Nonduality

Nonduality literally means everything is one. Nonduality is a philosophy, which says that there is just One Eternal Spirit in existence, and that everything in the Universe is an inseparable part of it. At the same time, nonduality also says that the world is not real. From the nondual view, the world but is an illusion created by the mind and the senses. Nonduality is derived from the Sanskrit word Advaita, meaning not two and non-separation. In other words, Oneness. The nondual perspective says that all things are interconnected. You are one with everything in the Universe, part of the whole, unlike Duality, which means two, not one, the world and you, other people and you. The mind finds it difficult to accept the concept of nonduality, because it does not accept that the world is a creation of the mind and the five senses, and that it is not real. It also find it difficult to accept the concept of Oneness. Mystics describe the nondual experience in many ways, as loving, expansive, blissful and unitive, lacking any sense of separation. Mystics and sages are not the only ones to assert and describe nonduality. Philosophers speak of reality as unencumbered by the dualistic oppositions we so often get lost in; a reality lacking such distinctions as mind/matter, subject/object, reality/appearance, self/other, past/future, here/there, true/false, good/evil—all binary pairs that cause fracturing and suffering. Enlightenment means the end of all division. It is not simply having an occasional experience of unity beyond all division, it is actually being undivided. This is what nonduality truly means. It means there is just One Self...                                                                 -- Adyashanti Advaita vedanta, the philosophy of non-duality says that the universe has no objective reality but that it is only a perception in consciousness. Consciousness is all there is. You may say that the universe is made of consciousness (mind stuff). Do you see the similarity here? Quantum physics says that as you start observing a sub atomic particle, it starts to behave like a wave. That means that the sub atomic particle appears and disappears alternately. In other words, the sub atomic particle is not a particle at all but it is only an appearance of a particle. This raises a very pertinent question: To whom is the sub atomic particle and hence the universe, an appearance? Advaita vedanta says that it is an appearance in consciousness. Science is based on the assumption that the material universe exists as an objective reality in its own right. However we humans have no way of knowing this universe except as a perception in consciousness. We cannot say if the universe exists or not outside of our own perception in consciousness. Science believes that our consciousness itself is an outcome of electro-chemical reactions in the brain. This argument goes against our intuition that our own intelligence and aliveness is derived from inter matter. Science by definition cannot accept the proposal that consciousness exists prior to matter (or in other words universe).So the question is: Do you trust your intuition and believe that consciousness is prior to matter or accept the position of science which by definition is incompetent to address the question? Each so called individual has to “SEE” the truth in his/her own “HEART.” For some, it seems that we are now deconstructing our idea of a seperate self, so we can allow the wholeness to be percieved. We are here to embody sentience, consciousness of the highest self, universal intelligence. When we awaken we begin to channel the larger realuty of a higher frequency. We are built to make sense of this cosmic intelligence, beyond ordinary awareness. We are made of intuition. Ancient wisdon traditions refer to the attainment of insight in ultimate or hidden truths, and to human transformation which is supported by various practices and experiences, ideologies, ethics, rites, myths, legends, and even magic may be related to them. The idea that “All is One,” as well as mystical experiences seems to lie at or near the foundation of religions. This is about an open and inclusive (i.e., Holistic) vision of the world as being the most meaningful and effective framework for accessing emotional well being and happiness. There is  an emphasis on the oneness of the universe and the inter-contentedness of life. Often this includes creativity, synchronicity, flow experiences, expanded states of consciousness, transcendence and self-realization. Shamanism is an ancient and ever unfolding wisdom tradition that may be 100, 000 years old or even older, and is probably the oldest spiritual tradition of our species. These ancestors discovered a path into divine experience through a natural, mystical connection with Nature. Mystical Consciousness seeks the awareness of Oneness for All. Usually during a mystical experience, there exists a simple unity, a pure consciousness, or non-duality of observer and observed. In addition to oneness, the defining features of mystical experience include feelings of sacredness, peace, and bliss; a sense of transcending time and space; and an intuitive conviction that the experience is a source of objective truth about reality. But the importance of consciousness (and under many respects even its existence) have been denied for centuries by science, due to its materialistic and reductionist assumptions. This blindness tainted psychology, and considered consciousness unnecessary for explaining human behavior and, even worse, labelled as unscientific those who