“The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences. When love and hate are both absent everything becomes clear and undisguised. Make the smallest distinction, however, and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart. If you wish to see the truth then hold no opinion for or against. The struggle of what one likes and what one dislikes is the disease of the mind.”
~Zen Scholar Sengstan, from the Hsin Hsin Ming poem

The word “non-dual” means not two. It is used to describe the true nature of reality which is undivided, unified, and inherently whole.

Yes, we look around and see separate forms. There is this and that. I am here and you are over there. We perceive an amazing diversity of people and objects.

But when the layers of thought that divide and separate are seen through, the true direct experience of reality is just pure, formless, timeless aliveness…completely at peace with itself.

Yet, somehow we all know what it’s like to hold the idea of “other.” This means that we believe something is separate from ourselves. The other could be an object, a person, a category of people, or even our own thoughts, feelings, and behavior.

What we make into the other feels different, foreign or strange. We conclude that it’s “not me,” therefore it’s something else, something other than me. We may even add in a judgment about how what we’re calling other is wrong, bad, or less than.

And this is the source of a whole lot of trouble.

So here’s an essential question: if the true nature of reality is undivided, how does division happen?

How do we end up on different sides of an argument? How do we come to define ourselves or others as less than or better than? How do we divide ourselves from our own experience?

And most importantly, how do we convince ourselves that we—and others—are separate from the divine nature of all of life?

The roots of separation begin to take hold when we identify ourselves as the one who lives in the physical body.

Our true nature is boundless and free, but if we think of ourselves as limited to the body, then we’ve immediately created a sense of other.

Simply said, it’s our thoughts that create division. The human mind is designed to think…that’s what it does..and what an amazing tool it is.

But when we believe the content of our thoughts without questioning them, we leave the oneness and intimacy with all things and enter the world of judgment, comparison, and right and wrong.

Here’s how it works. If you believe you’re right, then the other must be wrong. If you believe yourself to be inadequate, then others must be better than you. If you like something, then you don’t like something else.

These functions of the mind help us to organize our experience. If we categorize people and things, then we know where we stand. But can you feel into the pain that arises from division?

Take away the mind’s distinctions, and what’s revealed is the bare experience of reality. Right here and right now, things are as they are. And feeling into it even deeper, the idea of separate things begins to melt away.

What is? Aliveness…here…pure being…everywhere…with no division.

And how would you create division again? Start thinking.

The mind can’t conceive of the true nature of reality. The infinite, all-inclusive spaciousness—nondual reality—can only be known by direct experience. It’s beyond language, palpable, real, so alive.

The mind tries to capture this knowing…by describing it, remembering it, or imagining it. And, ironically, when we believe these thoughts, we feel separate from it. We take what is, the endless peace of the present moment, and go into our minds to make it wrong, lacking, or not okay.

These are signs of a mind in charge. Turn away from these thoughts, and what do you discover? There’s no problem to be found.

Reflect for a moment on your experience of “other.” Be meticulous in your exploration to see what thoughts you believe that may not be true. How does separation feel?

Then try this experiment. Don’t believe what these thoughts are telling you, ground yourself in presence, and come back to experience the world deeply knowing the undivided nature of reality. How does that affect your view of yourself? How does that change your view of others?

Maybe, like me, your heart is touched endlessly…

Note: If you’d like to listen to a reading of the full Hsin Hsin Ming poem (highly recommended!), please click here. This is a lovely rendition read by Ram Dass. 

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“Silence has a music of its own. It is not dead, it is very much alive, it is tremendously alive.
In fact, nothing is more alive than silence.”
~Osho

I’m going to let you in on a little secret.

If you’re interested in cultivating peace and ease in your life, if you’re looking for clarity beyond your conditioned mindsets, then you will need to have a friendly relationship with silence.

Many of us live our daily lives in the habit of thinking. We’re in our heads analyzing, planning, fretting, and trying to figure out how to be happy. We frantically move from one thing to another without space in-between.

We are firmly living the mind-driven life, stuck in a rush of mental noise.

But if you want to make a shift in your level of consciousness, it’s essential to befriend inner silence.

A few years ago, I was standing at the entrance to a street market in New Delhi that I wanted to visit. As with many places in India, it was absolutely flooded with people, wall to wall.

The first thought that came was overwhelm, “How am I going to do this?” Then silence took over. My attention shifted from the crowds of people and opened into what I could only call a vast field of silence. It was as if I was gliding forward, fully immersed in my surroundings, and completely still at the same time.

Your life becomes more sane when silence is your go-to place. It’s an anchor that lets you reset when you’re caught up in stressful thinking. It’s the secret to finding clarity when you’re frustrated or out-of-sorts.

And it’s the ground of being that is infinite, open, and free…

Turning away from the objects that bring about suffering and inward toward the silence within is like a homecoming. The momentum of suffering recedes, and there’s spaciousness, presence, and a fresh perspective on everything.

To be honest, I don’t know how to find freedom from the pull of long-standing patterns without a strong relationship with silence.

How can you cultivate silence? We might call it meditation—and it’s ultimately a way of being in everyday life.

• Take a few moments to sit quietly;
• Focus on a few breaths as you turn your attention inward;
• Be the observing presence that notices everything in form come and go;
• Then notice how this observing presence itself is silent—simply here, vast and open, the welcoming space for whatever wants to pass through;
• Rest here.

