Non Duality: What Is It? And How to Know You’re There?

The teaching of non-duality is free from any form. And that’s why words can only do so much. In this article we will try to present it to you as closely as possible. And if your mind fails to grasp, just know that it isn’t up to the mind to grasp this, because non-duality is something way bigger than the mind.

The teaching of non-duality teaches us that we are all one, and that we all come from the same source – consciousness. Everything is empty of its meaning and relies on us to assign it its meaning. Things are not only empty, but dependent on each other. Non-duality teaches us to abandon any polarities in thinking we might have, such as “this is good, and this is bad.” We rise above it and perceive the world in a different way. We understand that the good is what defines the bad, and that without a left there would be no right. When you’ve grasped non-duality, you might:

experience feelings of awe or wonder
reperceive everything you think you know about yourself and your past
feel gratitude and surprise at life lessons behind and ahead of you
start seeing things as one. “I am the other you.”
stop judging and leave space only for compassion, love and selflessness
stop seeing things or people on the basis of their physical properties. You see past the physicality of beings and right into their souls.

The Glass Is Half-Full and Half-Empty at the Same Time

One of the highest achievements of human intelligence is to be able to hold and understand different opposing ideas in our minds at the same time. Chocolate is good and bad for you. People can be good and bad at the same time. Some of the most devastating events of our lives can turn out to be some of the best ones because of what followed after them and the way we coped.

Take a look at manure. Icky isn’t it. But without it a rose wouldn’t grow into its full beauty. So, one needs to love their manure. Love your shit. It will take you to the most amazing places if you trust your path.

TV is Bad

For example, I grew up during Milosevic’s rule in Serbia (former Yugoslavia). Milosevic was an infamous dictator who was later sentenced for war crimes against humanity in the International Court of Justice in Hague. This was a terrible time for the whole country, especially for us refugees who escaped to Serbia from the war in Bosnia. Things were crazy, needless to say. And in all that craziness, where we were literally fighting for survival (think of people fighting over a loaf of bread), my family didn’t spend much time raising me. They were too focused on getting our basic needs met. So, in that crazy, I grew up mostly watching TV. In some ways, I could say the TV raised me! Sounds sadish, but that TV taught me English. And today I am able to write this article to you, thanks to all that shit we’ve been through!

Can I then say that TV is bad?

Duality Is at the Root of Our Suffering

Duality happens when we entertain two opposing concepts such as love and hate, right or wrong, good or bad. In the world of non-duality, such opposing concepts do not exist. Everything becomes one. And like we mentioned above, from the manure grows a rose. The rose can’t be separated from the manure. It will not exist as it is now without it. There is no left without a right. How would you know that left is left if there was no right?

Most people operate from a place of duality. Me vs you, us vs them, and so on. We condemn some things, and approve of others. The byproducts of it are judgment, hatred, separation. That’s what ego does for us. It separates me from everything else. However, we sure need our ego in this life. It’s what Rupert Spira, a non-duality teacher, said in his lecture: “You have to be a good, strong, well-adapted ego to hear this teaching.”

What’s the solution? Understanding how interrelated everything is. Without you reading this article, there would be no me to write it. I guess that’s what famous rock stars mean when they thank their audience for being there. Would Freddie Mercury exist in the form we know him, if there was no audience to love and acknowledge him? Perhaps he would have been an accountant if it wasn’t for his audience? He’d be singing in his garage if there weren’t for us?

What Is Non-duality

Non duality realization is being free from mind conditioning. It is the absence of mind labeling and to stop seeing things in polarities. It is the realization that all we see is 1% of God (higher self) projection. And that this is the natural state of the human psyche. You are awareness experiencing itself. The only ultimate reality is consciousness, or awareness. Everything else, including physical reality, is born out of consciousness. Pure awareness is the witness of everything you experience who does not get affected or involved. It is that famous example in meditation classes, where you imagine your thoughts to be clouds coming and passing through. And what remains is the sky. Clean sky. You are that sky. You are the universe experiencing itself.

There is a famous quote attributed to Nikola Tesla: “The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena, it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of its existence.” Science has explained millenia later what spirituality already knew. Everything is made up of energy, and everything is one and comes from the same source.

In the most simple terms, non-duality means singularity. That we all come from one and the same source, that we are all one. The concept of non-duality is mentioned in every religion. In Greece, it’s monism, in Orthodox Christianity it is also the concept of two becoming one. In Hinduism, it is Advaita Vendanta.

