Nonduality and Divine Love
The examination of duality and nonduality is a vast field of inquiry. These terms are used in many different spiritual and philosophical traditions. For the academics and scholars reading this post, I present the disclaimer that I am not a expert student of this term as it is commonly used today in either western philosophy or Buddhist thought. My background is Vedic Science, which upholds the truth that we are the microcosm of the macrocosm; that reality is essentially One. In Vedic Science, Atman, the individual soul, is in essence Brahman, the totality of existence.
The concepts of duality and nonduality are presented here in terms of the way that they interface with the experience of Divine Love.
The concepts of duality and nonduality are presented here in terms of the way that they interface with the experience of Divine Love.
Even if you don't personally believe in this view of the world, your ancestors may have, and they reside within your body at the level of DNA. Your ancestors and their beliefs are present within your heart and mind at a fundamental level.
One of the values of energy healing is that it can help ancestors feel more comfortable with a expanded view of reality. Energy healing incorporates a nondual view of creation and allows the establishment of new mental and emotional patterns which support inner progress. Wherever the souls of your ancestors are, right now, they are continuing to evolve and grow. Expanding their awareness and their belief systems is entirely within their range of potential. As the ancestors evolve through energy healing, DNA upgrades.
This nondual outlook may be new in the west, but in the east it is ancient, existing in some of the earliest recorded spiritual texts of mankind---the Rg Ved and Upanisds of India, for instance. In these ancient traditions, nondualism means that the Divine Creator is enmeshed in the creation to the smallest detail and has been so since the beginning of the manifestation process. All is One and God is All that Is. "Having created the creation, the Creator entered into it." --Taittiriya Upanisand, 2.6.1.
Similarly, in Buddhism, nonduality is a pervasive concept. The Heart Sutra says that "Form is emptiness; emptiness is form..." The fact that forms (phenomena) are empty does not mean that forms are meaningless. It means rather that emptiness and phenomena are two sides of the same coin. The Dalai Lama calls emptiness “the true nature of things and events,” Phenomena have no independent existence. We know this also from quantum physics. But this does not mean that everything is devoid of meaning. On the contrary, every moment of life is significant. The Buddhist concept of emptiness is embedded with this positive value, as exemplified by the life of the Dalai Lama himself. Another great Buddhist saint, Shunryu Suzuki said of emptiness, “I do not mean voidness. There is something, but that something is something which is always prepared for taking some particular form.” He once also said, “Emptiness is like being at your mother’s bosom and she will take care of you.”
Truth is one. The wise know it by different names. Nondual traditions find Divinity within the each of us because we are all part of the Wholeness...or Emptiness, if you prefer.
Similarly, in Buddhism, nonduality is a pervasive concept. The Heart Sutra says that "Form is emptiness; emptiness is form..." The fact that forms (phenomena) are empty does not mean that forms are meaningless. It means rather that emptiness and phenomena are two sides of the same coin. The Dalai Lama calls emptiness “the true nature of things and events,” Phenomena have no independent existence. We know this also from quantum physics. But this does not mean that everything is devoid of meaning. On the contrary, every moment of life is significant. The Buddhist concept of emptiness is embedded with this positive value, as exemplified by the life of the Dalai Lama himself. Another great Buddhist saint, Shunryu Suzuki said of emptiness, “I do not mean voidness. There is something, but that something is something which is always prepared for taking some particular form.” He once also said, “Emptiness is like being at your mother’s bosom and she will take care of you.”
Truth is one. The wise know it by different names. Nondual traditions find Divinity within the each of us because we are all part of the Wholeness...or Emptiness, if you prefer.
It can be argued that both nondual and dual philosophies provide value and explanations about the human experience. However, there is no question in my mind that the dualistic paradigm has prevented the growth of the heart value in the western world. Our ancestors accepted the idea that they were sinners, born into a material world of trials and tribulations which separated them from the Divine kingdom. This belief supported the experience of suffering and feelings of being unworthy of love.
A nondual view, on the other hand, allows for an intimate union between perceiver and perceived. If one accepts one's Divine nature as reality it becomes easy to be self-accepting, not in a vain way but in the same way in which we honor the Divine in all things.
A nondual view, on the other hand, allows for an intimate union between perceiver and perceived. If one accepts one's Divine nature as reality it becomes easy to be self-accepting, not in a vain way but in the same way in which we honor the Divine in all things.
Accepting for a moment that the initial point of manifestation of the universe and of ourselves was a self-referral act of the Creator, and that the unfoldment of creation is a natural consequence of that original act, then one cannot deny that all aspects of the universe are essentially Divine and intimately connected.
So where does Divine love come into this picture? Human expression is a continuum from pure Divine Being to physical form. We can think of love as a law of Nature which is present at every point in that continuum. At various levels of density, love takes on different characteristics and expressions. At the subtlest levels of the being, love's expression is closest to pure Divine Love.
Nondualism implies the whole continuum of love's expression is accessible to the soul's inner perception. Dualism presumes that human awareness cannot fathom the heavenly realms of experience and therefore cannot appreciate the tenderest expressions of love.
Divine Love is that infinity which resides at all levels of manifestation simultaneously. When we experience ourselves ranging from the depths of pure inner silence to the most outward expression of manifestation, then we develop the facility to explore the finest, most profound expressions of love, Then true Divine Love naturally and spontaneously unfolds through life's experience. This development is a combination of the experience of finer aspects of creation, the growth of emotional strength, and the capacity to sustain more intense experiences of bliss through devotion.
The decision to see Divinity in all things is a choice. The intention to explore love in the celestial and causal realms near the Source of creation is a choice. Selecting these life options has a highly transformative effect on the heart center within us.
The richness of emotional intensity at the finest levels of non-material manifestation can be overwhelming at first. The key is to apply awareness systematically in comfortable doses, then integrating what one has gained before experiencing more. This will result in an overall change in the way in which we experience our existence. Nonduality and Divine Love will become a living reality.
The richness of emotional intensity at the finest levels of non-material manifestation can be overwhelming at first. The key is to apply awareness systematically in comfortable doses, then integrating what one has gained before experiencing more. This will result in an overall change in the way in which we experience our existence. Nonduality and Divine Love will become a living reality.
From a material point of view, the act of devotion stabilizes Divine Love faster than any other type of behavior. Simple acts of devotion spiritualize our engagement in the world of friends, family and relationships. Through dedication to the upliftment of all those with whom we interact, awareness of Divine Being in all beings blossoms. Ultimately all acts of devotion originate within one's own Divine Being and flow to the Divine within others. Then personal experience upholds the understanding that there is only the Divine interacting within its own nature for the sake of the evolution of its multiple expressions. Each of us is an antenna of Being intimately connected to each other through our Source.
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