Thank you Ralph!
The purpose of non-dual spirituality
“We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.T.S. Eliot
The Key Points
The purpose of non-dual spirituality is self-knowing. When we look to see what we are, we find that the only thing that can qualify as our essential nature is the unchanging sense of our being, which is both existent and aware. In looking at this sense of being-awareness, we see that it is already here and easily recognized. Not only is it present, but it remains present and undisturbed in the midst of all thinking, feeling and experiencing. It is not something that comes to us as a future experience. It is not something that we get from a book or obtain as a result of practices, techniques or processes. Nor is it something that comes to us from outside, from a teacher, a divine being or any other source. We do not need an awakening or enlightenment experience to know our true nature. It is effortlessly present. In fact, there is nothing we can do to escape it. We have seen that our true nature is nothing objective, yet it is clearly evident beyond any doubt. We are not something apart from being-awareness — we ARE being-awareness. Thus, there is no separation between us and reality.
Finally, we have seen that this true nature, this essential awareness, is utterly and completely free of suffering, doubt, fear, worry and strife. Not only is it present and aware, but it is pure peace and freedom itself. For this reason, self-knowing is not a matter of a deepening experience or of a stabilization in our true nature. That would only be in reference to an imagined difference between what we are and what we imagine we may become in the future. It also assumes the reality of time, as well as a separate being that would attain some special state of awakening or enlightenment. We have seen that these notions are dualistic. Self-knowing is nothing if it is not a clear understanding of what already is. There is nothing beyond self-knowing because self-knowing is non-duality. All that appears is only an expression or appearance of the one, undivided, ever-present being-awareness. There is nothing beyond oneness. Nothing more is needed beyond self-knowing because our true nature is this unalterable being, awareness and freedom that can never be contradicted under any circumstances.
Questions for Self-knowing:
The Aim of Non-Duality — Self-knowing
The central message of non-dual traditions comes down to the following proposition. The discovery of what is real and the resolution of suffering, seeking and doubt is obtained by a clear understanding of one’s real nature. In short, the aim of spiritual endeavor is “self-knowing.”
By definition, whatever we are is already here. Therefore, the self to be known by self-knowing must be already present in our immediate experience. Our being is not something distant or separate from who we are. It is who we are. In self-knowing, we are not obtaining something new, but clarifying what is already present though perhaps not clearly known or fully appreciated. We are not waiting for a future experience in which we will obtain something that we do not yet have. Nor are we waiting to achieve a special state of “enlightenment,” “awakening” or anything else of the sort. The point is simply to clarify one’s already-present nature.
What We Are Not — and What We Are
The first step is to get a basic sense of what our identity could be. Whatever we are must be constantly with us. The qualities of our essential nature must be invariably present in who we are. Things which arise and pass away or undergo change cannot be essential characteristics of ourselves. Given this premise, none of the following can be the essence of what we are because they all appear and disappear:
- Thoughts
- Feelings
- Sensations
- Perceptions
- Experiences
- States
- Perceived objects
These are all appearances that come and go. None of them stays constant in our direct experience. For this reason, they do not qualify as “candidates” for our real nature. So we must set them aside as not being the essence of what we are. What remains? Is there anything else left? One might conclude that there is nothing else left to consider. If this is true, our real nature must be non-existent. But this conclusion is premature. There is still something more to consider. First, there is a sense of being, the sense that “we are.” In spite of the ever-changing flow of experiences, we also know that we are present, that we exist. We know that we remain present in and through the changing experiences. Otherwise, how could we know the presence of changing experiences? Furthermore, this presence is not void or inert. It is conscious, cognizant, aware. This sense of being present and aware must be what we are because it is the only possible remainder after all the other possibilities have been exhausted.
This investigation provides the essential clue about what is to be known in self-knowing. It is our present true identity, the essential characteristic of which is to be present and aware. We are and we are aware. As will become clear in what follows, we are not dealing with two different things here (that is, presence and awareness). Instead we are acknowledging one principle that can be viewed in different ways or pointed to with different labels, all of which refer to the same basic essence.
To clarify terms, when referring to the sense of being present, the following terms are used interchangeably: “presence,” “being,” “existence” or “the sense that you are.” When referring to the awareness aspect of our nature, the following terms are used: “awareness,” “consciousness,” “cognizance” or “knowing,” among others. In addition, because we are dealing with a single principle or phenomenon (our true nature), hyphenated terms are sometimes used, such as “presence-awareness,” “being-awareness,” “being-consciousness,” “aware-presence” and so on. In all cases, the pointers refer to the same principle, your essential true nature.
So our true nature is that principle within us that is present and aware. Once we have this insight, we are in a position to have a good look and fully appreciate what this present true nature is.
The Questions — A Means to Approach Direct, Non-Conceptual Recognition
The following series of questions are provided to highlight various facets of your real being. They will serve to flesh out the recognition of what you already are, which is fully present but perhaps not fully appreciated. When considering the questions, look in your immediate experience and respond from your own direct, non-conceptual, non-theoretical knowing. By answering these questions for yourself, various aspects of your true nature will come clearly into view, not based on theory or speculation, but through direct, first-hand knowing.
