NON-DUALITY
One Substance
Oneness of All Things
Interconnectedness of All Things
Unification Theories
Theory of Everything
Evolution of Religion from Many to one is vertical, in the depths of the esoteric mystical traditions of all major religions.
Quote Vivekananda - Vedanta
"All is one substance, but it is manifested variously."
Quote Heisenberg - Physics and Philosophy - Physics
"All the different elementary particles could be reduced to one universal substance which could equally be called energy or matter, and none of the different particles should be privileged and considered as being more fundamental. This point of view corresponds to Anaximander's doctrine, and I am convinced that in modern physics this view is the correct point of view."
Quote Schrodinger - What is Life?
"Consciousness is a singular, for which there is no plural."
Ecclestiates 4:8
There is one alone, and there is not a second;
Apeiron - ἄπειρον - Primal Substance: the unlimited, indeterminate, and indefinite ground, origin, or primal principle of all matter postulated especially by Anaximander
Oneness of All Things
Interconnectedness of All Things
Unification Theories
Theory of Everything
Evolution of Religion from Many to one is vertical, in the depths of the esoteric mystical traditions of all major religions.
Quote Vivekananda - Vedanta
"All is one substance, but it is manifested variously."
Quote Heisenberg - Physics and Philosophy - Physics
"All the different elementary particles could be reduced to one universal substance which could equally be called energy or matter, and none of the different particles should be privileged and considered as being more fundamental. This point of view corresponds to Anaximander's doctrine, and I am convinced that in modern physics this view is the correct point of view."
Quote Schrodinger - What is Life?
"Consciousness is a singular, for which there is no plural."
Ecclestiates 4:8
There is one alone, and there is not a second;
Apeiron - ἄπειρον - Primal Substance: the unlimited, indeterminate, and indefinite ground, origin, or primal principle of all matter postulated especially by Anaximander
![Picture](/uploads/4/5/1/6/4516117/published/264673495-10220070953393656-1710956811221548730-n.jpg?1639600953)
"Eternity is in love with the productions of time” - William Blake
Since time Immemorial the human species has looked up at the stars in wonder, and spontaneous Universal questions emerge from the depths of our collective soul, What is This? Who Am I? Why am I here? Where did I come from? What is the nature of reality?, etc. Almost all spiritual traditions, along with the pure sciences like Physics, attempt to answer such questions.
Humans like to find a truth or set of principles that can explain everything; and this pursuit of Truth is usually after That which underlies the world of phenomena, the myriad "productions of time".
While no answer will ever be complete, I think our modern understanding of the Universe, especially from physicists and mystics, is as close as ever to uncovering this Secret, at least as much as the highest reaches of the intellect can accomplish. And in One word, this mystery is Non-duality, or rather the Non-duality of Ultimate reality. This book will hopefully try to show that this word is not one where there is a simple definition, but rather it points to the Ultimate mystery that in its final understanding must be realized. We will surround it with science, philosophy, mystical accounts and metaphors, to get a better feel for it, but this understanding can only take us to the edge. In the end we need to jump in and experience the wetness and depths of the ocean of Nonduality.
The Non-duality of Ultimate Reality implies there is radically Only One Substance, One Spirit, One God, One Universal Consciousness, One Primordial Awareness, One Great Void, Space or whatever word you want to attach to this ultimate mystery that is far far beyond all names and forms even though it contains them all. In the final analysis, all these words point to the same Source of everything and all, and when I use them in different contexts, keep in mind they are all One and the Same.
This non-duality is not only a profound oneness within all the realms of the Kosmos, but also on a lesser level, it is also a profound Oneness within all of knowledge at its core. In particular to this book, there is a deep Non-duality between Science and Religion, they are "Not 2", but are expressing in different ways the same Final Mystery of Mysteries.
All the unification theories in Physics have at their Omega point, a profound sameness with the experience of the mystics of all Religions, which you could say is the highest Wisdom in that frontier. These higher states of mystical experiences of Oneness reverberate with the same fundamental fragrance of the goal of the Unified theories of physics. That is, science and Religion, share a common endpoint, a common Truth, a common Substance and Sameness at their respective highest levels.
