Goldcup Software and Design

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.

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Category: The Universe

The universe appears within this perfect Consciousness as a world of reflections.Through the Non-Duality understanding we see that consciousness is all there is. Everything we know is known in consciousness. Everything we experience is experienced in consciousness. The universe itself is experienced in consciousness. Nothing can be known or experienced outside consciousness.

Let's understand that a bit more. You perceive the world through the human senses of seeing, hearing, smelling etc. We consider this to be our perception of the outside world, or the universe. You also perceive thoughts, ideas, and dreams, which we consider to be internal and in the mind. Yet the perception of both the internal and external happens in the mind. It is the mind that seems to be a central focal point of knowing or experiencing. The mind recognises a mountain in the distance through the aid of seeing. The mind recognises the voice of a friend calling from another room.

Seeing, hearing, smelling and so on, are all experienced right here. The perception of the mountain in the distance is right here. All distance is perceived right here. The ideas of inside and outside are right here. Although the mountain may be considered to be far away, we see it right here. It is here in consciousness.

We can go further, in realising that we are not a body that we see or feel. We see it. We feel it. We are not it. So too with thoughts and dreams. We perceive these. We are not them. We are where they are perceived from. They are neither far nor near from us. They are right here. But we are not something that we can perceive. The eye cannot see the eye. Consciousness cannot perceive itself. At best we can only perceive a reflection of ourself. And this is the obvious secret of the universe, looking right back at us.

The universe appears to be a reflection of who we really are. The true nature of consciousness, which is what we are, is unbound, undivided, perfect clarity. The universe appears within this perfect Consciousness as a world of reflections, where we experience limitation, separation, and confusion. The universe appears as a world of opposites, pushing and pulling, gaining and losing, rising and falling, separating and uniting. All the while Consciousness remains timelessly as it is.

Consciousness is like the screen in which the movie of the universe plays out. The screen remains unchanged by whatever seems to happen in the movie. Buildings may appear to be in the distance. Planets may seem to be huge in size. Burning fires may rage and torrential rains may soak the landscape, but the screen remains untainted.

But how does a perfect, pure, dimensionless Consciousness give rise to a world of opposites and reflection? Well, one answer is that it doesn't really happen. The universe doesn't explode outwards from the Singularity of Consciousness - it's always right here. But it seems that it has, at least from a human perspective. Even if we consider that the universe is always right here, we must conclude that there is an illusion of separation and distance. So how does the illusion of the universe come about?

Consider Pure Consciousness as a perfectly smooth, endless blanket, before time or space began. If this blanket compresses within itself it can seem to form ripples. These ripples naturally give the impression of a duality, of highs and lows. Each crease has the appearance of a high peak and a low trough. From the perfect Singularity there then appears to be definition and a seeming divide into opposites. But the opposites of the peak and trough of a ripple in a blanket are only illusory, as the singular nature of it remains. A blanket isn't divided in two when ripples appear. It is the same with the appearance of duality on the Singularity of Consciousness. Consciousness is not divided; it only seems to be. Multiple ripples can continue and become the vibrations of energy that constitute the universe. All the while these ripples in Consciousness are nothing other than the Singularity in which they appear.

Category: The Human Experience

The mind isn't trapped, but its identity with the body concludes it to think and feel that it is trapped.This article is similar to the 'How to Find Your Stillness' article but looks at it from the angle of finding freedom. Many people feel trapped in some way. We may feel trapped in our commitments, our life situation, a relationship, or job. We may feel trapped in the body. The body may feel sick or broken, as may the mind, and we may feel trapped in this. People end their lives because of this feeling of being trapped in a dark difficult situation. We want to be free. Freedom is the high goal that many would like to achieve.

How do we achieve freedom? Well, it can't be achieved because it's already here. You may recoil and say, "This is nonsense, I'm not free to do everything I want. I'm not free to fly into the air and take myself to somewhere peaceful away from my problems." But what I mean is that true freedom is here along, although overlooked. The mind believes, "I am this human and I am limited in what I can do. I am trapped in this." But that is just mind activity. You perceive this mind activity, but you are not limited by it.

The world appears to be a place of limited forms that have their own boundaries. There seems to be resistance and separation. The world can seem to be a hard place because of its restrictions, limitations, boundaries and resistance. These things are what hold the objects of the world together and prevent them from being merged into oneness. Without boundaries and resistance, the world would merge into a singularity. That's how it seems anyway, but let's look closer.

Consider a brick wall. It seems impervious. Humans can't walk through brick walls. If a human was surrounded in a closed room of brick walls, they would be unable to get out. But that's not the end of the story. If the human inside the closed room had a device that could send radio waves, then they could send a signal through the brick walls. Radio waves can travel through what seem to be impervious walls because of their long wavelengths. We know that what seems to be completely solid is only really relatively solid.

Now, the human in the closed room is relatively trapped because of the density of the body in relation to the density of the walls. The mind isn't trapped, but its identity with the body concludes it to think and feel that it is trapped. The mind then wants to be free. This is understandable in a room like this, but a similar thing happens with the mind in everyday life. The body may not be trapped in a room, but the mind can think and feel that it is trapped in a difficult life situation.

