New to Non-Duality?

Non-Duality is an ancient word that has gained considerable

traction in the modern spiritual world. It means 'not-two.' It means
that life is an indivisible whole, a 'oneness.' The manifold forms that
make up our subjective inner worlds...and the outer world itself
with all its apparently solid material objects...are made of one
spiritual substance, appearances to the contrary notwithstanding.
That substance is consciousness or awareness. It is very difficult to
see the truth of non-duality because our senses and mind trick us
into believing that the conscious being that we are and the objects
that we experience...including other conscious beings...are different
from us. People who realize the non-duality of reality are happy
people.
Experience is not to be trusted if we are going to be happy. To trust
appearances is to be a dualist. A dualist is not like a capitalist or an
existentialist. Duality is not a philosophy that one picks up in
school. It is an unconscious assumption, not a conscious belief. It is
quite natural in so far as everyone seems to see life this way.
Duality means that although we may exhibit superficial similarities,
you are you and I am me and never the twain shall meet. Yes, we
share the same human identity, but even it causes problems
because it sets us off from the other things and beings in our
environment. See the problems that we are facing nowadays
environmentally. When I think I am better or different from a tree
or a river you I may abuse it no end. And while we are all humans
we are the same, many incidental attributes separate us. The raft of
racial, social, and religious differences that our conditioning imposes
brings a plethora of problems. If we could experience our non-dual

oneness with life, most of the conflict and suffering we take for
granted would disappear. Taking appearances to be reality is the
norm, not the exception. There is nothing morally wrong or stupid
with duality. But it causes a lot of suffering.
Non-Duality is not a new religion. It is not a belief system or
a philosophy. It is not an idea that stands apart from other
ideas. It is the idea that embraces and redeems all ideas. It
is the nature of reality and is established by a proven
method. This method is self inquiry, a way of investigating
reality that reveals the essential oneness of all things. The
purpose of this method is to prove to you that the world is
not a threatening place because it is non-separate from you.
When you realize the non-duality of things your fears go
away, your inner and outer conflicts dry up and you become
happy. This is my experience.
In the email below I reply to a woman who is new to the idea
of non-duality. It may help you understand what non-duality
means.
Hello James
I went to your website today and when I saw the image of
the old woman bowing to the Buddha, the emotions just
burst from me. That light within me wants to experientially
know what is is. I no longer want to be tied to the goings on
of the world. I am totally fed up with the self-centered way
that I approach life. I want to know that non-dual light that
you talk about.

James: That light is awareness or consciousness. Sometimes

it is called spirit but this is a problem word because when we
hear it we automatically assume that it is different from
matter. Although spirit and matter seem to be antithetical,
they are actually one.
Separating things is duality.
Awareness is the nature of everything. It is your true nature.
When it is appreciated for what it is, unconditional love
arises in your heart.
Awareness is very simple. It is not made up of parts that
need to be welded together. It is that because of which you
know and feel and experience things. It is both the things
you experience and the awareness in which your
experiences take place. This is why it is called non-dual.
That limitless light of awareness is what we really are, not
the body or the limited person we believe ourselves to be.
To see yourself as a limited being is called duality.
If you look carefully into who you are you will not find a
special person with a unique history, someone who wants
some things and doesnt want other things. Well, you will,
but you will see that this person is just concocted out of
memories, that it has nothing to do with the always present
conscious being that looks out from behind your eyes. If you
deeply investigate yourself you will only find the oneness of
consciousness or awareness.
Knowing that you are awareness is sometimes called
enlightenment. It is freedom. When you know that you are

