Real-World Nonduality Read online

  Real-World

  Nonduality

  —Reports from the Field

  NEW SARUM PRESS

  UNITED KINGDOM

  New Sarum Press, 6 Folkestone Road, Salisbury, SP2 8JP United Kingdom

  www.newsarumpress.com

  Copyright © New Sarum Press 2018

  First printing December 2018

  ISBN: 978-1-9993535-1-3

  Cover image: My Child Is My World by Robert Saltzman

  Table of Contents

  Introduction by Greg Goode

  Synopses

  Acknowledgements

  The Direct Path and Parenting by Kavitha Chinnaiyan

  Religion and the Direct Path by Terry Moore

  Confessions of an Experience Junkie by Steve Diamond

  The Windows in My Head by Zachary Rodecap

  The Direct Path and Causality by Priscilla Francis

  Release the Releaser by James N. Hurley

  An Enquiry into Space by Kim Lai

  When Two and Two Are Really One by David Boulter

  The Direct Path and Emptiness by Sandra Pippa

  Berkeley and Blake: An Extended Look at Objectivity by John Lamont-Black

  Any Day Now I Shall Be Released: On Not Being “Finished” on the Direct Path by Stephen Joseph

  About the Authors

  Reading List

  Appendix: The Heart Opener

  Introduction

  by Greg Goode

  Many years ago I attended a week-long retreat given by a well-known teacher of nonduality. There was a group of psychotherapists present, and this was their first exposure to the message of nonduality. I happened to be sitting near them during the morning break. They were excited but confused, and I heard a bit of their discussion.

  “This changes everything.”

  “We must completely rethink psychotherapy.”

  “Let’s have an emergency meeting after lunch.”

  This happened almost two decades ago, before the advent of the specialty sometimes called “nondual psychotherapy.” It’s just one example of what happens when everyday life encounters nonduality.

  This is a book of essays by new writers about how their encounters with nonduality have impacted their lives (see Note from 2018). I’ll say more about nonduality below, but briefly, I mean the intimacy and inseparability of things. For many people, as well as those psychotherapists, the first encounter with nonduality can feel shocking.

  What about the other areas of life? Those areas are what this book is about. The essays here discuss what happens to a wide variety of life situations when nonduality enters the picture: career, parenting, traditional religion, addiction, disease, death, perception, thought, and the very idea of being “enlightened.”

  The Direct Path Approach to Nonduality

  There are many possible approaches to nonduality. The approach referred to in these essays is the “direct path” teaching that flows from Sri Atmananda (Krishna Menon) and those who have been influenced by his work, including Jean Klein, John Levy, Ananda Wood, Francis Lucille, Rupert Spira, myself, and a few others. I’ve included a short reading list at the end of this collection.

  We will be discussing how this approach and the insights that come with it may be woven into daily life. It is deeply experiential, not theoretical. It begins with the intuition of a sweet, abiding clarity that seems to lie behind experiences and seems to illuminate at least the pleasant ones. We bring our attention to this clarity in various ways, such as self-inquiry, body-sensing yoga, resting as awareness, mini-reminders, guided meditation, and even long walks. We discover that clarity and sweetness illuminate all experiences. This is because clarity is the nature of experience. And sweetness is the aroma of clarity.

  I’m sure that essays like the ones in this book could be written about many other varieties of nondual teaching as well. The direct path is just one way to talk about nonduality. It is not new or unique.

  Regular people tell it like it is

  But this book does offer something new. It offers a series of views from the trenches. The writers are new at writing about nonduality. They are not claiming enlightenment. They are not writing from the perspective of a guru or satsang teacher. They are regular people writing in a down-to-earth way about how nonduality has impacted their lives. They are discussing situations faced by students of nonduality everywere.

  This approach is different. It may even be revolutionary. Many texts on this subject are written in a “mountaintop” style, as though the author has ascended to some important level, proclaiming down to the reader. If Martians were to land on earth and examine the average nonduality library, they’d conclude that this is the only way to communicate.

  Several of our writers have noticed this too. In discussing their backgrounds with me, they mentioned being told by teachers that, “only the enlightened should write about spiritual topics.” The argument goes that if anyone else tried, they’d cause “a loss of purity.” This would result in “the blind leading the blind.”

  We are ignoring these directives, for several good reasons. First, what is being said when a teacher utters these things?

  “I am enlightened and pure; I can write about these things. You aren’t, so you can’t.”

  Besides sounding arrogant and narcissistic, this pronouncement takes itself seriously. It assumes a world view that nondual inquiry subjects to deep scrutiny. Nonduality examines the idea of an enlightened or unenlightened person and finds the idea to be nonsense. This is primarily because the more we search for “who” is enlightened or unenlightened, the less we find. And secondarily, most nonduality teachings caution us against taking seriously the adjectives “enlightened” and “unenlightened.” These labels are like any others, such as “teacher,” “student,” or “construction worker.” Even if they function in practical, day-to-day matters, they fail to refer to anything findable, anything really present.