Really there is no true lack of freedom. The mind is always free, but it believes that it isn't. The mind takes on what it perceives as the restrictions and limitations of the world and assumes that it is trapped in these. This feeling and belief can intensify, causing the mind to continually worry about its situation, and become caught in its own mind-made web of restriction.

Let's get to the root of this, as that's the way to true freedom. The world can only appear as a world by aid of separation and restriction. The world appears as though a singularity split into opposite forces, where repulsion and attraction separate and unite, multiplying and spreading across the universe, before ultimately returning back to the singularity from which it came. As mentioned above, it is the restrictive force that keeps the universe from returning to a singularity. Or so it seems.

The reality is that the timeless, dimensionless Singularity that was before the universe is still here now. Really it is Here and Now, due to its dimensionless nature. So the Singularity doesn't really become two and spread out, multiplying. This is only a play of separation within the Singularity. As we saw with the brick wall, the restrictions that divide are only relative; they are not true restrictions. So the world of restrictions that appears is not truly restricted. There are not truly many objects in the universe. It is One Infinite Indivisible Singularity seeming to separate and divide itself, whilst remaining ever indivisible.

What this means to the human is that its freedom is in the dropping of imagined boundaries, because they are not real. The identity of the human is not its body, nor even its active mind. Its true identity is the endless Singularity. The body has no real limits and the mind has no real limits. The limits are only in the beliefs of the mental activity we call the mind. Dropping of these false beliefs brings about a clarity, an unhindered perspective of Life as Freedom itself, as One Infinite Indivisible Whole. Not a concept or idea of this, as that is still a mental picture that clouds the clarity of clear seeing. Just seeing without ideas or beliefs. Seeing Life as it is. Pure Awareness.

This isn't easy for the human, of course. But we can start by recognising the fact that the universe is endless and indivisible, and that we are not a being separate from others. At the very least, we can start living life that way and some clarity will come. We will recognise that we are not limited by the human form and the life situation. We will see that the life situation is a play of experiencing limitation. Life will seem to become freer and less serious than it was before. There is a further recognition that we are not limited by the mental activity that we perceive. This is all perceived in the Infinite Awareness that we are.

Category: The Human Experience
There is a Stillness that pervades the activity of the world.Life is full of activity, people busying about doing things, and if they're not doing things they're often sat watching other people on a screen busy doing things. We may take ourselves away from the busy world to somewhere tranquil, but still the mind can be busy thinking about things. Many people want to find some peace and stillness in their life.
 
The reality is, we won't find true peace and stillness 'out there'. The world is active. It never stops. The planet is continually spinning and orbiting around the sun, whilst swirling in a spiral galaxy, moving through the universe. The planet itself is full of moving life, flowing and changing, never staying still. If it seems to stay still it is either an illusion or only a relative temporary stillness. Nothing you can see is ever still. The ground beneath our feet is moving as the planet spins. Relatively speaking it seems still. Buildings seem to stand relatively still in their place but, as well as spinning through space with the planet, buildings move and shift slowly relative to the ground beneath them, which also moves extremely slowly. We don't notice the slow movement of the tectonic plates, but it's always slowly happening.
 
Stillness isn't 'out there'. It's important to recognise that when looking for peace. The peace isn't out there. If we find peace and stillness 'out there', it won't last. It may be nice to have a comfortable life, but don't expect to be tranquil right through. That's not the way of the world. But there is a Stillness that pervades the activity of the world. This is the Stillness we really need to find if we are looking for peace and contentment. I use the initial capital letter for a reason, to differentiate from the transient stillness, or fake stillness, that we usually associate with the term stillness. True Stillness is an unchanging timeless 'state' of being.
 
Where is this Stillness, and how can we find it? It's really right here, so we can't find it. This Stillness is everywhere we go, yet nowhere. The reality is that we don't really go anywhere. We don't move. We don't have arms and legs and a body. That's not who we are. We are the Stillness that perceives the activity of the world. I could say it is the core of our being, but it's not just the core, it is the whole. When looking from outside, from the world of activity, True Stillness is at the heart of where we are looking from. Yet in the heart there is no inside or outside, and there is no activity.
 
It is the still centre around which the world seems to move, like a black hole at the heart of the universe. But the black hole is a Singularity, where there is no inside or outside, no division, no space and time. Pure Stillness. The movement that is perceived from our centre of Singularity only appears to happen. The Singularity that is our true being has nowhere to go and nothing to do. It is complete unmanifest contentment. The manifest world seems to unravel for while from the Stillness, then returns to the Stillness, yet it never leaves the timeless Stillness.
 