tried to study it. The dogmatic beliefs of this scientific myth has produced very negative consequences not only on the development of science but also on the health of individuals and societies. This reductionism is a mistaken ideological fantasy that we could simply ignore the fact that being human is an innately numinous experience. This attempt to lop off such an enormous chunk of our emotional and cultural values has left us traumatized, dehumanized, and dangerous to our selves, to each other, and to the environment. However not all is gloom and doom. In the past few decades we have apparently learned more about the inner workings of out mind, body, and emotions than in all past decades combined. And from this we are learning how to use our minds to heal our brains and our bodies. We are learning that everything is pure energy, and that it is intelligent. So we may choose to explore the nature of reality from a more philosophical, and psychological point of views.  In the last few decades, interest in consciousness and related phenomena has significantly increased, thanks to several relevant changes in science and our culture. Nonetheless, at most universities Consciousness Studies and Transpersonal Psychology are still considered naive and unscientific fields of inquiry. Cosmic consciousness is considered to be a higher form of consciousness than that possessed by the ordinary man. The emergence of nondual awareness is an organic development. It is an interior process, of seeing what is already present inside us, rather than setting out on a path looking for something new. There is only attention and its awakening. New capacities emerge by developing dimensions of attention that go beyond our usual awareness. Unitive consciousness may first appear as a fleeting but perfect moment. It’s a snapshot of experience where time seems to stand still. Undoubtedly each of us has experienced several of these fleeting, unitive consciousness moments. As this fulfillment gets deeper and deeper, more and more complete; and you know, with a certainty that is born of experience. We can slip into unity consciousness with the same ease as we slip into the seamless embrace of water. Something very ancient, eternal within us, already trusts that this embrace will hold us. Once you’ve experienced any true union (perhaps at times of peace, acceptance, surrender, prayer, intimate sex, all authentic love), you may even feel that is what you were created for. True union does not absorb distinction, but actually intensifies it. The more one gives oneself in creative union to any other, the more one becomes oneself. The more you become yourself, the more capable you are of not over-protecting your false boundaries. After all, you really have nothing to protect. That’s the great freedom and the great happiness of truly converted people. There’s no longer a little self here to fuss over or pander to. The little self—which you thought you were—has passed away. There is an unseemly coarseness and tumult to our times that robs the grace from the fabric of our interrelatedness. At first, it sounds completely naïve to suggest that now might be the time to embark on the ancient journey from separation to union, the journey from our own self back to a state of Oneness. It is a call to a deeper spiritual consciousness by which awareness becomes “centerless” and the dichotomy of I-Other is transcended. Much of what is noisy about our times is we are beholden to surface reality: TV, Facebook, Twitter, news feeds, texting, busy daily life. Abandoning the surface of things takes something more than curiosity or a need for depth or solitude — it is to risk being moved - moved from the person we were to the person we may become. The development of the unitive experience (or nondual awareness) requires us to abandon surface impressions and patterns, to abandon what has become comfortable and to embrace a depth of being that asks us to enter that which is unknown — the depths and dimensions of silence. Silence was here before anything else, and it resides inside and around all things. It is the most primary phenomenon in existence. Nonduality is the human experience of oneness with all things; a sense of connection to and identity with the entire universe. It is intimacy with everything. In this experience, the sense of being a witness or seer of things vanishes completely, and instead you feel yourself to be whatever thing you are beholding. Nonduality means that the inner revelation and the outer expression of the personality are one and the same. The greater implication contained within such profound spiritual experiences brings to awareness the inner divisions existing within most people. Nonduality has many facets. Mystics describe the nondual experience in many ways, as loving, expansive, blissful and unitive, lacking any sense of separation. More than just a feeling, the experience conveys deep and liberating insights into the truth of life and death, self and world. Our body has an innate capacity for experiencing union. Our body is the necessary meeting point where the inward stillness meets up with the immense silence of the cosmos, and the unitive experience is born. Upon entering the great layers and folds of silence and finding the entry into this vast stillness, our lives are irrevocably changed, and a monumental transition takes place. Nonduality with Jeffery Mishlove Introduction to Nonduality Science and Nonduality (SAND) Nonduality & entanglement Non-Duality with Russell Targ - YouTube The Nondual Science Institute Nonduality in Buddhism and Eastern philosophy The Illusion Of Separation  Matter is not fundamental to reality -Bernardo Kastrup

