Steve

Duality cannot be destroyed, so there's no point in hurling "duality bombs."

There can be fighting over words and concepts and there can be statements with the intention of presenting concepts which might be HELPFUL to those trying to deal with struggling. All language is ALWAYS conceptual but not all language is a beneficent attempt to "point to" the non-conceptual.

I have had one major "experience," which defined itself as seeing that "everything is full of nothing" (as I expressed it at the time). It arose directly from spontaneously asking myself the question "Am I perhaps not just one single thing? Then POW, a shift happened. It arose upon reading something from Douglas Harding (The "headless" guy). He wrote about how we would be seen in a photo taken from a distance of six feet. It's what we all think about when we think of a person. But then he presented the idea that we could be photographed from ALL distances, and it would still be us. So, if we were seen at a galactic distance we would "be" the galaxy. If we were seen from a sub-atomic distance we would be essentially nothing (because atoms are 99.9% "nothing"). I sort of momentarily accepted the idea that we were just as much the galaxy as we were nothing, I asked the question, and....lol...the answer was there to see. Since then I try to keep aware of myself as the "witness," by recalling the phrase "It happens by itself" in ALL circumstances -- from getting lost in thought, to any circumstance which occurs. It's a very easy "summary" of the fact that I am consciousness.

This is great. Helpful for me was when he said that hearing the thoughts of the lady next to him wouldn't be a problem like his own thoughts would be -- it's not the thoughts but the IDENTIFYING with them that's the problem. EDIT: This reminds me of a practice I once generated for myself. For everything that happens (inside or outside) I say "It happens by itself."

Ah! I won't quibble over "nonduality speak." I'm ignorant. Deluded. I'm left feeling I must "do something" -- even if I may conceptually understand that there's nothing to do and no one to do it. I expend gallons of sweat trying to realize that sweat won't help! It's funny, but at the moment I can only leave the laughter to you, for your enjoyment.

You hit on exactly how and why I find myself here: Phil's "first" youtube video: I was VERY MOVED by his view that "following happiness" is wading into a stream heading to nonduality. My practice had been so austere -- lifeless -- that it was going nowhere. My no-pain no-gain approach was not healthy. Joy is healthy! Joy CANNOT be bad (I see now, more clearly than ever, thanks to Phil's insights). I've decided to allow joy to "afflate" my practice -- which immediately caused me to vividly recall meditative "successes" in the past which inevitably came at times when joy and positivity had strong influences on my life in general. I could hardly describe how important this is for me. As for mistakes others might make conceptually regarding nonduality -- I have no say in that. Regarding Alexander's perspective I think it's not difficult to be clear that duality is a false contrivance of the mind. Anyone seriously interested in "truth" would want to see what's behind its veil, IMO. Being "happy" with a falsehood is....not the way to go (to put it nicely). I'm sure you agree.

Thanks Orb! I hope for great things on a great forum.

Hi all. I've breezed through the first few pages of this thread but not the rest, so I'm not sure whether Alexander has been "beaten into submission" by the end (j/k). But, since this is my FIRST POST on the forum I want to get something juicy in, and this seems like a hot spot for it (lol). I have two notions to punt: 1) Dualism directly implies discrimination -- the attempt to separate the "good" from the "bad;" what you want vs what you don't want. That in itself directly implies there are things you believe are bad and undesirable, and that implies that your joy -- by definition -- comes with some "non-joy." So.... 2) You don't enjoy dualism ENOUGH! IF you enjoyed every single little thing about it, without exception(!), THAT would be nonduality. My advice for someone in your "predicament" (which more or less includes myself): Enjoy MORE!