The paths both take are poles apart, with Religion reaching upwards towards a Pantheon of Gods and Goddess, Commandments, Laws and Beliefs, sweeping from a hard duality between creature and Creature upwards to a Final embrace of Godhead as Godhead, with Creature and Creator no longer two, but one and the same. The very eyes you see the world with are the eyes of God, with the seer, the act of seeing and the seen also God. There is only God everything the eyes can see. [Monotheistic religions claim One God, but yet there is still an inherent duality between God and His (or Her) Creation.
But despite the apparent duality in the Worlds Exoteric religions, each has a mystical non-dual Esoteric branch. The exoteric is the Outer teaching of each of the worlds religions, the esoteric in the mystical core. Some religions like Mahayana or Zen Buddhism and Advaita/Yogacara Hinduism have less of a division between the two, but they are more the exception. This core is sometime referred to as the Perennial Wisdom or Perennial Philosophy, and it is something that all mystics and esoteric Religions agree upon. Even in Christianity, there is Mystical Christianity perspective, in Islam, there is Sufism, Judaism there is Kabbalists to give a few examples. These esoteric sects or branches seek to realize God or Ultimate reality directly through introspection, contemplative prayer, meditation, japa (repeating the name of God), etc. In the final analysis, the Perennial Wisdom is not theory or teaching but a direct experience of Non-duality referred to as Enlightenment, the Great Awakening, Moksha, Liberation, Nirvana, etc. But until we have this Realization, it is helpful to understand the theories of non-duality, and to re-organize and inspire the body-mind to take up practices or contemplations to see the Always Already truth of Non-duality: that there is only Enlightenment, Only Oneness (more on the nondual practices - if you can even call them that - later).
Despite the grandiose philosophical-metaphysical foundations of most esoteric traditions that have at their aim of inferring the Unity of all existence from first principles, this esoteric truth itself cannot be transmitted by means of logical demonstration or metaphysical arguments alone, but rather through direct and intuitive seeing of the truth. The loftiest Nondual metaphysics and philosophies come from those who have had this highest nondual realization.
Science takes a different route starting with Democritus through Newtonian physics, Field Theories of Electrodynamics and Relativity, and finally culminating in the Non-dual mystery laced in Quantum field theory, and the current quest for a quantum theory in gravity, most notably in String Theory, M-theory and Loop Quantum Gravity, both of which arrive at One final Substance and One set of equations describing the Non-dual universe we live in. But like Religion, Science is still riddled with duality with most Physicists still ascribing to Scientific Materialism and searching and grasping for interpretation of Quantum Mechanics like the Many Worlds model that allow for an Objective Reality outside of our Subjective experience (which itself can be explained as an epiphenomenon of the brain). Scientific Materialism which is admittedly Atheistic is a stubborn belief that just like Fundamentalism in Religion, is hard to shake off the collective consciousness even though it contradicts the very theories it uses and studies.
And for me personally understanding how both divergent disciplines of Material Science and Spiritual Religion arrive at the same conclusion allows for a richer and deeper understanding and clarity that Non-duality really is how things are, how everything is, and will always be. Whether you start with matter in Science with its mathematical core, or Spirit with Religion beliefs and practices, both wrap around the One Common Mystery. Though clothed in very different garbs, when stripped to the core, they, and all fields of knowledge and experience, share the same Naked Truth. Non-duality always preserves Unity, and it is never divided and will always remain so. For how could Oneness separate itself from itself? There is nothing outside of Oneness for there is no outside (or inside).
We'll first explore this Oneness in Science, and then take the quantum leap to common peak of all Religions, Enlightenment, which allows for an experience of this complete and utter Oneness.
Since time Immemorial the human species has looked up at the stars in wonder, and spontaneous Universal questions emerge from the depths of our collective soul, What is This? Who Am I? Why am I here? Where did I come from? What is the nature of reality?, etc. Almost all spiritual traditions, along with the pure sciences like Physics, attempt to answer such questions.
Humans like to find a truth or set of principles that can explain everything; and this pursuit of Truth is usually after That which underlies the world of phenomena, the myriad "productions of time".
While no answer will ever be complete, I think our modern understanding of the Universe, especially from physicists and mystics, is as close as ever to uncovering this Secret, at least as much as the highest reaches of the intellect can accomplish. And in One word, this mystery is Non-duality, or rather the Non-duality of Ultimate reality. This book will hopefully try to show that this word is not one where there is a simple definition, but rather it points to the Ultimate mystery that in its final understanding must be realized. We will surround it with science, philosophy, mystical accounts and metaphors, to get a better feel for it, but this understanding can only take us to the edge. In the end we need to jump in and experience the wetness and depths of the ocean of Nonduality.
