Omnipresent), and then I said that God is beyond the world (Transcendent). You may think, "C'mon, Dave, make your mind up." But really all three are acceptable references to the nature of God. The three are one, you could say.
The world appears as if God is the heart of our being, and in seeking God within we find the Peace of God (some may also call it the Kingdom of God). However, God's Peace is without end. God is timeless and formless. So we find that God only seems to be at the heart of our being, and in fact God encompasses the whole. God's infinite nature cannot be limited by the appearance of form. God is formless, without end, so God is beyond the appearance of things.
That should neatly sum up God's Immanent Omnipresent Transcendent nature. Seemingly contradictory but beyond contradiction. This is the nature of being.