Everyone experiences what it is like to have an internal world and an external world. The distinction between our internal world and external world is what gives us the illusion of separateness from the external world and others. This gives rise to the sense of being an individual.
Many illusions create a gap between our understanding and truth. The Ego is a part of the mind tasked with survival of the organism. Essentially, the part in the driving seat, that has a evolutionary purpose of seeing things a certain way in order to keep us safe long enough to reproduce. A basic, but powerful system that is hard to override because it is convinced that is working for the benefit of ‘you’ – the organism. It’s most powerful tool therefore is fear. Fear that if you move outside of certain parameters your physical safety will be compromised, this makes it a very convincing player.
Many cultural traditions point to the fact that the internal world is an illusion. Buddhism in particular teaches us about the 10 fetters – illusions that we can overcome to become awakened pure life.
| 1. Self-illusion (self-identity views; belief in personality) |
| 2. Scepticism (uncertainty) |
| 3. Attachment to rules and rituals (grasping at precepts and practices) |
| 4. Sensual lust (craving) |
| 5. Ill-will |
| 6. Craving for fine-corporeal or material existence (passion for form) |
| 7. Craving for incorporeal existence (passion for what is formless) |
| 8. Conceit |
| 9. Restlessness (desperately trying to find and hold onto form in life) |
| 10. Ignorance |
Once the 10 fetters fall, one is left with the knowing that there is no knowledge, there is no form, there is no predictability, certainty, there is no ‘I’, observer or self, there is no other. There simply is. And all that is, is part of the same thing. All is one. One is all.
The trouble with no duality is that it is not a concept, but a truth that cannot be understood within the confines of standard mind. It is therefore a tricky thing to write or talk about. It may be like trying to make a blind person read words in a book. Or possibly more realistically – asking someone who has never opened their eyes before to read words from a page. When they are able to open their eyes they will be able to see what the readers were referring to. Zen masters created short stories that point towards fundamental truths. These stories are called koans.
See more on Koans here: 5 Zen Koans: Riddles for Awakening.
When we can observe these habits of mind we see how much energy is taken in trying to avoid life. Life is all encompassing oneness of now. It is ungraspable and unmalleable. Yet we build defences to keep it out of what we think we are. We spend precious energy driving separateness in order to maintain the idea of the self. We may also not accept things as they are and use energy deluding ourselves into thinking things are a certain way. We move away from life by completely detaching from it by creating an imaginary future realm that has no bearing on reality. With this arises stress. In the words of Eckhart Tolle “Stress is a sign that you have lost the present moment. The future has become more important than life itself.”
With the entry into non-duality there is an abrupt realisation that it is not possible to know anything because all there is, is flow. You are not a rigid observer witnessing the universe in flow, you are also non-formed and part of the flow. When this becomes apparent you stop battling with the reality of the nature of everything, saving energy that was wasted on constructing a false reality. This surplus of energy can help you connect with the flow and you can experience many mystical experiences and states of bliss.
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