The Non-duality of Ultimate Reality implies there is radically Only One Substance, One Spirit, One God, One Universal Consciousness, One Primordial Awareness, One Great Void, Space or whatever word you want to attach to this ultimate mystery that is far far beyond all names and forms even though it contains them all. In the final analysis, all these words point to the same Source of everything and all, and when I use them in different contexts, keep in mind they are all One and the Same.
This non-duality is not only a profound oneness within all the realms of the Kosmos, but also on a lesser level, it is also a profound Oneness within all of knowledge at its core. In particular to this book, there is a deep Non-duality between Science and Religion, they are "Not 2", but are expressing in different ways the same Final Mystery of Mysteries.
All the unification theories in Physics have at their Omega point, a profound sameness with the experience of the mystics of all Religions, which you could say is the highest Wisdom in that frontier. These higher states of mystical experiences of Oneness reverberate with the same fundamental fragrance of the goal of the Unified theories of physics. That is, science and Religion, share a common endpoint, a common Truth, a common Substance and Sameness at their respective highest levels.
The paths both take are poles apart, with Religion reaching upwards towards a Pantheon of Gods and Goddess, Commandments, Laws and Beliefs, sweeping from a hard duality between creature and Creature upwards to a Final embrace of Godhead as Godhead, with Creature and Creator no longer two, but one and the same. The very eyes you see the world with are the eyes of God, with the seer, the act of seeing and the seen also God. There is only God everything the eyes can see. [Monotheistic religions claim One God, but yet there is still an inherent duality between God and His (or Her) Creation.
But despite the apparent duality in the Worlds Exoteric religions, each has a mystical non-dual Esoteric branch. The exoteric is the Outer teaching of each of the worlds religions, the esoteric in the mystical core. Some religions like Mahayana or Zen Buddhism and Advaita/Yogacara Hinduism have less of a division between the two, but they are more the exception. This core is sometime referred to as the Perennial Wisdom or Perennial Philosophy, and it is something that all mystics and esoteric Religions agree upon. Even in Christianity, there is Mystical Christianity perspective, in Islam, there is Sufism, Judaism there is Kabbalists to give a few examples. These esoteric sects or branches seek to realize God or Ultimate reality directly through introspection, contemplative prayer, meditation, japa (repeating the name of God), etc. In the final analysis, the Perennial Wisdom is not theory or teaching but a direct experience of Non-duality referred to as Enlightenment, the Great Awakening, Moksha, Liberation, Nirvana, etc. But until we have this Realization, it is helpful to understand the theories of non-duality, and to re-organize and inspire the body-mind to take up practices or contemplations to see the Always Already truth of Non-duality: that there is only Enlightenment, Only Oneness (more on the nondual practices - if you can even call them that - later).
Despite the grandiose philosophical-metaphysical foundations of most esoteric traditions that have at their aim of inferring the Unity of all existence from first principles, this esoteric truth itself cannot be transmitted by means of logical demonstration or metaphysical arguments alone, but rather through direct and intuitive seeing of the truth. The loftiest Nondual metaphysics and philosophies come from those who have had this highest nondual realization.
Science takes a different route starting with Democritus through Newtonian physics, Field Theories of Electrodynamics and Relativity, and finally culminating in the Non-dual mystery laced in Quantum field theory, and the current quest for a quantum theory in gravity, most notably in String Theory, M-theory and Loop Quantum Gravity, both of which arrive at One final Substance and One set of equations describing the Non-dual universe we live in. But like Religion, Science is still riddled with duality with most Physicists still ascribing to Scientific Materialism and searching and grasping for interpretation of Quantum Mechanics like the Many Worlds model that allow for an Objective Reality outside of our Subjective experience (which itself can be explained as an epiphenomenon of the brain). Scientific Materialism which is admittedly Atheistic is a stubborn belief that just like Fundamentalism in Religion, is hard to shake off the collective consciousness even though it contradicts the very theories it uses and studies.