[1] Can you recognize the sense that you are present, that you are? And, further, can you recognize the fact of awareness?
Comment:
The facts of being present and being aware are intuitively and directly obvious, even without any reflection.
No one can say “I am not.” Even to assert that you are not, you must be present to make the assertion. As for awareness, clearly all thoughts, feelings, sensations and experiences are being known. They are registering in some principle of knowing or cognition. Otherwise, how could we know of them or speak of them? No one can say that awareness is not present because the very assertion arises as an object in present awareness.
[2] Did you need to think to note the fact of being and awareness?
Comment:
Notice that when you are questioned about the sense of being or the capacity of awareness, you can immediately and intuitively affirm the presence of both of these. You do not need to reference thought or engage the use of reason in order to respond. Even before the mind activates in order to express an answer, the positive answer is already known. This shows that the recognition of the true nature of the self is not a product of thinking. It is immediate, non-conceptual knowing. If you are in the habit of using the mind as your primary instrument or tool of knowing, this point may not be obvious. This is because the mind deals in concepts. Being is not a concept. Awareness is not a concept. In truth, the mind has no capacity to recognize your true nature. This is why one often hears statements such as “the answer is not in the mind” and “the mind cannot understand this” and so forth.
[3] Notice the fact of being present and aware. Also notice that various thoughts, feelings, sensations and experiences are arising and setting in this aware presence. As you notice these changing experiences, does the sense of being present and aware change at all? Does it disappear? Does it waver? Does it come and go?
Comment:
Not only is the sense of being-awareness present now, but the presence or absence of thoughts, feelings, sensations and other experiences does not affect this in any way. Your presence remains unmodified and undisturbed in and through all appearances. Begin to notice this for yourself. We are generally so captivated by experiences that we completely overlook the being-awareness that is the necessary background for them all. For example, how many thoughts, feelings or perceptions can you have without the presence of your existence and awareness?
[4] Do you have to wait for the future to recognize this (meaning, the sense of being and awareness)?
Comment:
You do not wait for the future to know the fact of being and the presence of awareness. Being and awareness do not happen in the future. They are present facts. Your true nature is not something that will arrive as a future event or experience. Being-awareness, which we have already determined to be our essential nature, is already here.
An important implication of this is that any spiritual approach that relies on time or posits some attainment in the future is evidently dualistic and out of harmony with the basic message of non-duality. The aim of non-dual teachings is clear self-recognition. Our true nature or essential self does not reside in the future. Therefore, any doctrine which relies on a future state or condition, even if that be
termed an awakening or enlightenment event, is operating in the realm of duality.
[5] Do you need to take up a practice, technique or exercise to recognize being-awareness?
Comment:
In order to recognize present being-awareness is any technique, process or exercise necessary? The answer must be negative. You do not need to do anything to be present. You do not have to do anything to generate awareness. In fact, it is quite the reverse—in order to do or undertake anything, the sense of existence-awareness must be already present as a prerequisite. Those who are practicing, striving and exerting themselves in order to attain some spiritual goal have the cart before the horse. Self-knowing, which is the recognition of your true nature, is not the result of a practice. Practices may be useful for relative achievements and accomplishments, but they are entirely useless in the case of self-knowing. In fact, they are worse than useless, because by pursuing such practices we are actively denying the essential recognition that our true nature is here and now.
[6] Do you need to read a spiritual book to recognize being-awareness?
Comment:
Is it necessary to read a book to notice the fact of being and its natural capacity of awareness? You must answer in the negative. Many of us have searched in spiritual books in hopes of discovering the truth of who we are. But your self is not in a book, so no amount of looking there will bring you closer to knowing who you are. The only real value books (or any other pointers) can have is to point out the need for knowing that principle of being-awareness that is present within us. No objective looking or searching is needed for the clear and simple knowing of our true nature.
[7] Does someone come and give this (being-awareness) to you or is it already here?
Comment:
Many of us are under the impression that the recognition of who we are comes from the influence of something or someone outside of ourselves. This could be through a teacher, through the grace of a god or some other intervention. But is it true that someone or something descends upon us and delivers being-awareness to us? The fact of being-awareness is already available. Nothing needs to be brought in from the outside.
[8] Do you need to have a special “awakening” or “enlightenment” experience to see this, your present being and awareness?
Comment:
As seekers, many of us assumed that self-knowing implies some special spiritual insight or attainment, some extraordinary state of consciousness or moment of understanding. But do you have to have any awakening or enlightenment experience to know the fact of being-awareness? While waiting for some hoped-for enlightenment or awakening, we are missing the fact that what is being pointed to is already completely present.
[9] Do you need to make an effort to be present and aware?
Comment:
Are you making any effort at all to be or to be aware? You do not struggle to be present and aware. They are not something that you do. These are naturally present and involve no effort at all.
[10] Can you do anything to stop being present and aware?
Comment:
Not only are being and awareness effortlessly and naturally present, but there is nothing you can do to stop them, eradicate them or cancel them. You cannot turn them off, even if you want to. No amount of activity on your part can make being-awareness disappear. So not only is our true nature of being-awareness already present, but there is nothing we can do to lose it.
