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: Spiritual Practice
Following the Non-Duality understanding, it's important to recognise that we are not the doer and we are not the thinker. Actions are part of the flow of the world, and thoughts are also activity flowing with the world. We are not this. We perceive the flow of thoughts and actions.
There is a sense of 'I am this' that is thought based but pervades the body and its actions. There is a sense of 'I am this body'. There is a belief that 'I choose', but all choices made are influenced by the world, so free will is not as free as it seems to be. What we perceive is a sense of 'I am this' thinking, choosing and doing. But it is not accurate.
Firstly 'I am this body' is too vague a definition. It cannot be said accurately where the body begins and ends. The reason for this is that the body doesn't begin or end. It is a flowing 'part' of the world. It continually changes and breathes with the flowing nature of the apparent world. So really the body is infinite. That ultimately means there is no body. What we consider to be a 'body' is a vague idea of a limited form in an infinite indivisible universe. The idea of separate forms is useful but not accurate.
Secondly, we cannot be what we perceive. We perceive the body and its actions. We are not it. We perceive thoughts and the sense of identity. We are not this. This is where Detachment comes in. In spiritual practice we recognise that we are not anything that we can perceive. We are perceiving. The eye cannot see the eye, and deeper still: Awareness cannot perceive itself directly. Yet all that is perceived is nothing other than Awareness. The world appears within Awareness, but Awareness is not defined or limited by it.
So the Detachment we seek is a letting go of identity. This is not for us, this is for the human mind and the false sense of identity. We perceive the thoughts and the sense of identity trying through spiritual practice to achieve enlightenment, nirvana, or self-realisation. The false sense of self is trying to free itself from its confines of identity and be who we really are. But we are right here, perceiving this play of identity, the play of limitation and freedom.
The practice for the body-mind is to release itself from its limitations and just be. So it is a letting go of identity with thinking and doing. We do not think or do. We perceive this. Perceiving, or rather, Being Aware, is the natural state. It isn't a doing. It is the natural state of simply being. The world appears in this. The sense of self rises and falls in this. The practice is to just be aware and not get caught up in the plays and drama of the world.
It doesn't mean that the mind and body should distance itself from the world, shut itself away. It doesn't mean that the body-mind should give away all belongings. It doesn't mean that the body-mind abandons friendships and loved ones. It is more that the mind recognises there is only One, an Infinite Indivisible One. So we cannot be this or that. There is no-one other than the One. So the body-mind gradually changes so that its thoughts and actions fall into line with this deepening understanding of Oneness.
Ultimately, of course, the sense of separate self will fade away as the belief of limitation evaporates. It doesn't mean that there is a huge change. We are here all along. It just means that the selfish identity no longer gets in the way. There is an improved clarity between the true Selfless Self and the body-mind through which it is expressed in the world.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: Non-duality
Understanding the world and human actions in terms of good and bad is a dualistic approach. The human mind distinguishes between what it feels or believes is good or bad, on an individual level and a cultural level. Something happens and the human mind or society has an opinion or view on whether it is good or bad. But this defining of good and bad is relative to the human perspective.
To use a tough example, if a crocodile ate a human that would generally be deemed bad from the human perspective, but quite acceptable and good from the crocodile perspective. Or if a human eats a chicken, that is often considered good in human culture, but from the chicken's perspective this is bad. So the point here is to highlight that our concepts of good and bad are not universally accurate. They are dualistic perspectives of what Just Is. By that I mean that the universe or existence just is. It isn't good or bad, and ultimately nothing really is good or bad from the universal perspective.
One of the controversial aspects of the Non-Duality understanding is that nothing is done. That is, what appears to happen just appears to happen. There isn't a doer of actions. Actions just seem to happen. Some may suggest that this allows for cruel, unkind or evil actions to be justified. But that's not the case. Non-Duality does away with cruelty and evil by the recognition that there is only One. The One has no evil intent because there is no other to cause harm to, to be jealous of, to be angry against, or to be in competition with.
So it doesn't mean that someone who believes in Non-Duality can justify cruel actions by saying, "There is no me who does anything." It means that cruel actions do not arise where there is clear knowing of Non-Duality , because there is no sense of a separate self that is the cause of cruelty, jealousy, evil, greed and competition. Without the sense of a separate self cruel or evil actions cannot arise. In Non-Duality teaching the aim is to drop the sense of being a separate self.
Non-Duality is the Way of No Way. It is the Action of No Action. Sometimes this can be misunderstood, as a way of shirking responsibility. But the greatest responsibility is to find out who you are. The greatest good that can be brought to the world is the realisation that Pure Goodness is the nature of Being. The core nature of Being can't really be described in terms of good or bad, but having experienced what seems bad, evil and wrong, we can say that Being is Pure Goodness. Goodness beyond the dualistic terms of good and bad.
In Non-Duality we don't point at others and say they are evil. We don't even point at actions and say they are wrong. In human terms, relatively speaking, people may act in evil ways and do actions that can be considered wrong. But that is only relatively speaking. In Non-Duality there are no others to point at, or one who points. In accurate Non-Duality terms there is only What Is. No harm is done to the Infinite Being within which this play of harming and healing appears. No force can ever cause a rift in the Infinite Indivisible One.
What we understand as good and right must be that which is the natural state of Being. Pure Being is wholly good and right, beyond any concept of other, beyond any seeming duality of opposite terms. It is the Singularity or Oneness that has no other. It is the high standard of what is good and right. So in human society goodness ought to be that which pertains to oneness. That doesn't mean one group of society dominant over another. It means the recognition of the Oneness of the Whole, without other. None are outside of this Pure Oneness, even those that may be considered as bad or evil by human society.