Practice relying on silence as a touchstone as you go through your day.

Being with silence has the potential to shift everything—because you’re not in your head listening to your thoughts. You’re more present with people, more accepting and compassionate, and you’re no longer driven by forces outside your control.

Turn to silence:

• When you’re bored;
• When you’re going back and forth trying to make a choice;
• When you’re lost in the complexity of programmed thinking;
• Every moment when you remember.

Be devoted to inner silence…and you’re available to discover the peace beyond peace…

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“The more evolved you become, the more compassionate you become, the more you show loving kindness to everything, to the mineral kingdom, to the vegetable kingdom, to the animal kingdom, and to the human kingdom. You show total compassion, loving kindness. You become an embodiment of love simply because everything is you.”
~ Robert Adams

There’s one thing I’ve noticed recently along the spiritual path: there seems to be no end to our capacity for compassion.

How do I know that? I keep finding the secret ways I still judge myself and others when patterns get played out or emotions take over. And as I look deeply into each one, every time I see the invitation for softening, acceptance, and as Byron Katie says, loving what is.

I can always find the capacity for compassion.

As I look deeply, I sometimes discover a subtle rejection of experiences that arise because they don’t meet my expectation of what I think should be happening.

I shouldn’t feel confused or bored. My friend shouldn’t be so upset because she should know by now that her difficult family members will never change. Another friend should stop recycling a distressing story that causes him to suffer.

Even though it’s painful—and surprising—to become aware of these resistances, I love discovering them. Each discovery is a little awakening, coming out of the fog of robotic, unconscious, divisive thinking and into the light of infinite possibility.

And in this light, over and over, I find limitless compassion.

As much as the fear-driven mind tries to avoid and fragment, it can always be met with the willingness to be intimate with what is.

And that’s how everything serves—and I mean everything. Every moment offers a unique arising of the human experience. We can react with resistance and story-telling—or open with curiosity.

We can swim in the familiar pain of fear and lack—or meet it all with the deepest acceptance and celebration.

In these times, it’s easy to get lost in the sorrows of the world. There is plenty of suffering of all kinds, and our hearts break in response to it.

But you can always bring light into your corner of the totality—right here, right now. And that changes everything.

Take a courageous moment to reflect:

• What feelings have you been avoiding—or rationalizing to yourself?
• How are your stories of judgment and blame dividing you from others?
• What “should’s” are blocking your peace and happiness?

If you’re like me, you’ll find many answers to these questions. What would it take to soften in these places of resistance?

Love is always here as the essential nature of reality. Although we may feel stuck and separate, there’s another way: the ongoing miraculous discovery of limitless compassion…

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“I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.”
~ Socrates

Today’s article is the second in our Awakened Qualities series. You can find the first one here.

If we drill down to the absolute truth of things, we see that we have no idea what is going to happen. Life just is, and it unfolds as it does.

This is true of the small, mundane moments of our lives as well as the more momentous ones. But don’t take my word for it.

• Do you know the next words that will come out of your mouth?
• Even if you work hard to make something happen and want it with all your heart—do you actually know that it will happen?
• Isn’t it true that your whole life can change in a moment—by a chance meeting, a diagnosis, or any unexpected event?

The nature of reality is completely fresh, shining with timeless brilliance. This means that we, with our human minds and personal desires, can’t possibly know what will happen.

This is the absolute truth no matter what we expect, no matter what has happened in the past, no matter how much we want something to happen.

And if we’re lulled into same old-same old, thinking things are familiar and commonplace, we’ve bought into another of the mind’s illusions. Because without applying mind-made stories, every nanosecond is utterly new.

So we’re faced with two choices.

We can stay entangled in our assumptions, expectations, and desires—then feel frustrated when they’re not met.

Or we can align ourselves with the truth that we know nothing.

The exploration of not knowing reveals how much we resist:

• Assuming things should happen a certain way;
• Thinking we know what is right for other people and the world;
• Worrying about what might or might not happen;
• Fighting against things as they are.

Or maybe we fall asleep to the essential aliveness of everything, living like we’re half-alive, because we take things for granted.

Reflecting on these ways of being, we notice we’re left in an imagined state of lack, with that sneaking feeling that something isn’t right.

This information about our inner workings is so valuable—because it points us to another possibility.

In the moments when we receive and allow—rather than expect and assume—our suffering ceases.We come alive to what is!

And we begin to follow the flow rather than struggle against it.

Feel into that possibility in your own experience…

If your mind is like mine, it cycles in a desire-driven monologue of “I want! I want! I want!” or a fear-driven stream of worries about the future. It judges others and makes you believe you’re damaged and unworthy. Or it shuts down to the freshness—”Oh, this again.”

Try calming your mind down with a full and conscious breath and tuning in with curiosity to what is alive right now. Coach your fearful mind to know that all is okay so you can show up fully to what is.

Move through the dullness of familiarity by starting with, “I don’t know” and not relying on inner programming.

This is how what to do becomes apparent. Without resistance hijacking our attention, there’s less extraneous thinking and the space to clearly recognize the natural flow of things.

We’re simply at ease, trusting the truth of the moment. And it’s beautiful—because it’s right here, totally alive, and palpably real.

Free of limitations, we enter the sacred realm of innocence and wonder. We’re available to infinite possibilities and indescribably intimate with what is.

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