And for me personally understanding how both divergent disciplines of Material Science and Spiritual Religion arrive at the same conclusion allows for a richer and deeper understanding and clarity that Non-duality really is how things are, how everything is, and will always be. Whether you start with matter in Science with its mathematical core, or Spirit with Religion beliefs and practices, both wrap around the One Common Mystery. Though clothed in very different garbs, when stripped to the core, they, and all fields of knowledge and experience, share the same Naked Truth. Non-duality always preserves Unity, and it is never divided and will always remain so. For how could Oneness separate itself from itself? There is nothing outside of Oneness for there is no outside (or inside).
We'll first explore this Oneness in Science, and then take the quantum leap to common peak of all Religions, Enlightenment, which allows for an experience of this complete and utter Oneness.
![Picture](/uploads/4/5/1/6/4516117/published/2018-10-20-14-51-25-1.png?1639869176)
“In the gap between subject and object lies the entire misery of humankind.”
–Jiddu Krishnamurti
Division and separateness (otherness) - the BIG problem in the world. The problem behind all personal, social and global problems. It is this idea of otherness that needs to be addressed on FIRST the personal level, then social and global levels as well.
Do an experiment - look outside your window and what do you see? I live on the river and see my yard, the river, trees, sky, sun, clouds, birds, and other objects connected to my house. But I still see these things as outside myself, THOUGH in theory, I understand all is One. It is a VERY persuasive illusion or trick the senses and our brain plays on us creating this separateness.
At a personal level, I do still struggle with “others” — and if I am honest with myself, it is because I have my own self-appointed agenda (as do most people) for myself, and still identify with my body, personality, emotions and mind to a degree.
And yes I still find myself battling colleagues, competitors, the cable and phone company...lol, who don’t quite see the world our way. Sound familiar? Well welcome to the world as seen through the Ego!
But the problem exists on much bigger levels then the personal.
Global Divisions -the Big 3
Religion: Many Religions are very divisive, thinking their way is the only way and look upon others as outsiders.
Country: People identify with their Country and see other people in other countries as "other"
Race: People identify with people of their own ethnicity/language and see other people in other countries as "other"
Social Divisions
Too many to name, they are EVERYWHERE from diets (vegan) to politics (this is a biggie) to sports to college groups like fraternities to companies and their competitors to car enthusiasts to wealthy clubs to hundreds and hundreds of groups you can identify yourself with and see an OTHER... For example, vegans see meat eaters as Others... Democrats see Republicans as Other...
Just go to meetup.com and find dozens or hundreds of groups in your area!
Otherness is a disease that is only growing with more and more groups to identify with and see more otherness!
We need to reverse this trend. We can still be apart of these groups, the KEY is just do not identify with any of them.
We need to go from otherness to UNITY/ONENESS. And as we'll see in this module, this is an INNER journey done in silence, meditation, contemplative prayer, or any TRUE technique that helps you to realize the eternal SELF.
What, then, is the value of non-separation? Because there is no real or lasting peace in constantly being driven by the ego-self and its divisive agendas of self-aggrandizement, because it is antithetical to our true nature. Our real Self.
Picture
“Who sees the second?” asks Sri Ramana Maharshi, while explaining Advaita, the path of nonduality. “First, the ego arises and sees objects as external. If the ego does not rise, the Self alone exists and there is no second.”
In the very act of seeing a second, the oneness of the Universal Self is breached. But most of us don’t know any other way to be. Othering is the way in which we are conditioned to make sense of the world, a process that begins in infancy when we are taught to identify with a name, parents, family, an identity.
“The sense of separateness is the root cause of misery,” explains Sri Anandamayi Ma, “because it is founded on error, on the conception of duality. This is why the world is called duniya (based on duality).”
To exist in separation, then, when our true nature is nondual, is why we suffer. “The whole world is yours, of your Self, your very own – but you perceive it as separate, just as you see ‘others,’” says Sri Anandamayi Ma. “To know it to be your own gives happiness, but the notion that it is apart from you causes misery. To perceive duality means pain, conflict, struggle and death.”
A radical shift in perception, then, from ‘them’ to ‘us’ , from ‘many’ to ‘one’, and from ‘ego’ to a universal sense of ‘Self’ is the ESSENCE of spirituality and in my opinion what this world NEEDS MOST!!!