  We are ignoring these anti-writing directives mainly because there’s no way to put communication in a box. No one can control it. Spiritual writing is already too vast. Writing to teach, to “lead,” is just one mode. We have teacherly tomes in nonduality, some of which I have written. We have masterful collections of dialogues with Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta Maharaj, and Sri Atmananda (Krishna Menon).

  But communication doesn’t have to be didactic. For example, Buddhism has generated many modes of spiritual writing. But as far as I know, nonduality has nothing that parallels works like Rodger Kamenetz’s well-known The Jew in the Lotus,1 Georges Dreyfus’s insightful The Sound of Two Hands Clapping,2 or David Chadwick’s fascinating Thank You and OK!: An American Zen Failure in Japan.3

  I simply can’t find any reason that reportorial, confessional, and observant pieces like these shouldn’t exist in the field of nonduality. Perhaps this book is a small start. Readers may find it a useful springboard to look at nonduality from different angles or learn that someone else is experiencing the same issues they are going through.

  In the next section you will find synopses of the essays that follow. I’ve chosen a rough order that proceeds from more concrete issues to more abstract ones.

  Note from 2018

  Writing in November 2018, I look back and see that this book has been in the works for more than three years. It’s been a coordinated effort among writers, editors and proofreaders. Because the group consisted of new, unpublished writers, we even enlisted the services of a professional writing coach (along with yours truly) to help those who requested it. In the early days, we even had exercises and practice assignments!

  Since the pro
ject began in July, 2015, we’ve had life changes, illnesses, recuperations, and death in the family. People have moved house, changed their day jobs, retired, taken up hobbies and passionate new interests in life. And some people have begun writing, publishing and conducting spiritual teaching. I mention this because when the project began all our contributors were indeed new writers. But by the time this book became available, several have been writing and sharing elsewhere.

  Note on UK English and US English Spelling

  Individual essays may have USA or UK English spelling, as appropriate to each author’s background.

  About the proceeds

  We will be donating the proceeds from this book to the Centre Against Abuse in Bermuda (www.centreagainstabuse.bm).

  1 Kamenetz, R. (2009) The Jew in the Lotus: A Poet’s Rediscovery of Jewish Identity in Buddhist India, Harper One 2 Dreyfus, G. (2003) The Sound of Two Hands Clapping: The Education of a Tibetan Buddhist Monk, University of California Press 3 Chadwick, D. (2007) Thank You and OK!: An American Zen Failure in Japan, Shambhala

  Synopses

  Parenting

  Kavitha Chinnaiyan writes about her two daughters and the impact nonduality has had on her parenting. She discusses how various kinds of meditations have helped her avoid projecting her own hopes, desires, and identity issues upon her two daughters. These meditations have helped Kavitha see her daughters for what they are, and not as miniature versions of herself. Nonduality has helped her love in a more unconditional way.

  Religion

  Terry Moore has been a member of a Sufi order for many years. He writes about encountering nonduality after practicing Sufism for a long time. Sufism, as he was practicing it, had become dry and conceptual. Nonduality and its inquiries into experience helped Terry discover the experiential elements already present in Sufism, along with their concomitant liveliness and joy.

  Addiction to Peak States

  In “Confessions of an Experience Junkie,” Steve Diamond describes his former addiction to subtle spiritual states, and how the addiction dissipated with the help of nondual inquiry. Steve was caught in a tricky cycle with those states, which would never remain permanently. Not only did he seek these states for the good feelings that resulted, but he also interpreted them as signs of enlightenment. Through nondual inquiry, however, Steve realized that what he really wanted from these states was always present as his true nature.

  Perception

  Zachary Rodecap discusses how his materialist worldview was severely challenged by nonduality. He was accustomed to thinking of his senses and mind as providing an accurate picture of how the world is. But this way of thinking is subjected to radical investigation in nonduality. Zachary discusses his struggles with this investigation, as well as a key insight that helped him along the way.

  Causality

  Priscilla Francis writes about causality. As an inquisitive child, she enjoyed investigating life. But as she matured and encountered disconcerting life situations, her investigations turned solemn and distressing. At this point Priscilla longed to be rid of her tormenting doubts on the substance and significance of life. Her fervor inspired her to explore a wide range of spiritual options. When she discovered nonduality, she found that the nondual approach to causality helped her see her compelling questions in a very different light. As she found freedom from her need for absolute answers, she discovered that many aspects of day-to-day living became lighter and freer as well.

  Spiritual Identity

  James Hurley discusses how nonduality helped him get past a roadblock put up by another path. As a practitioner and teacher of the Sedona Method, James was able to release any unpleasant feelings that came up, but he still hadn’t found the lasting peace he was looking for. Through guidance from a nonduality teacher, James realized how the Sedona Method was a valuable technique for working with feelings, but not the tool to go “all the way.” At some point, even the Method must be released, as well as the “releaser” identity it can create.

