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: Spiritual Symbols and Patterns
- Hits: 1850
The world is full of answers, patterns that point to the underlying nature of what we see.
Let's consider trees, that are so important to the expression of life on this planet. Firstly, the structure of a tree shows the pattern of Many from One: there is the solid central stillness of the trunk, and then branches spread out in all directions. This shows us how the universe appears. The tree repeats the pattern of the universe. We can see this pattern in the tree's leaves and flowers. It's evident also in rivers and streams, lightning forks, and the evolution of forms to include legs and toes, arms and fingers. It is the same pattern of Many from One.
We call it bifurcation, where one splits into two. The tree repeats this pattern to create a multiplicity of branches. Or so it seems. Whatever happens, however many branches we perceive, there is always the one tree.
Beneath the appearance of the tree there is an unseen aspect that supports the tree we see. The unseen roots go deep.
The tree also shows us the cyclical nature of the world in its seeds. One tree scatters many seeds. Each seed holds the potential to create a separate tree and continue the flow of life. Each successful seed will grow to produce many seeds, and the pattern repeats.
- Category: Non-duality
- Hits: 1840
Is it night or day where you are? If the sun has gone down you would say it's night. If the sun hasn't gone down you would say it's day. But these sentences are full of errors.
We know that the sun doesn't rise or fall. We know that the sun only appears to rise and fall whilst the Earth stays still. Really the sun stays still whilst the Earth spins on its axis. But even that isn't correct. The sun doesn't stay still at all. The sun is always moving. This swirling solar system is in the flow of a swirling galaxy. It would appear that everything in the universe is moving.
Let's get back to the initial question: is it night or day where you are? Okay, so we understand that it's not the sun moving round the Earth. If the sun isn't in the sky then it's night. But night isn't a real thing. It's just a word or concept we humans use to describe that period of time when the sun isn't in the sky. Is there an exact point where day becomes night? Well, you could try and be very precise about it, as the sun disappears below the horizon, or when the sun's rays are no longer visible. But all that's happening here is that we are trying to give absolute definition to words that are vague and don't hold any reality in themselves.
I'm using night and day as examples here, but the point is to highlight the errors of words and concepts. They are full of flaws. We cannot rely on words and concepts to accurately portray truth. The best they can do is point to indescribable truth. So, it is safe to say that whatever is said is not the truth. Nobody can speak the truth (or write it, for that matter). Words and communication can range from close to truth to far from truth.
It is silence that speaks perfect truth.
- Category: Spirituality
- Hits: 1733
All that we know is in consciousness. Nobody has ever known anything that is outside of consciousness. The sound of a car going past is picked up through the perception of hearing and is known within consciousness. The visible perception of the world is, via seeing, known in consciousness. The feel of material in our hands is known in consciousness. The smell of freshly cut grass is known in consciousness.
The physical pain we feel when we stub our toe or have backache is known in consciousness. The emotional pain we feel when we lose someone close, and indeed the love we feel when we embrace someone close, is all known in consciousness.
Everything comes down to consciousness. Even the sight of a distant star is known and experienced right here in consciousness. Thoughts in the mind are known in consciousness. Dreams during sleep are known and experienced in consciousness.
The point here is that all your experiences and everything you can ever know is known in consciousness. You've never experienced anything outside of consciousness. You may think that the sound of a bang is far away, or the moon in the sky is a tremendous distance away. But your experience of it is right here in consciousness.
Therefore there is no truth that we can be sure of outside of consciousness, and there is no firm evidence that anything exists outside of consciousness. It's impossible to even attempt to find the outside of consciousness. We could try some experiments, but the experiments would only appear to be done outside of consciousness. Our whole perception of them would be within consciousness. So who can say where consciousness ends?
You may feel that you are a human and consciousness is in your mind. But there are flaws with that. Can you truly see yourself? Can the eye see the eye? Can one see one's self? Consciousness is aware of the believing in the mind, the seeing through the eyes, and the body and world perceived through the body's senses. The human body is a changing, flowing appearance within consciousness. The body is not as solid as it appears.
You may feel that you are not conscious of what someone else thinks, so there is a limit to consciousness. It would be more accurate to say there is the appearance of limitation, and solidification, in consciousness. The dense world of matter is the appearance of solidified consciousness. It can only be experienced in consciousness and made of consciousness, yet it appears solid. Though subtler still, the mind appears also as a condensing or separating of consciousness into the apparently separate limited mind.
Thus the world of matter and mind appear as the condensed levels of consciousness within consciousness, made of consciousness. One Infinite Consciousness appears as many minds within many bodies in a world of varying degrees of density of form. With the density comes the stronger sense of limits and separation, yet it is all consciousness.
The term 'Consciousness' is a name for the basic ingredient of existence. We could equally call it Awareness, Spirit, God, The Infinite One, or I Am That I Am.
- Category: Non-duality
- Hits: 1819
Welcome to the new blog! It seems appropriate to start this off with a discussion about Non Duality.
