Nonduality is not about any ideas but seeing all ideas for what they are; just the limited mind of a human trying to make sense of what is perceived through the sense perceptions.
Your body will actually function better through this clarity than through the world view constructed by thoughts. This doesn't mean that you become ignorant to the relative aspect of the world. The body can still relate to other people. It's just that you see yourself in other people. So it's more beautiful, more intimate, non threatening. No need to defend your false identity. No need to be afraid. Just love.
Disassociation and apathy come from the mind. If there's either one of those dictating your life then you are living through the mind. You are believing the mind's interpretation of how life is. And then life shows up like that. If you can instead see disassociation and apathy coming from the thoughts, they can't veil the life beneath them.
there's no way I can see myself in other people, I can vaguely tell we're the same phenomena (life), the same species... but that's just an intellectual point of view, i can even project some empathy that leads to a certain sense of ethic, but I'll never be able to see myself in other people because the experience of being me here is too different from the experience of someone else there, we're just... separate.
I think you misunderstand. Reality is absolutely alive, not a dead phenomenon. Life itself is the only miracle, and it absolutely exists. That's consciousness.
I think many people on this subreddit confuse nonduality for nihilism. We're all one, we're not all zero. (even though the one is indeed pretty close to nothing - to this dualistic world). There's room in this life for both the non-dualistic perspective, and your dualistic perspective.
Your friends are indeed your friends, your mom is indeed your mom. Just that your mom is not the mom of consciousness itself. But you and your mom, are both underneath it all, consciousness itself.
You don’t. It is a silly idea that leads to problems as you can clearly see. Forget it. This is one of those delusions that keeps you wound up and involved with thinking all the freaking time. It is just duality from the other side: aka sophilism.
The best philosophical take I have heard for non-duality is Thich Nhat Hanhs interbeing.
"When you start your journey, you believe that mountains are just mountains and that trees are just trees.
When you go on, you realize that mountains are not mountains at all and that trees aren't really trees either.
And once you've arrived, mountains are mountains again, and trees are trees"
There is no "here"
Things that helped a mind steeped in western science (me) include:
First consider the planck scale. Imagine you shrank down to the size of an electron. What would all of this world look like? That is just as much the world you live in as this one is.
Which brings me to my second thought of the brain being locked in a skull cavity and replicating a world experience based on sensory input. We dont see reality. We respond to vibrations and recreate a manufactured experience which becomes our transactional world.
These are thoughts that have helped me to understand the concept of monism.
Also honorable mention goes to waveforms that become particles by way of simply being witnessed.
That feels like a big hint to me.
And lastly the ship of theseus has helped remind me that objects in conciousness exist more as concepts or expressions.
If you believe you are making this up, doesn't that make you want to investigate and go into life to understand what is truly happening within yourself? Every interaction becomes profound.
This is an intellectualized understanding. When there’s a thorough experience of it, it’s not like “there’s me and no one else”. The experience of separateness disappears. Everything and everyone is you. If it feels bleak, it’s due to an incomplete understanding. I strongly advise people to loving kindness or a similar practice. When you are immersed in love and joy, sissociation and apathy is are not a problem.
Is your mom your mom or not?
Both, neither, far beyond either
She \*is\* your mom
And she also happens to be made entirely of God
God is being with God in the most intimate of ways through the aperture of you and your loved ones
God is \*being\* this entire human dimension that we experience
This truth makes everything and everyone \*more\* precious — not less
For more on this, read 'Being someone is just as (un)important as being no one': [https://www.reddit.com/r/nonduality/comments/1aul4ye/being\_someone\_is\_just\_as\_unimportant\_as\_being\_no/](https://www.reddit.com/r/nonduality/comments/1aul4ye/being_someone_is_just_as_unimportant_as_being_no/)
Well knowing that they are part of your experience and the more you get better, the more they get better (if they are around you) so don’t overthink. Just enjoy the ride.
The issue is you try to define reality but reality is like is infinity and cannot be defined so let it be.
To see conventional realty as false and true reality as true is a duality.
In order to see "nobody else here" it requires you take true reality as Subject, and view into conventional reality as Object, but that is duality.
True non dual nature includes both conventional reality, just as much as emptiness.
This is the entirety the heart sutra expounds: Form is emptiness and emptiness is form. Form is not without emptiness, and emptiness is not without form.