Hidden Oneness
The quantumly entangled and interconnected Kosmos has a hidden Oneness which contains the deepest truth of all religions, philosophies and yes even science.
The measurement problem in quantum mechanics is PART of the reason we LOSE this quantum oneness and interconnectedness.
The other issue is we are too attached to our sensory mind and do not meditate to still the mind so we can go beyond the illusion of duality and separateness and Realize and Experience the Oneness of the ALL.
True renunciation is giving up the idea of separateness, not things.
–Jiddu Krishnamurti
Division and separateness (otherness) - the BIG problem in the world. The problem behind all personal, social and global problems. It is this idea of otherness that needs to be addressed on FIRST the personal level, then social and global levels as well.
Do an experiment - look outside your window and what do you see? I live on the river and see my yard, the river, trees, sky, sun, clouds, birds, and other objects connected to my house. But I still see these things as outside myself, THOUGH in theory, I understand all is One. It is a VERY persuasive illusion or trick the senses and our brain plays on us creating this separateness.
At a personal level, I do still struggle with “others” — and if I am honest with myself, it is because I have my own self-appointed agenda (as do most people) for myself, and still identify with my body, personality, emotions and mind to a degree.
And yes I still find myself battling colleagues, competitors, the cable and phone company...lol, who don’t quite see the world our way. Sound familiar? Well welcome to the world as seen through the Ego!
But the problem exists on much bigger levels then the personal.
Global Divisions -the Big 3
Religion: Many Religions are very divisive, thinking their way is the only way and look upon others as outsiders.
Country: People identify with their Country and see other people in other countries as "other"
Race: People identify with people of their own ethnicity/language and see other people in other countries as "other"
Social Divisions
Too many to name, they are EVERYWHERE from diets (vegan) to politics (this is a biggie) to sports to college groups like fraternities to companies and their competitors to car enthusiasts to wealthy clubs to hundreds and hundreds of groups you can identify yourself with and see an OTHER... For example, vegans see meat eaters as Others... Democrats see Republicans as Other...
Just go to meetup.com and find dozens or hundreds of groups in your area!
Otherness is a disease that is only growing with more and more groups to identify with and see more otherness!
We need to reverse this trend. We can still be apart of these groups, the KEY is just do not identify with any of them.
We need to go from otherness to UNITY/ONENESS. And as we'll see in this module, this is an INNER journey done in silence, meditation, contemplative prayer, or any TRUE technique that helps you to realize the eternal SELF.
What, then, is the value of non-separation? Because there is no real or lasting peace in constantly being driven by the ego-self and its divisive agendas of self-aggrandizement, because it is antithetical to our true nature. Our real Self.
Picture
“Who sees the second?” asks Sri Ramana Maharshi, while explaining Advaita, the path of nonduality. “First, the ego arises and sees objects as external. If the ego does not rise, the Self alone exists and there is no second.”
In the very act of seeing a second, the oneness of the Universal Self is breached. But most of us don’t know any other way to be. Othering is the way in which we are conditioned to make sense of the world, a process that begins in infancy when we are taught to identify with a name, parents, family, an identity.
“The sense of separateness is the root cause of misery,” explains Sri Anandamayi Ma, “because it is founded on error, on the conception of duality. This is why the world is called duniya (based on duality).”
To exist in separation, then, when our true nature is nondual, is why we suffer. “The whole world is yours, of your Self, your very own – but you perceive it as separate, just as you see ‘others,’” says Sri Anandamayi Ma. “To know it to be your own gives happiness, but the notion that it is apart from you causes misery. To perceive duality means pain, conflict, struggle and death.”
A radical shift in perception, then, from ‘them’ to ‘us’ , from ‘many’ to ‘one’, and from ‘ego’ to a universal sense of ‘Self’ is the ESSENCE of spirituality and in my opinion what this world NEEDS MOST!!!
Hidden Oneness
The quantumly entangled and interconnected Kosmos has a hidden Oneness which contains the deepest truth of all religions, philosophies and yes even science.
The measurement problem in quantum mechanics is PART of the reason we LOSE this quantum oneness and interconnectedness.
The other issue is we are too attached to our sensory mind and do not meditate to still the mind so we can go beyond the illusion of duality and separateness and Realize and Experience the Oneness of the ALL.
True renunciation is giving up the idea of separateness, not things.