What is The Non-dual Basics?
Understanding the fundamental principles. 🔗All Articles on Non-dual Basics
Understanding the Fundamentals…
What are the Basics of Non-duality?
Non-duality isn’t a philosophy to adopt or a state to achieve. It points to the fundamental nature of Reality: there is only This, appearing as everything, and within This, there is no actual separation, no independent entities, no ‘you’ separate from the totality. It’s the understanding that oneness isn’t a goal, but the starting point.
Unlike paths focused on self-improvement, radical non-duality directly challenges the existence of a separate self. It cuts to the root, undermining the foundation of personal identity and seeking. It reveals the singular, seamless Reality appearing as the multiplicity of the world. This isn’t about feeling ‘one with everything’; it’s recognizing there isn’t a ‘one’ to feel separate in the first place. It’s the collapse of the subject-object view.
This section explores the core principles: the illusion of separation, the nature of the self, and the ever-present reality often obscured by concepts.
Core Principles of Non-duality
- No Separate Self: The cornerstone. The sense of being an independent ‘me’ is a cognitive construct, a story believed, not an actual entity. Experience is impersonal appearances within a unified field.
- Separation is Conceptual: All boundaries (self/other, subject/object, mind/body) are mental constructs imposed upon a seamless Reality. Apparent separation exists, but fundamental separation does not.
- Reality is Already Present: Since Reality is all there is, there’s no path to it. Seeking reinforces the illusion of separation. Liberation is recognition, not attainment.
- Everything is This: Ordinary experience – the chair, the thought, the sound – is the expression of the one Reality. Nothing is more or less ‘spiritual’ than anything else.
- Oneness is Not Unity: It’s not about merging separate things. It’s the prior recognition that separation was never fundamentally real.
Deeper Dive into Non-dual Basics
The exploration of non-duality starts here. The following articles delve deeper:
Foundational Pointers
These are invitations to direct looking:
- Can you find a boundary between yourself and the world that isn’t a concept?
- What is aware of this moment? Is that awareness personal or limited?
- Is ‘now’ a point in time, or the timeless reality in which time appears?
- Notice how thoughts arise and pass. Is there an enduring thinker, or just the flow of thought?
- What if this, exactly as it is, is already complete?