awareness/consciousness you no longer need things to make

you feel complete, nor are you frightened. You know that
you can't lose anything important. You dont get overly
elated when good things happen nor do you get depressed
or angry when unwanted things happen. You feel
completely free. Worldly problems disappear.
This deep unexplained longing that you feel is the desire to
experience non-separation, non-duality. Sometimes it is
called the desire for union. Everyone is tired of being lonely
and apart from everything and everyone. The spiritual world
these days is on fire with an inquiry into the non-dual nature
of things. Even the physicists are getting in on the act. They
suspect that life is one and are trying to prove it. Nonduality is not new. It is an ancient science with a proven
methodology. Many people have realized that they are one
with all life. Over thousands of years they developed logical
practical ways of experiencing and knowing oneness.
When you start to look within with the help of this method it
may feel as if someone or something is watching you. It is
not a someone like a God. It is often called God but God is a
problem word because of all the projections that the human
mind has saddled it with over the centuries. It is natural to
personify things but it is not always helpful. God is not a big
person in heaven, but it may seem like someone because it is
conscious. It may be a little spooky when you realize that
something is watching you all the time. This impersonal
watcher that lights up your thoughts is often called the
witness. What you will discover if you take this journey into

consciousness is that that kindly light that is watching you is

actually who you are! This simple light that shines in your
heart shines in the hearts of everything. It, you, is
everything and yet is is free of everything at the same time.
This freedom, this aloneness that is the nature of conscious
beings, is not at all lonely. It is just the understanding that
nothing but you exist. When you know it better, Jane, you
will be completely comforted. You will feel content.
Jane: What I have found lately is that the deeper sense of
me wants to go further into being alone. This is my lifetime
to awaken to the truth. I have been searching all this life for
something, something that would bring me happiness. I
know it is inside me but if the mind starts to process
anything, thinking, then writing or talking, then I want to
meet someone who can share this with me and a part of me
feels again drawn into the world. So the mind is a bit of a
problem here. When I talk to others, I find that I dont want
to talk about things that dont matter. I dont want to be
rude but what is the point in keeping the silly drama of life
going? This need draws me back into the world and I just
dont want to be there.
James: When you know yourself as awareness the existential
problem is solved because the world appears in you, not the
other way around. The world is an object and you,
awareness, can never get in it. It is always outside. You are
inside where there is only light and peace. Investigate to see
if this isnt true. And once you have identified yourself as
awareness and rest in that identity you will come to see that

what seems to be outside is actually inside and the duality of

outside and inside loses its meaning. What you see and
what you are are one.
Jane: Of course I have compassion for the people that are
suffering and can see the small part of me that identifies
with that as well. So I watch nature when I can. I observe
what is going on. Still, at times I come home and feel what
am I doing here in life? I feel at times frustrated.
James: Until you know that you are awareness and not Jane
the feeling of frustration, separation from what your Heart
wants, will be there. It is a symptom of duality, of
separation.
Jane: Then there is this lovely heart within that wants to
merge with its opposite. I cannot explain it but at times I
want to reach out and commune with another being, with
the divine. For years now, there is this deep peristent
longing of something smoldering deep in the heart that has
just wants to be one with everything. I guess I have been
somewhat ignoring the thought behind the feeling. I have to
accept what is.
James: The thought behind the feeling is the our important
thought. It is the thought of non-duality. The desire to
commune is an emotional expression of the fundamental
truth of existence: that everything is already one. It is
natural. No physical merger or communing with another
person is actually necessary to cause the experience of non-

duality, however. It is something you can discover by

investigating your self.
Jane: Then there is the fact of being physically here as
opposed to somewhere else. Some part of me likes very
much the fantasy that moving somewhere else will lead to
something better. It wants me to seek outside. But I stay
put and deal with it by understanding that things are the
same everywhere, that you will still be you when you get to
somewhere else.
James: This is very wise, Jane. It is never different
elsewhere, except superficially, when you first get there. This
desire to be something else or be somewhere else is a
painful duality. You are always just you life is life; it is the
same everywhere. If you stay where you are and investigate
reality you will eventually realize that you cannot be
anywhere else because there is only you everywhere. I
haven't heard it for a long time but some years ago the
saying Wherever you go, you are there was all the rage. It
is true.
Jane: Still I dont always know how to reconcile knowledge
of the non-duality of things because it is beyond mind.
What to do about being here on earth in this body? I mean
finding work that sustains me and I dont attach to. I dont
really want to work at a dumb job just for the money to
survive. I want to make art but art is not supporting me. I
just want to be. That is it.

