the non-dual understanding
addresses two essential questions
one
how may we be free of suffering
and find the lasting peace and happiness
for which all people long above all else
and two
what is the nature of reality
in relation to the first question
the non-dual approach suggests that
happiness is our essential nature
or simply that we are happiness itself
we might then ask
if happiness is our essential nature
why is it not experienced all the time
and the answer is simply this that
whilst all people have a sense of being
or
knowing their self
not all people know their self clearly
it is this
absence of clear self knowledge
that is responsible for the feeling of
lack that
accompanies most people’s lives
and drives them to seek fulfillment
in objects substances
activities
states of mind and relationships
if you are watching this video
the chances are that the search for
happiness in objective experience has
failed you sufficiently often
to make you doubt
that it can never be truly found there
the non-dual understanding suggests not
in fact it suggests that
in order to find lasting peace and
happiness
one must know the nature of oneself
as one essentially is
as such
self-knowledge is considered to be
not only the means by which peace and
happiness may be found
but
the very experience of happiness itself
it is for this reason that
the non-dual teaching starts with an
investigation
into the essential nature of our self
and you can find a video giving an
introduction to
self inquiry in this section of the
website
this
clear knowledge of oneself
is also the basis of the second aspect
of the non-dual understanding
namely the recognition that reality is
an infinite
indivisible whole
made of pure consciousness
from which all separate objects and
selves borrow
their apparently independent existence
everything we know or experience is
mediated through the mind
and therefore the mind’s
knowledge of anything can only ever be
as good as its knowledge of itself
in order to know what anything truly is
that is what reality truly is
the mind must first know its own
essential nature
therefore the investigation
into the nature of the mind
must be the highest endeavor
upon which any mind can embark
and the knowledge of its essential
nature
the highest knowledge
thus whether we
approach non-duality as a means of
finding lasting peace and happiness
or more philosophically
as an answer to the ultimate question
about the nature of reality
we begin with an investigation
into the nature of our self
this understanding is
found at the heart of all the great
religious and spiritual traditions
and is expressed in the particular
language
of the time and place
in which it arose
for instance in
christianity it is said i and my father
are one
that is
the essence of our self
and the ultimate reality of the universe
are the same
in the sufi tradition
whosoever knows their self
knows their lord
that is
whoever knows the essential nature of
their self
knows the ultimate reality
of the universe
and in buddhism
samsara
and nirvana
are one
meaning the nature of the world
and the essence of the mind
are identical
indeed
the words know thyself
carved above the entrance to the temple
of apollo at delphi
indicate that at the very foundation of
western civilization
lies the non-dual understanding
that our knowledge of our self
is not only the means by which lasting
peace and happiness may be found within
an individual
but is also the basis
for peace amongst individuals
communities and nations
and must as such
be the foundation of any truly civilized
society