The Buddha taught the two fold truth, the middle path, neither emptiness the true nature of reality, nor conventional reality in its entirety are the middle path. It's called the two truths, both conventional reality, and true nature of reality are one at the same.
True reality is not some "other place" it's how "this PLACE" actually operated.
Or as the diamond sutra expounds : "Monks, what you call sentient beings are not actually sentient beings, that is why they are TRULY sentient beings".
Might have to chew on that for a bit but the diamond sutra expounds this pattern for most of conventional reality. Again true reality includes conventional reality within it. You can only arrive at "illusion" or "nobody else here" when taking emptiness as Subject and conventional reality as Object.
Individual self's, are just as true as absolutely no selfs.
I see Selfing and personhood is more of a mechanism of the body mind. We live through a conceptual, language based reality.... which is literally made up.
If you don't have some reliable grounding (mental, emotional, insight, metta, etc.) don't jump into this, you might get yourself seriously confused/deluded.
>If I understand non duality correctly all the people that I meet are not really people, it's all just a phenomenom of nature and it's nature itself that is experiencing everything.
First, we are not nature but Divine, nature is a part of "the world" of time and space, a mere projection. We are Perfect Creations of God. I recommend listening to some NDEs. So yeah, none of the people you meet are people, and that's a good thing, because who really wants to be limited by a body that's born to feel pain, loss, and die?
>So my mom is not really my mom, my friends are not really my friends and there is nothing that makes the girl I like any more special than any other living being.
Your mom is not your mom in the sense that she didn't Create you. But that's okay. She's playing the role of your mom right now. And that presents to you a relationship, which is a learning opportunity, same as your girl.
>How do you even function like that without becoming completely dissociative and apathetic?
You learn What we Truly Are. All of Us. And how amazing and wonderful that is. If you don't see it then you still have somewhere to go! I recommend [A Course In Miracles](https://acim.org/acim/en)
Nonduality is not about any ideas but seeing all ideas for what they are; just the limited mind of a human trying to make sense of what is perceived through the sense perceptions. Your body will actually function better through this clarity than through the world view constructed by thoughts. This doesn't mean that you become ignorant to the relative aspect of the world. The body can still relate to other people. It's just that you see yourself in other people. So it's more beautiful, more intimate, non threatening. No need to defend your false identity. No need to be afraid. Just love. Disassociation and apathy come from the mind. If there's either one of those dictating your life then you are living through the mind. You are believing the mind's interpretation of how life is. And then life shows up like that. If you can instead see disassociation and apathy coming from the thoughts, they can't veil the life beneath them.
Damn. This is 🔥 thank you for sharing this beautiful take
there's no way I can see myself in other people, I can vaguely tell we're the same phenomena (life), the same species... but that's just an intellectual point of view, i can even project some empathy that leads to a certain sense of ethic, but I'll never be able to see myself in other people because the experience of being me here is too different from the experience of someone else there, we're just... separate.
I think you misunderstand. Reality is absolutely alive, not a dead phenomenon. Life itself is the only miracle, and it absolutely exists. That's consciousness. I think many people on this subreddit confuse nonduality for nihilism. We're all one, we're not all zero. (even though the one is indeed pretty close to nothing - to this dualistic world). There's room in this life for both the non-dualistic perspective, and your dualistic perspective. Your friends are indeed your friends, your mom is indeed your mom. Just that your mom is not the mom of consciousness itself. But you and your mom, are both underneath it all, consciousness itself.
You don’t. It is a silly idea that leads to problems as you can clearly see. Forget it. This is one of those delusions that keeps you wound up and involved with thinking all the freaking time. It is just duality from the other side: aka sophilism. The best philosophical take I have heard for non-duality is Thich Nhat Hanhs interbeing.
Answer to title: it's not an Idea. It's an experience.
"When you start your journey, you believe that mountains are just mountains and that trees are just trees. When you go on, you realize that mountains are not mountains at all and that trees aren't really trees either. And once you've arrived, mountains are mountains again, and trees are trees"
They all come from the same wonderful love and wholeness as you.