Buddhist Take on Non-duality

Buddhism teaches us that everything is interrelated. And ultimately, empty of its form because it is us who label things and assign meanings. Moreover, “all things are empty of their own inherent or intrinsic existence because they are all relative to causes and conditions” (Buddhist concept of emptiness by Paul Williams) – back to our Freddie Mercury example.

What makes a cup a cup? What makes a pillar be a pillar? If we all just agreed, the pillar would have a completely different function. It would be a place to which people come to lean their elbow on. Can you imagine a pillar that serves to stop, make a break, lean on and talk to others who are leaning there as well? A pillar for leaning on when you are in need of a break. How crazy does that sound to you right now?

Zen Take on Non-duality

In Zen, words are thoughts to limit us from deeper understanding of our existence. That’s why they focus on “bringing about new awareness as a flash of insight, rather than a gradual process. Instead of training the mind to think more, the task is to think less, to perceive the world directly, clearly, and with no preconceptions.” (The Wabi Sabi Way: Antidote for a Dualistic Culture? by Cooper, Tracy M.)

For this purpose they use Koans. Zen practitioners try to give an answer to the question “Who experiences all this?” You verbalize this question and then remain in an open awareness of the question, without trying to give an answer. Keeping the question in mind is the practice

Zen practitioners focus on “lessening of the ego, loosening of the self, and unlearning of dualism permits a state where creativity can begin.” (Cooper, Tracy M.)

Challenges in Grasping Non-duality

As you’re reading this, you are relying on your perception of these words and your background experience to make a connection, to grasp the concept of non-duality. However, you must remain aware of the fact that your perception is not reality. Reality is limitless and your perception is limited. It is just an opinion, a viewpoint. And it is limited by your experiences. And if you’ve never experienced something, how can you know it exists? Alternatively, we can’t think that something doesn’t exist just because we haven’t experienced it.

Ego Death

Ego death is a complete loss of subjective identity and a transcendence of the self. The term Jung uses is psychic death and refers to a fundamental transformation of the psyche. It is when everything you believed about yourself stops being the truth.

Ego death is necessary for grasping non-duality. However, as marines say in the United States – everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die. Yet, an ego death is usually necessary for true transformation. This not only fosters presence, but also humility. Understanding we are all unique, but no one is “special”. And the even better quote about what a truly healthy ego means is: “you don’t think less of yourself, you simply think of yourself less” (Carl Jung).

If you think ego death seems hard, do a little test: try to pinpoint a sense of I right now. If you feel you’ve found it, look a bit closer. See if there is anything of substance in your sense of I.

Antidotes to Duality

Expressing gratitude for the life lessons we encounter. Just say “Thank you.”
Accepting to be humble and surprised at the results life lessons give us.
Every time you draw a conclusion, ask yourself: “Is it really so?’ Or add a phrase to your assumption: “Or not.”
Remembering that real nondual teaching is empty of any formula, and that words are ultimately useless.

When Do You Know You’ve Grasped Non-duality?

If you are on this path, you start seeing things as one. “I am the other you.”
You stop seeing things or people on the basis of their physical properties. You see past the physicality of beings and right into their souls.
And when the judgment of others stops to exist, then there is only love, compassion and selflessness.
To practice this philosophy, you need to operate from your heart, not your mind. The mind is still limited. It’s limitless and limited at the same time! Just like the glass is half-full and half-empty at the same time.
Many feelings such as awe or wonder can happen as a byproduct of non-duality.
Your sense of being a witness to the world is gone. There is no more separation between you as the subject and the world as the object being observed as separate from you.

However, grasping the concept of non-duality takes time. And just like we wrote in our article on gaslighting and how to recognize, spiritual truths can get abused and misused. One should not rush with grasping it. You can’t force it. If there is trauma present, you need your time to acknowledge it, grieve and process it. Nothing should be forced.

Conclusion: Grasping Non-duality. Now What?

Non-duality is an advanced teaching. But it is also the most inherent and intuitive one. It feels most primal and natural and not just to you, but to all things. That one inherent nature of all is consciousness and there is only one consciousness.

So, now what? Try to apply this teaching, as you walk the park, observe things and people. Go to your sky, the one behind the clouds and observe the world from that space. Try to apply this in your relationships and conversations to see how many less conflicts you will have.

Tatjana Glogovac, Senior Contributor At L’Aquila Active

Learn more about Tatjana by reading her bio below.

Click on link below to meet L’Aquila Active’s entire team of experts, including university degrees, certifications, and credentials on yoga and meditation:

MEET OUR EXPERTS HERE