Non Duality is the spiritual teaching of the non dual understanding. It is a recognition that reality is not two. Reality is a singularity, an infinite oneness. It is a teaching that has a history in eastern religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism. Most people have at least a slight understanding of Zen Buddhism. Zen is a non dual teaching. Possibly fewer people in the West know of the Advaita teaching from the Hindu religion, although many people know of Yoga, which is related to and linked to the non dual teaching of Advaita. Yoga means unity, after all, and the aim of Yoga Meditation is to realise the state of oneness.
Ramana Maharshi was a great teacher of Non Duality in the twentieth century. He emphasised Self Enquiry, to find who it is that knows. We are not the body and mind we think we are. There is an essence of our true nature that can be revealed through self enquiry. One is reminded of the inscription in the Temple of Apollo in Ancient Greece, which said, "Know Thyself." Currently, amongst others, Eckhart Tolle, Rupert Spira, and Mooji continue this teaching of non duality, inviting humanity to move towards the greater understanding of the nature of reality.
The separation that we perceive in the world is not true. The many different humans, mammals, creatures, plants, planets etc. are not really many. There is an appearance of being many within an infinite oneness. To take only the example of a tree, say an oak tree: it stands tall as one with apparently many different branches whilst remaining one. The tree is an expression of the nature of the universe. It shows the many going out from the one, in its branches, in its roots, in its leaves, in its flowers. Yet it remains as one. The planet is the same, with a multitude of expressions whilst remining one. The universe is the same. There is an appearance of many, yet there is only one.
Non dual teaching goes further and explains that if there is only one, a one without limits or divisions, then identifying as a body, a mind, or indeed a soul, is incorrect. The labels that we use for things are incorrect, only vague definitions that do not stand up to scrutiny. Our own identity is brought into question, and the spiritual seeker is pointed to look inwards, to enquire: who am I?
In seeking the identity of our separate self, it is found that there is no separate self. This is Nirvana, Self Realisation, Enlightenment, Awakening. The idea and belief of the separate self is no more, and the selfless Self is revealed. The selfless Self is the nature of being without identity with form or limitation. It is the true Self that is here all along. It is the formless, spaceless, timeless Self. I call it the Infinite One, for simplicity. Some call it What Is, Isness, God, Pure Being, Awareness, Consciousness, Spirit. It is without name, of course.
So the aim of my books and this blog is to bring to the reader a greater understanding of reality, the nature of the universe, and our infinite being. We look at patterns within the world, spiritual symbols, and dive deep into the understanding of Non Duality.
- Category: Spiritual Symbols and Patterns
- Hits: 1702
The wheel is a wonderful spiritual symbol of the universe. Imagine a cart wheel, with a central hub and spokes spreading outwards from the centre. It is used as the symbol of Buddhism for good reason.
The wheel shows how we seem separate from each other. There are billions of people on the planet. We all seem to be separate and distant from each other in some ways. All the people are like the spokes on the wheel. The further we are from the centre, the more separate it seems we are. This applies also to the soul's journey, as it seems to go out from the centre and become more defined and separate from other souls.
This apparent material world appears as a world of separates - so many different life forms, fighting for survival, clashing against each other. The world seems to be far from the centre of Oneness. It is reasonable to expect that there are worlds less dense and less competitive than this one. Worlds that are closer to the centre of Oneness will be less antagonistic. The borders between objects and beings will appear less defined.
It's useful to understand this perspective, that the human form appears defined and separate from other forms in the world, as it is far from the centre of Oneness. Yet, the centre of Oneness is at the heart of all human forms. The centre of Oneness is that core nature which isn't separate. Indeed, at the heart of all beings is One Being. In the centre it is recognised that none are separate. There is only the Wheel. There is only the One. No souls or worlds really stray from the centre. That's the play of the universe in the Oneness of Being. Souls only seem to go out into the world. People only seem to be defined, discrete, and separate from others. Worlds only seem to be dense, heavy and hardened, or to have degrees of density. The higher levels of spiritual manifestation - the more spiritual worlds if you like - would still only seem to be at a lesser distance from Oneness.
Oneness is always here. It can never be broken. The spokes on the wheel only seem to be separate. Really, there is just the wheel. In Non-Duality the aim for the seemingly separate selves that we think we are, is to deeply recognises that there is only One, there are no others, and for this realisation to permeate and dissolve the sense of separation in the human form.
The wheel also demonstrates space and time. The spokes stretch out from the still dimensionless centre, like the dimensions of distance and depth. The turning of the wheel signifies the motion of the world, the change that gives the appearance of time. This spreading and swirling pattern repeats throughout the universe. The significant point is that the centre remains still. Motion cannot appear without Stillness. This still centre is the Heart of Oneness in which the world of motion appears. Truly it is without dimension or change. It is the Here and Now in which the depth and motion of the world is experienced.