Four Steps to Non Duality

You've read all the Non-Duality books and have been going to non-duality speakers for years. You still have not got this.

Can Awakening be Lost?

Awakening is knowing who I am - which is oneness and non duality. And this knowing cannot be unknown, cannot be lost.

Can Words Express Non-Duality?

There is a problem that all non-duality teachers come against. How can you express what is essentially indescribable?

Who Chooses What You Think?

Who chooses the images that appear in your mind when there is no conscious recognition of choosing? Who chooses what you think?

Is There a God Spot in the Brain?

Is there a God Spot in the brain and will this cause you to get non-duality?

Is There a Separate Self?

There is is a sense of aseparte self, an appearance of a separate self, and this is what we need in order to function in this world.

Is Awakening The End of Attachment?

The mind is sometimes like the fire - it can rage and burn. Allow it to be, observe its games. None of this is happening to you.

Lessons From Krishnamurti Standing Alone

Now, having come to the end of seeking, I understand what seeing Krishnamurti standing alone means.

What Goes On In Your Brain Mind?

You live in a world that you call reality. It certainly looks real, but this world is in fact constructed by you.

Who Owns Your Life?

"No," I replied, I'm going to the cinema to see a film starring Jimi Hendrix." My fellow devotee looked shocked

Do You Need To Go to the Extreme?

When the Self disappears, so does doubt and with it the fears and anxieties that inhibit the human potential, both physical and mental.

What Happens When You’ve Gone?

I saw this interview with a lady who claimed to have had a spiritual awakening. During her awakening Princes Diana came to her as an ambassador of the dead to reveal that we survive after death. One inescapable truths is that everything is impermanent.

Is Non-Duality Here to Comfort You?

: Image by that_james via Flickr

I watched the Channel 4 program Revelations on Sunday. It was about a group of people attending the Alpha Course over an 8 week period. The course is designed to turn agnostics into Christians. At the Alpha meetings participants are fed nice food by nice people and talked to by a nice smiling vicar who explains what Christianity can do for you. Participants also join small discussion groups who explore the meaning of life, and what Christianity is.

Most of the agnostics started out hostile to Christianity, but as the weeks went on, some of them began to get a lot of comfort and support from the course and its leaders.

Religion provides comfort and support for lots of people. Does non duality serve the same function?

I often attend Non Duality North meetings held in the West Yorkshire village of Hebden Bridge. After listening to a speaker on non-duality we go to a local restaurant for good food and conversation. I meet lots of very interesting people there and we chat away about non-duality and spiritual matters in general. Is this any different from the Alpha Course?

There are similarities – good speakers, good food, heated discussions. The major difference, however, is that no one is there to convert you. There is nothing to join, no commitment to make, no leader to follow.

In these blog posts I express how life looks to me, how the non-dual persepctive affects my life and how I relate to life. I have no interest in trying to persuade you to see things from my perspective. There is no evangelical purpose. I am not here to save anyone or to comfort anyone. Quite the opposite. To begin to look at life from a non-dual way is to challenge everything that you believe in. It can involve fear, awe, disintegration of the self and much pain. Not much comfort here!

On the other hand when you see that you are not that important and life is not to be taken too seriously, then living the non-dual way can be fun, exciting and certainly never boring.

Share and Enjoy:

Posted by steve on Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 11:00 am
Filed under Non Duality · Tagged with Christianity, Meaning of life, Religion and Spirituality

Comments

3 Responses to “Is Non-Duality Here to Comfort You?”

Robert says:

July 1, 2009 at 4:29 pm

So I am not that important and life is not that serious? Challenging stuff! I happen to see things this way too – but many people will be outraged by it. This is certainly not the ‘comfort’ that the attendees of the Alpha course warmed to – I saw this program too – one of the people on the course found the ‘niceness’ of the course leaders offputting (they were ‘too nice’) and I can see what she meant. Most of those who express non-duality well that I have met do not fall into this trap.

Keep up the good work!
mrsnacks says:

July 20, 2009 at 5:51 pm

Neat site: I would like to comment on about non duality. In my observation ,yes I agree there may be no leader to follow and no commitment but that is not always the case. There are quite a few who do follow a guru of and show complete devotion and even worship to one or a teacher for that matter, And teachers and gurus who I have seen dress and set themselves apart from their disciples by the way they dress and where they sit in the meeting. There are driven to make a commitment to meditate and attend seminars and satsang meetings like one commits to attend church or spend hours in prayer. IN both the Christian and non duality where dying to self ( Christian) and non duality ( there is no self) I have seen the uniqueness of personality in both sides proving that self is still there. Both have shown anger and make mistakes and get depressed showing that there is suffering still. Why can’t one act according to their true nature all the time ? If so wouldn’t non dualists be the most loving and most peaceful bunch on the planet ? Why aren’t there more Mother Theresa’s ? And as far as life being taken seriously and we are not that important can be said but as soon as something happens lets say you hear of an accident happened to one of your family members , life is serious all of a sudden and what is seen is the anxiousness and great concern for the well being of that family member. Then life will be taken seriously. I do see that non duality does challenge one’s world view especially in the west and that it really offers no comfort but in my experience can leave one empty . I had someone say to me after a long discussion that she it was more fun and enjoyable yet suffering was there to be person or at least believe there are persons. She is aware anyway in spite of how she looks at the world and herself. Anyway these are my thoughts and thanks.
steve says:

July 21, 2009 at 2:08 pm

Though your true nature is pure and without form, to live in the world the mind has to operate, and the mind has been developed through your relationship to the world over many yearfs. After spiritual enlightenment the mind continues and this means that all human emotions may arise – anger, sadness, happiness, joy – but what changes is the relationship to the mind. The mind is no longer seen as essentially who you are and therefore there is no clinging. Feelings come and go in a natural way, arising then subsiding with no mental energy given to the thoughts so that they linger longer than needed.

There is no sainthood or permanent loving kindness in this, but seeing the non-separation means there is little or no incentive to be cruel and heartless. In a very real way you see that harming others is harming yourself. As more and more people operate from this perspective, there should be less crime, less hate, less jealousy. A world of Mother Theresa’s is not likely. There will always be contrast and a certain amount of chaos.

If a close relative or friend of mine suffers then I act with compassion and understanding and help in any way that I can. Being overwhelmed by the situation which can stem from seeing the seriousness of it all, is not the place I come from. Inwardly I am seeing the situation as not serious, but outwardly I may act as if it is.

The common reaction to investigating non-duality is to feel that it can be empty and somehow devoid of humanity. My take on it is that the non-dual perspective is vibrant, and makes me much more a human being. Far from being empty I am full of life and vitality!