James: The only way to not work is to realize that you are
not the doer of your actions, although it seems as if you are.
The body and mind will be active until the day they die but
they are driven by an impersonal force, not by your will.
Even if you have an independent income and are doing art
this longing for non-dual knowledge will not go away. Do
what life expects of you in an attitude of love and service
and this feeling of duality, this feeling that you are in
opposition to what you want will slowly go away.
Also you say you want to 'be.' You cant be. Be is not a
verb, Jane. Why? Because you already are. Find out who
you are.
Jane: When I find myself too stressed, I just go and take a
nap. It seems to help because when I wake up notice a big
peacefulness about me. There is a beauty within me when I
can just be quiet and feel the peace of something that feels
forever. There is nothing I have to do and can just be. Then
based on old patterns, I move about and start back into the
world of seeking a job and making a new resume and the
mind starts over telling me one thing after another. So when
am centered, it is easier to accept things as they come.
James: This idea that I am about to present may be a little
bit advanced but give it a think. Can you actually 'be
centered?' Aren't you the center? Don't all your thoughts
and feelings spin around you, awareness, like planets around
the sun? To realize non-duality means that you are the
center of life, that everything actually depends on you, not

the other way around.

Sally: I have been reading I AM THAT by Nisargatta. Have
you heard of the book? The book has been inspiring in a
profound way. Well, since I realized that there is no place to
go or nothing to do and that there is no birth and death,
things have started to shift for me.
James: Yes. I actually met him once when I was young.
What he says is true. I have also realized it. It is non-dual
wisdom. This is a statement about I/you/we/me awareness.
You cannot go anywhere because you are already
everywhere. You cannot die because you were never born.
Jane: I want a deep relationship with myself unlike anything
I have ever had.
James: This desire for union with yourself is the essence of
the spiritual life. It is very good but you need to think about
it deeply because you cannot get what you already have by
doing anything other than investigating yourself. When you
do you will see that you are not separate from yourself. I
know, this is not how it feels, but how you feel is not how it
is. Duality is a powerful feeling that everyone takes to be
real and tries to resolve by merging with the objects they
desire. And while you do get these temporary mergers,
these non-dual experiences, they never last. They may
inspire you and lead you on but they can also frustrate the
hell out of you.

Jane: I want to see and know the light that you talk about.
See the world as a more magical place instead of whatever
the mind tells me. I want to know by fully experiencing this
very thing. I want PEACE AND HAPPINESS to be there
constantly. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm...
James: Well, one day you will see that 'this very thing is
you. That is what non-duality means.
Jane: Dont know much about awakening.
James: Oh, youre already awake, Jane. This longing you feel
is a sign that you are awake.
Jane: So please understand that I have a limited
understanding of non-duality and it is really only because I
started reading a few spiritual books.
James: I understand this and I know I am taking a chance
telling you the truth of non-duality right off the bat. But
sometimes the people who know the least are most suited
to the truth because they dont have a lot of ideas about it.
Sally: I am just learning and reading to quench a deep
thirst. My intentions are pure as there is nothing I desire or
care for in the world. Well, this is not actually true; there are
times that I long for this divine dance of a deep felt love with
someone.
James: I can sense your purity and deep longing. It is good.

The longing for someone to dance with is the longing for

non-duality, for self realization. You are that person you
want to dance with although it is always nice to share with
an apparent someone else.
Sally: Currently, I am selling personal things that I thought
belonged to me at one time. What I notice about myself is
the wanting to be free, to laugh and be in the eternal
moment. On occasion, I am awareness, the self. Then it goes
away. I will never be fooled again to think happiness is
outside of me. The mind enters into everything. Just want
to be at peace and happiness now and always in this eternal
moment. Can be, yes can be!
James: Absolutely, because you are.
Sally: Anything you want to say in response to reading this e
mail, feel free to share.
James: I hope this wasnt too much for you, Sally. Let me
know what you think. Im happy to discuss these things with
you. If non-duality is too difficult then we can approach your
desire for freedom through union in a different way.
Love,
James