  Space

  Kim Lai writes about his difficulties inquiring into the notion of “space.” Kim had always liked spacious places like ocean horizons and mountaintops, and had taken space and physical objects for granted as foundational parts of reality. But he didn’t think about space as a concept until he became interested in nonduality. Kim heard a lot of nonduality teachers dismiss space as illusory. But since space seemed so real to him, he concluded that he’d better do some inquiry about it. He recounts some of his contemplations and shows how spatial assumptions pervade our thinking. These assumptions can even work their way into nondual inquiry. But spatial assumptions are not necessary, and Kim describes how he was finally able to realize the nondual nature of space.

  Truth

  David Boulter, a mathematics teacher, discusses how nondual inquiry helped free him from the need to have true conceptual answers to his metaphysical questions. He recounts an inquiry about mathematical truth. What about the supposedly rock-solid truth “2+2=4”? We think of it as reliable a truth as anything can be, and counting on such truths can be comforting. But nonduality would consider it a mere concept with no reference to anything objectively true. In view of nonduality, David considers the question, is math just false? Does nondual insight mean that he should quit his job and go join an ashram?

  Emptiness

  Sandra Pippa recounts how studying Madhyamaka Buddhism4 made a significant impact on the way she engages with non-

  duality. Years ago, when she first met with nonduality in the School of Practical Philosophy, she found it to be a deeply inspiring message wrapped up in a dogmatic and sexist social context. By studying the Madhyamaka emptiness approach, Sandra was able to gain freedom from the type of thinking that attributes objective truth to spiritual teachings. This freedom allowed her to distinguish the timeless spiritual message of nonduality from certain socially flawed presentations, and gave her a more liberated appreciation of the direct path.

  Existence

  John Lamont-Black writes as a scientist who struggled with objectivity, the idea that things exist outside of awareness. Objectivity felt convincing and obvious to him. But in nonduality, this feeling is held to be the root of our sense of separation and angst. John describes an attempt he made to explain objectivity, so that objectivity would be compatible with nondualism. But in deeper inquiry, he discovered his explanation, and conception of objectivity itself, to be nothing more than mythical.

  Enlightenment

  In the touching essay “Any Day Now I Shall Be Released,”

  Stephen Joseph describes the frustration of fifteen years on the nondual path without a successful conclusion. This has meant fifteen years of wanting “enlightenment” but not achieving it. Stephen discusses the self-doubts and feelings of inadequacy that can accompany nondual inquiry. And even though these very feelings can be subjected to nondual inquiry, his desire for the goal remains. His frustration has made him wonder whether there are more suitable paths for him. But so far, the most promising approach has been to investigate the various assumptions behind the idea of “being done.”

  * * *

  The essays in this book illustrate the many ways that nonduality affects daily life. The writers come from many different countries. Since nonduality is about everything, nothing is left out. So it’s natural that people will have struggles as well as triumphs. Nonduality is also a culturally “thin” teaching. Besides encouraging insight and love, it doesn’t prescribe what we should think or do in life. This openness leaves room for nondual wisdom to manifest itself in many ways.

  4 Madhyamaka states that all phenomena are empty, so that they have no independent essence or solid, separate existence. All phenomena arise only in relation to other phenomena and thus everything is mutually dependent on everything else for its existence.

  Acknowledgments

  I’d like to thank the Radius Foundation, whose kind support made possible the edit
orial services of Abigail Tardiff. This book features essays from new writers, most of whom have never written at length about the topics herein. Consequently, Abby’s sharp eye, encouraging presence, and love for the written word have been immensely helpful.

  The Direct Path and Parenting

  by Kavitha Chinnaiyan

  “ My children are my greatest teachers. They hold up for my inspection all the beliefs and views that remain from my long-standing conditioning. The process of raising them brings up my greatest fears, limitations, and flaws. They give me no room for inauthenticity and demand total honesty in all my dealings, even those that don’t involve them. They call me out on disparities, bringing my hidden inner conflicts to the surface. Their innocent eyes illuminate the dark places in me where fears and anxieties form the unseen strings that manipulate their lives.”

  Like most parents, I can divide my life neatly into two parts: the one before my children came along and the one after. When I held my newborn for the first time, I felt my heart fall away into a space I had not known existed. I tried speaking to this beautiful creature, finding that no word seemed adequate in that glimpse into absolute love. When her sister arrived two years later, I hadn’t anticipated that this sense of falling away would deepen as it did. I stroked her head with its mass of curls, once again unable to speak for fear of breaking the spell. The sweetness that each of them brought to my world was akin to mystical experiences of my own distant childhood. I’ve grown and evolved along with my children.