So ultimately there is no morality dilemma. Your true nature is neither good nor bad, but Pure Goodness is a good description of it. You are not the doer of actions or the thinker of thoughts, yet thoughts and actions are perceived. You are not the judge of others. There are no others. Your nature is truly Non-Judgemental. You do no harm. You are Perfect Peace. Recognising this Perfect Peace within the human mind brings about a clarity and cleansing to the human form, so that Pure Goodness of Being filters through into this apparent world of opposites.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: Spiritual Practice
It might be thought that meditation is about being calm and still, sitting in a still position, calming the body, the breath and the mind. It sounds right, yes, but it's not exactly right. Calming the body is good, to give it peace and rest. Calming the breath sounds good too, to bring about the calm throughout the body. Calming the mind seems more like an essential part of meditation, not getting caught up in negative thoughts or thoughts that go off on tangents.
That all sounds good. But there is more to meditation than that. The benefits of meditation mentioned above are good for the mind and body, but there is a deeper knowing in meditation. You perceive the thoughts that may or may not be stilled. You perceive the breathing that may or may not be calm. You perceive the body that may appear to be still or moving. You see, the mind, the breath and the body can never truly be still. They appear in the World of Motion where everything is in a constant flow of movement. Even if the body appears to be completely still, we know that it is sitting in a spot on a spinning planet that is swirling through the universe.
There is a relative calm that can be brought about through meditation, though not True Stillness. Yet the True Stillness is here. It is the 'place' from which the mind, breath and body are perceived. You are the Stillness that the meditating mind and body is trying to reach. So it doesn't really matter if the mind is flowing, the breathing is heavy or the body is restless. It doesn't matter if the mind feels agitated and unable to concentrate. It doesn't matter if trying to control breathing causes breathing to be unsettled. It doesn't matter if the body is fidgety or uncomfortable. The highest aim of meditation is to just be as you are.
Being as you are requires absolutely no effort. You don't need to do anything. In fact, you don't really do anything. The witnessing of the mind, body and world just happens naturally, without effort. The movement of the world appears in the timelessness of Being. You don't need to try to be calm. You are Perfect Calmness already. You don't to try to be still. You are Timeless Stillness itself.
There's no need to try to achieve peace or indeed to try to stop trying. There's no need to worry about failing. This trying and worrying, succeeding or failing, is a play of the mind perceived by You. You are complete already. You don't need to achieve peace. Whether the mind finds peace or not doesn't affect the peace that you are.
So in meditation when the mind becomes agitated or there is a focus on something, let it go. It doesn't matter. In fact, it's not you holding on, focusing, or letting go. You are the Awareness in which this appears to happen. These instructions are for the mind to let go of its identity with actions and trying to control the world. All is well. You are perfect peace as you are.
The mind may in time come to rest in the timeless peace of Aware Being, but the mind is not you. You are Aware Being already. So is meditation necessary? Not really. Nothing is needed to be the Still Peace that you are. But meditation is for the body-mind to come to the peace of the Aware Being that you are. Meditation naturally happens when the mind withdraws from identifying with the forms of the world.
Of course, you can 'meditate' wherever the body may be, whatever the circumstances. The meditative state of the mind is the withdrawing into the timeless nature of Aware Being that is always present. You are always Here and Now, wherever the mind or body may seem to wander. Even as the Earth spins around the sun, it appears in the Stillness of Awareness. This Peace and Stillness is with the body-mind wherever it goes. The mind will, in its own time, recognise this and find peace.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: Spiritual Practice
Recognise the Spaciousness in which the world appears. Sights and sounds, thoughts and feelings, all appear in something. They cannot appear or be known without a field in which they appear. For example, a thought pops into the mind, "I must remember to call Jasper." The thought is perceived or known. It's difficult to say what the thought appears in, but it's a kind of empty space. We call it consciousness or the mind.
Take another example: we hear the sound of a car driving past. There is an awareness or knowing of the sound. There is a field like silence in which the sound comes and goes. It's not altogether different to how thoughts come and go in a space of awareness. It is ultimately the same space of awareness that perceives or knows the sound and the thought. The knowing of these is like the centre of perception. It is the same space in which all perceptions are experienced. Sights, smells, taste, touch, feelings, are all experienced in the same place of knowing.
So our practice is to recognise that space in which all things are perceived, known or experienced. We are that Infinite Spaciousness. How wide or deep is it? No width, no depth. It has no size because it is limitless and formless. It is that which perceives apparent limits and forms, yet is itself limitless and formless. Any limits of things are imaginary or conceptual. These imaginary or conceptual limits are perceived in this Knowing Spaciousness. Recognise this. We perceive the thoughts and ideas of things being limited. We perceive the sense of the world being made of separate forms. But this is just an idea or assumption of limitation and division in the world. The world we experience is only ever experienced in one place. The sense of distance and time is experienced in this Knowing Spaciousness right Here and Now.
Knowing Spaciousness can't really be known, as it is Knowing itself. Just as the eye cannot see the eye. But we can know it is here because we know. In other words, I know therefore I am.
The practice is to recognise that even the person or personality is known. We are not the person, the thinker or the body doing actions. Recognise that these are perceived and we are That which is naturally perceiving, or Aware. Thoughts float by in the Spaciousness of Consciousness like clouds drifting through the endless sky. Spaciousness is unaffected by whatever appears because it has no form or substance. Yet it is the Full Emptiness in which all things appear.
Who is it that is doing this practice or seeking to be aware of this Knowing Spaciousness. Truly there is no-one. There isn't really a limited person trying to do this. It is an activity in the mind. It's an activity of the sense of being someone seeking to find who knows this. It may seem a little odd, but basically it is Self Enquiry. It is the sense of self seeking its source. Recognise that this is perceived. This seeking is perceived. It is not who we are. We are the the knowing of this. We are the Knowing Spaciousness.