The Soul

There is a long history of how philosophers conceived of the soul, from Plato and Aristotle through Augustine and Aquinas and on to Descartes, Leibniz, Locke, Reid, Hume, Kant and others. Intellectuals from Plato to Daniel Dennett have debated the idea of the soul. C. S. Lewis believes that "A soul is that which can say 'I am'". Dualists such as Descartes and have discussed whether we are just one body or a dual being consisting of a material substance (body) and an immaterial part (soul). Other authors consider theories by neurologists and philosophers as to the nature of consciousness and its connection with a soul. A more current debate is about interactive dualism (the notion that a separate soul acts upon the brain). But this is just a tussle between the extremes of eliminative materialism and interactive dualism, in the light of recent discoveries in neuroscientific discoveries. The arguments of those who deny the soul's existence usually fail to clearly define what the idea of what a 'soul' is, so they mostly argue against other writers who advocate the notion of an immaterial being that exists independent of the body. The greatest value of the 'soul' apparently lies in the belief that when the material body dies, the soul survives. How does it survive? What is it made of? How will it continue to create fresh memories to build on the identity of the person whose physical body is dead?  So the search for the soul continues. The following people were intereviewed by Oprah on the topic: What is the soul? Gary Zukav: The soul is that part of you that existed before you were born and that will exist after you die. It's the highest, most noble part of yourself that you can reach for. Iyanla Vanzant: The soul, I believe, is the fingerprint of God that becomes a physical body. I believe that. It's the fingerprint... It's unique to everybody. Deepak Chopra: The soul is the core of your being. It is eternal. It doesn't exist in space/time. It's a field of infinite possibilities, infinite creativity. It's your internal reference point with which you should always be in touch. DeVon Franklin: The soul is the spirit. It is the connecting line to God. I believe the soul is where the Holy Spirit resides. I believe that it is literally, you know, when you pick up the phone and then you have your 4G network? The soul is the 4G network right to heaven to me. Sarah Ban Breathnach: The soul is the spiritual essence of who we really are. Daniel Pink: The soul is, I think, our capacity to see that our lives are about something more than simply the day to day, and that we're here for a purpose. It could be connected to religion or not, but that there is a purpose of your being here. Debbie Ford: To me, the soul is a part of us that never dies. It's who we are at our core. And it carries all the messages and the lessons that we've learned in the past, and will carry all the lessons and the messages that we will carry into the future. Eckhart Tolle: The soul is your innermost being. The presence that you are beyond form. The consciousness that you are beyond form, that is the soul. That is who you are in essence. Michael Singer: The indwelling consciousness that watches the mind come and go. That watches the heart come and go, the emotions of the heart. And watches the world pass before you. You, the conscious, the consciousness, the center of being, is soul. Wayne Dyer: The soul is the birthless, deathless, changeless part of us. The part of us that looks out from behind our eyes and has no form. The soul is infinite so there is no in or out of it. It is everywhere. There's no place that it is not. Marianne Williamson: For me, it's the truth of who we are. The light, the love which is within us goes by different names, but the truth of us. Michelangelo said when he got a statue that he would go to the quarry and get a big piece of marble and the way he imagined it, God had already created the statue and his job was just to get rid of the excess marble. So that's what we're like. Inside is the being that God has already created. Some call it the Christ, the Buddha mind, the Shekinah, the light, the soul. And our job is to get rid of this excess, useless fear, thought forms of the world that actually hide the light of the soul. Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee: The soul is a divine part of our self. It is our divine nature. It is a part of us that is one with God. Everybody has a soul. It is the immortal internal part of ourselves. It never dies. It's immortal. It belongs to God. Jean Houston: I believe that the soul is the essence of who and what we are. I personally believe that it transcends our leaving this mortal coil. And I think it it comes with codes, and possibilities, and the next layers of who and what we may yet be. It is often a pain in the neck because it says, "Wake up. It's time to wake up. Don't go to sleep." I think it is also the lure of our becoming. That's what I think the soul is. Thoreau didn't fear death, he feared getting to death and realizing he was never really alive. The internet is the beginnings of the manifestation of the etheric body of humanity Links The Soul's Purpose and the cycles of evolution of humanity The Soul   on YouTube    Podcasts     Dmoz The Soul Connection Network Soul Retrieval    Shamanism    Alberto Villoldo    Villodo -YouTube New Thinking Allowed on YouTube The Soul's Purpose and the cycles of evolution of humanity

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