So, in practical terms, how can we 'find' this peace, stillness and contentment? We need to let go of thinking that we are something else, and that there is indeed anything else. We need to see the activity of the world for what it is: One Infinite Unchanging Being playing at being many finite changing forms. See the world as a play. Forms, or bodies, will grow and fade away, but you are not this. You are the unchanging Stillness in which this seems to happen. Don't try to be still - know you are Stillness itself. Nothing is really far from you or close to you; that's just the play of separation. Let this understanding fill the mind and root out the errors it believes. The idea that you are separate and lacking something is an error. All ideas and concepts are inaccurate. The only real truth is an Infinite Indivisible Singularity, and we are That. But we need to eventually drop that idea as well.
 
No ideas or concepts are ultimately necessary for you to be as you are. Just be. Stillness, peace and contentment is not something you find. It's always right here.

Category: Spiritual Symbols and Patterns
Symmetry arises from an underlying pattern of reflection.There are a variety of patterns in the world, that point to the underlying nature of reality. Three primary patterns include 'Many from One', Reflection, and the Hollow. Let's explore these and see how they connect and hint at the unseen reality behind them.
 
We can see 'Many from One' almost everywhere we look. The human body, with its central torso, arms, legs, fingers and toes, shows many from one. A tree branching out shows it. Fork lightning shows it. Rivers and streams from the sea show it. The propagation of animals and plants show it: seeds are scattered and multiply. The evolution of species shows it.
 
We physically see Reflection wherever we look, as that's the way the eye works, inverting light that passes through the lens of the eye. What we see is also a reflection of light off surfaces. We can see our reflection when light rebounds from the face onto a smooth reflective surface. Sounds also rebound and reflect off surfaces. The symmetry of the human body is a form of reflection, where the left side is to some degree a reflection of the right side. This symmetry arises from an underlying pattern of reflection. Reflection underlies the appearance of opposites in the world, where we could say that high is a reflection of low, far is a reflection of near, and so on. Furthermore, Reflection and opposites give rise to fluctuation and vibration.
 
The Hollow is perhaps less obvious. The bones in the body are hollow. The lungs are hollow, as well as reflective, breathing in and breathing out. The throat and mouth cavity are hollow and allow the projection of sound as the voice. The stems of plants are hollow. Bubbles are hollow. Caves within the earth are hollowed out holes. Whirlpools, cyclones, and hurricanes are known for their spinning force around a hollow centre.
 
These patterns are all expressed in the natural world and in the human-made world. For example, in music making we have hollow instruments like the flute, the trombone and the drum, and we have instruments that use the fluctuation of strings (stemming from reflection), such as the violin and the piano. When we listen to a recorded piece of music we can pick out the many instruments sounding within it. Delay and reverb effects are used, giving reflective qualities to the sounds. One recording is made and distributed as many across the world. Actually, the delay effect used in music making demonstrates both the Reflection and 'Many from One' pattern, when it is used to imitate a distant echo, with the sound bouncing off 'surfaces' and seeming to multiply.
 
What do these patterns tell us about the underlying reality of the universe? They reflect the Oneness that is the core nature of reality. The Hollow hints at the Full-Emptiness of reality, where the total sum of all opposites equals zero. The hollow central cavity seems empty but is actually full, whether full of air or water etc. It points to the Singularity that was before the universe appeared, which contained all in an unmanifest unity, when everything was nothing. 'Many from One' is how the universe came to appear as it does now. The One seemed to divide itself into itself and its opposite (Reflection) and this bifurcation multiplied in the 'Many from One' pattern, creating a world of reflection and fluctuating frequencies. Note that 'Many from One' is itself a reflection, where the One reflects itself into its opposite, many. Or so it seems.
 
The crucial understanding is that although there seems to be many coming from one, they never really leave the Oneness. The Singularity that contained all in unmanifest harmony (Full-Emptiness) is still present throughout the appearance and disappearance of the world of opposites. The appearance of what is and what isn't (its reflection) is only a seeming separation of the Singularity, which remains timelessly full and empty. There is only ever What Is. Its reflection doesn't really exist, but reflection is the play of opposites which allows the Singularity to look back at itself, within itself. Reflection makes the world appear within itself.
 
Although space and time seems to divide the Singularity into many, rising out of the Full-Emptiness, the completion of space and time is its returning to unmanifest Oneness. All the while the Oneness remains as it is, seemingly at the heart of the universe, as the Hollow Hole, or rather the Hollow Whole.
 
Let's try to explain that a simpler way. What we call space and time is the seeming division of the primordial Singularity. Full-Emptiness seems to have divided into what it is and what it is not, its reflective opposite. Oneness seems to have divided into many, by aid of reflection. Yet the totality remains the same. The universe, or What Is, is timelessly always what it is. It seems that the Hollow, the Full-Emptiness, remains at the Heart of space and time, but it is the totality of space and time. The Singularity remains timelessly as it is.
  1. Not Many Things
  2. Evolution in Infinity
  3. Form and the Formless
  4. Pain and Suffering

Subcategories

Spirituality Article Count:  19

Non-duality Article Count:  53

Spiritual Symbols and Patterns Article Count:  10

The Human Experience Article Count:  43

The Universe Article Count:  31

Spiritual Practice Article Count:  12

God Article Count:  6