[11] Is your sense of being, this aware presence, something you can grasp hold of as an object?
Comment:
Is your sense of being-awareness something that you perceive “out there” as something objective, apart from yourself? Is that essential awareness a thought, feeling or experience that you can point to and say “there it is”? You cannot point to being or awareness as “things,” as objects standing before you. Being-awareness has no particular form, shape or dimension. Being-awareness is not an object. It cannot be grasped by the mind (as a thought) or by the senses (as a perceived object), and yet it is most clearly present. Its presence is utterly beyond doubt.
We tend to overlook the truth of who we are because our being cannot be known through the instruments of knowledge we are accustomed to using. If you attempt to understand your true nature through the senses or mind, you will miss it. However, once you grasp this basic point, you can let go using the senses and mind to understand your true nature and rely upon non-conceptual, immediate knowing.
You are and you know that you are. This itself is recognizing your true nature. This is not simply knowing, as if you were knowing some objective fact, but it is also being. You are what you know and you know what you are. This is a unique phenomenon in which what is knowing and what is being known are one and the same thing. Being is, and being knows itself. For this reason, our essential nature is sometimes referred to as “self-knowing awareness.”
[12] In your direct experience, is it that you are one thing and existence-awareness is something else “over there” and apart? Or is it that you ARE that which is present and aware?
Comment:
The point here is that being-awareness is not a principle separate from us. It is not that we are here and being-awareness is somewhere “over there.” Rather, we are that which is present and aware. Being-awareness is non-separate from who we are. It is what we are. This means that what we are and the principle of being-awareness are not two different things. This shows that the “goal” of the non-dual teachings is not a distant objective. The real aim is the revelation of what we are. Our true nature and the ultimately real essence of things are one and the same. This is non-duality. This is why there is no path, no goal and no attainment—because what we have been seeking is what we already are.
Our true nature is ever present, beyond the need for seeking and impossible to lose. It is already the case. The only issue was that we did not appreciate what was already here. And this is why there is no possibility of deepening, stabilizing, growing into it and so forth. All such notions are clearly rooted in the subtle concept of separation or duality. Only an imagined entity that is separate and apart from the reality can dream of deepening, stabilizing or what have you. In the clear seeing of the facts, all of those notions are discarded as conceptual errors based on ignorance. Identity does not become more identical. Awareness does not become more aware. Existence does not become more existent. You do not become more of what you already are.
[13] It is granted that bodies and minds suffer various experiences, such as pleasure and pain, activity and calm and so on. But does existence-awareness (your true nature) as such suffer any of these experiences in its intrinsic nature?
Comment:
Notice that the body, mind and senses all have experiences. These experiences unfold in the realm of appearances and are dualistic in nature. For example, the body may experience pleasure or pain. But does awareness, your real essence, experience pleasure or pain? No, because it is the body that has those experiences. Awareness, in itself, is quite free and untouched. It is not subject to either pleasure or pain. Consider the mind. The mind may experience doubt or certainty, fear or safety, troubles or contentment. These are clearly mental states. But does awareness suffer any of these experiences? In other words, is it touched or affected by these mental states? Again you will see that it is the mind that is affected, but not your true nature of awareness.
What does this mean? It means that your true nature is totally free of suffering, pain, doubt, fear, problems, questions, concerns and so forth. It is also free of the opposites of all these things. What you are is beyond all pain, suffering and doubt. But this is only describing your true nature in terms of what it is not. On the positive side, we can say that it is undisturbed peace, fullness and wholeness that can never be lost or compromised. Why? Because this is the intrinsic nature of our real self. This point illuminates another key facet of our true nature. Not only is our essential being present and aware, but it is also unconditional peace, happiness, and freedom.
Our only “problem,” if one may say so, was not appreciating this that we truly are and ever have been. None of this arrives as a future attainment. It is realized to be the ongoing and ever-present condition of what is. We are only acknowledging the nature of what we already are. That is why there does not need to be a deepening or stabilizing, but only a recognition of something that already is. All approaches that rely on gradual attainment, deepening, stabilizing and so on are still in terms of the illusion that we are something that we are not. The only emphatic remedy is clear self-knowing. There is no attainment beyond self-knowing because the self, our essential being, is perfect wholeness and absolute freedom. Who you are is non-separate from the one reality itself. There is nothing beyond non-duality.
[14] Does any appearance (thought, feeling, sensation, object, state or experience) exist independent or separate from presence-awareness?
Comment:
Everything that we ever know or experience appears within presence-awareness. You have never had a single thought, feeling, sensation or any other experience outside of awareness. In other words this presence-awareness is the necessary precondition for anything else to be. Without this conscious presence nothing else is. Because objects of experience and the presence of awareness are never known independently of each other, they must be, in essence, the same undivided substance or principle. Just as waves are nothing but water or gold ornaments are nothing but gold, so are all appearances nothing but that one undeniable being-awareness. All that appears, including the seeker himself, is only that.
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