Personal Development for Smart People Forums - View Single Post - Non-duality

ethereal · 04-10-2007, 04:55 AM

I've had a lot of trouble with nondualism for a long time, but I'm finally starting to get a little bit of it

The main thing about nondualism isn't that ugly and beauty are the same and they don't exist -- it is that there is only one variable, beauty and non-beauty. It isn't that there's an "on" and "off", there is only "on" and "not on".

So we don't say good and bad are the same, we just say that there are degrees of one variable, good.

This takes away all concepts and leaves only the Truth.

All dualities are based on concepts only, and these concepts are relative depending on what position you take on them. For you, something might be "good", but for others, it may be "bad." That means that "good" and "bad" are just relative labels and not Reality, for relativity does not exist in Reality. In Reality, something just is what it is. Labeling it "good" or "bad" is extraneous and distorts reality.

That's what nondualism is all about -- seeing everything as it is, without conceptual filters by the ego. We don't equate good and bad, we just see that everything is just what it is. You still pick what is good for you, but you live in the Reality of Oneness and not in the conceptual reality of the mind.

For belief in dualities shapes experience. If you believe that "good" and "bad" exist as two independent variables, then there arises superiority over choosing "good", righteousness about being "good", judgment of what is "bad", fear of the "bad", a "war" happening between the "good" and "bad" guys, etc. All this is a conceptual reality, but if you believe in it, then that shapes your experience.

But if you only see degrees of good, then you see that people are just being who they are, and they can't be any different. They only see what they think is good for them, and that's their choice. You choose what you think is good for you. Then everybody is good, and they're all being as good as they can be, and the world is perfect as it is. There's no need to hate "bad" people, they're just ignorant in choosing lesser degrees of good. You can help them choose higher degrees of good, but in the end it's still their choice.

Notice how this removes layers of extraneous concepts that feeds on juicing negativity? Because every duality contains a positive/desirable side and a negative/undesirable side, and if you take one position then the other position automatically becomes negative. But once you collapse the duality, then negativity doesn't have to arise anymore. Everything is just what it is, and that is not different than the Ultimate Reality which is Love.

04-10-2007, 04:55 AM	#8 (permalink)
ethereal Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 586	I've had a lot of trouble with nondualism for a long time, but I'm finally starting to get a little bit of it The main thing about nondualism isn't that ugly and beauty are the same and they don't exist -- it is that there is only one variable, beauty and non-beauty. It isn't that there's an "on" and "off", there is only "on" and "not on". So we don't say good and bad are the same, we just say that there are degrees of one variable, good. This takes away all concepts and leaves only the Truth. All dualities are based on concepts only, and these concepts are relative depending on what position you take on them. For you, something might be "good", but for others, it may be "bad." That means that "good" and "bad" are just relative labels and not Reality, for relativity does not exist in Reality. In Reality, something just is what it is. Labeling it "good" or "bad" is extraneous and distorts reality. That's what nondualism is all about -- seeing everything as it is, without conceptual filters by the ego. We don't equate good and bad, we just see that everything is just what it is. You still pick what is good for you, but you live in the Reality of Oneness and not in the conceptual reality of the mind. For belief in dualities shapes experience. If you believe that "good" and "bad" exist as two independent variables, then there arises superiority over choosing "good", righteousness about being "good", judgment of what is "bad", fear of the "bad", a "war" happening between the "good" and "bad" guys, etc. All this is a conceptual reality, but if you believe in it, then that shapes your experience. But if you only see degrees of good, then you see that people are just being who they are, and they can't be any different. They only see what they think is good for them, and that's their choice. You choose what you think is good for you. Then everybody is good, and they're all being as good as they can be, and the world is perfect as it is. There's no need to hate "bad" people, they're just ignorant in choosing lesser degrees of good. You can help them choose higher degrees of good, but in the end it's still their choice. Notice how this removes layers of extraneous concepts that feeds on juicing negativity? Because every duality contains a positive/desirable side and a negative/undesirable side, and if you take one position then the other position automatically becomes negative. But once you collapse the duality, then negativity doesn't have to arise anymore. Everything is just what it is, and that is not different than the Ultimate Reality which is Love.