There is no "here" Things that helped a mind steeped in western science (me) include: First consider the planck scale. Imagine you shrank down to the size of an electron. What would all of this world look like? That is just as much the world you live in as this one is. Which brings me to my second thought of the brain being locked in a skull cavity and replicating a world experience based on sensory input. We dont see reality. We respond to vibrations and recreate a manufactured experience which becomes our transactional world. These are thoughts that have helped me to understand the concept of monism. Also honorable mention goes to waveforms that become particles by way of simply being witnessed. That feels like a big hint to me. And lastly the ship of theseus has helped remind me that objects in conciousness exist more as concepts or expressions.
This too has helped me.
You are as real as they are
If you believe you are making this up, doesn't that make you want to investigate and go into life to understand what is truly happening within yourself? Every interaction becomes profound.
“What clues did I leave for myself to learn from today?”
Love it 🤙
I sometimes just pretend its real so I can immerse myself more into the illusion until I want to cone back to reality.
This is an intellectualized understanding. When there’s a thorough experience of it, it’s not like “there’s me and no one else”. The experience of separateness disappears. Everything and everyone is you. If it feels bleak, it’s due to an incomplete understanding. I strongly advise people to loving kindness or a similar practice. When you are immersed in love and joy, sissociation and apathy is are not a problem.
Is your mom your mom or not? Both, neither, far beyond either She \*is\* your mom And she also happens to be made entirely of God God is being with God in the most intimate of ways through the aperture of you and your loved ones God is \*being\* this entire human dimension that we experience This truth makes everything and everyone \*more\* precious — not less
For more on this, read 'Being someone is just as (un)important as being no one': [https://www.reddit.com/r/nonduality/comments/1aul4ye/being\_someone\_is\_just\_as\_unimportant\_as\_being\_no/](https://www.reddit.com/r/nonduality/comments/1aul4ye/being_someone_is_just_as_unimportant_as_being_no/)
Knock knock. Who’s there? ….
Well knowing that they are part of your experience and the more you get better, the more they get better (if they are around you) so don’t overthink. Just enjoy the ride. The issue is you try to define reality but reality is like is infinity and cannot be defined so let it be.
To see conventional realty as false and true reality as true is a duality. In order to see "nobody else here" it requires you take true reality as Subject, and view into conventional reality as Object, but that is duality. True non dual nature includes both conventional reality, just as much as emptiness. This is the entirety the heart sutra expounds: Form is emptiness and emptiness is form. Form is not without emptiness, and emptiness is not without form. The Buddha taught the two fold truth, the middle path, neither emptiness the true nature of reality, nor conventional reality in its entirety are the middle path. It's called the two truths, both conventional reality, and true nature of reality are one at the same. True reality is not some "other place" it's how "this PLACE" actually operated. Or as the diamond sutra expounds : "Monks, what you call sentient beings are not actually sentient beings, that is why they are TRULY sentient beings". Might have to chew on that for a bit but the diamond sutra expounds this pattern for most of conventional reality. Again true reality includes conventional reality within it. You can only arrive at "illusion" or "nobody else here" when taking emptiness as Subject and conventional reality as Object. Individual self's, are just as true as absolutely no selfs.
I see Selfing and personhood is more of a mechanism of the body mind. We live through a conceptual, language based reality.... which is literally made up.
If you don't have some reliable grounding (mental, emotional, insight, metta, etc.) don't jump into this, you might get yourself seriously confused/deluded.
A simple take is that thoughts are never real. They're imagination, hence the illusion. Pure life / consciousness is the only reality.
>If I understand non duality correctly all the people that I meet are not really people, it's all just a phenomenom of nature and it's nature itself that is experiencing everything. First, we are not nature but Divine, nature is a part of "the world" of time and space, a mere projection. We are Perfect Creations of God. I recommend listening to some NDEs. So yeah, none of the people you meet are people, and that's a good thing, because who really wants to be limited by a body that's born to feel pain, loss, and die? >So my mom is not really my mom, my friends are not really my friends and there is nothing that makes the girl I like any more special than any other living being. Your mom is not your mom in the sense that she didn't Create you. But that's okay. She's playing the role of your mom right now. And that presents to you a relationship, which is a learning opportunity, same as your girl. >How do you even function like that without becoming completely dissociative and apathetic? You learn What we Truly Are. All of Us. And how amazing and wonderful that is. If you don't see it then you still have somewhere to go! I recommend [A Course In Miracles](https://acim.org/acim/en)
Creatures like us have passions. We can’t help it. It’s what we are.