Entry 15: Nondualism
Awakening to the Fource
Connectedness is the core characteristic of reality. A quiet practice reveals this. When we allow ourselves to be truly still and breathe mindfully, something extraordinary happens. It is as if we can feel the energy of everything. This profoundly altering experience of oneness, facilitated by quiet practices, has transformed my life.
This Fource Beyond Perception site is inspired by rodding — a quiet practice that coincides with an experience of oneness. Unifying my everyday consciousness with an ongoing experience of connection to the universe has radically altered how I interact with myself, my spouse, friends, family, kids, clients, and students. When you know, deeply know, oneness, there is no turning back.
Clarifying which quiet practice facilitates this type of knowing for yourself is both a gift to yourself and to the cosmos. When we know what we are meant to do, all aspects of life improve. For that reason, learning tools and practices that can open the door for this type of clarity is one of the best choices you can make.
Every day that we choose to prioritize stillness and BE-ing, we compound our ability to gain information beyond perception. Valuing quiet time is the foundation for awakening to the unity of the cosmos.
Being in the Fource
In this section, I will share information I obtained through a rodding session (for more info, check out The Rodding Method before you continue reading here). I hope you find this information informative and inspiring, but that is honestly not why I share it. I share it in order to contribute to the ever-growing pool of information about the universe.
Be.
Many beings think of themselves dualistically — they have a body and a mind.
But conscious experience is actually a unity of body and mind — a system of sorts.
Systems take into account parts and the whole.
A system cannot exist nor can it be understood without its parts.
From conscious experience, beings gain valuable insights into the nature of themselves and reality.
Just as conscious experience cannot be understood without body and mind, neither can reality.
Systems, unity, and interdependence define all that exists.
For beings to evolve into more selfless creatures, the centrality of systems must be made evident.
Connection is the start of understanding.
The mind-body system is one example of the interconnectedness of life.
Clues like it abound, and yet many beings continue to live in isolated and selfish ways.
This is not the way.
The universe is a unity and a plurality.
Everything functions together as a system.
Taking responsibility for the system is beneficial for all parts of the system.
Be open to more information.
Messengers are all around you.
Go in peace.
Following the Fource
In this rodding session, connection and nondualism emerge as fundamental themes. After transcribing the first couple messages of the session, I found myself reflecting on my undergraduate studies, most especially my philosophy coursework.
A couple of my favorite courses were Philosophy of Mind, Existentialism, and Free Will & Moral Responsibility. In each class, we analyzed the human experience and aimed to identify which theories might be most valuable in shaping our habits around matters of ethics. We explored many different theories, but one of the most transformative revelations was that, contrary to popular belief, our bodies and minds are not separate, but rather, deeply interrelated. As our knowledge of matter and our tools for studying it have improved, it has become much more compelling to think that our minds and bodies are bound together in a highly complex system.
Learning this altered not only our understanding of ourselves, but reality as a whole. When we discovered that everything is fundamentally energy and that energy is neither created nor destroyed it only changes form, nondualism became the new lens for reality.
Moreover, if all that exists is composed of the same energy, we are all connected — more deeply than we can truly fathom. Our conscious experience, however, creates a sustained illusion of separateness. We see separation before unity. This has flawed and undermined our sense of value and our fortitude in the face of hardship. But if we follow the patterns built into the fabric of reality, we see connectedness permeates through all its layers.
All beings play a part in the system. When we take ownership of our part of the system, the whole system benefits. Leading with wisdom and compassion is an illustration of a deep knowing. Integrating the everyday actions and advocating for the larger ecological, societal, and economic policies that support future generations of life is valuable. It is what we are failing to do enough of.
Each of us have a gift to share, a part to play, in the universal system. We must remind each other of that.
