Nondual Awareness The purpose of this meditation is to recognize nondual awareness as the primary layer of experience,
And to realize the peace and freedom of that.
Nondual simply means not to.
Nondual awareness is recognition of the indivisible unity of awareness itself,
Prior to the differentiations of conceptualization.
In other words,
There is an indivisible unity of awareness and of experiences prior to the interpretive lenses of thought and language that are layered on top.
To realize this is like coming home to our primary knowingness,
Clarity,
Peace,
And being.
The reason we don't recognize the nondual nature of perception is that our minds immediately interpret this primary felt sense of direct,
Immediate,
Nondual experience with thoughts about experience,
With labels,
Stories,
Value judgments,
And identifications.
This happens so instantly and so subconsciously we don't realize it's happening.
We divide the primary unity of experience into separate subjects and objects,
And get caught up in the ups and downs of identification that are created in our minds.
We fail to recognize the indivisibility,
Openness,
And knowingness of awareness that underlies and gives birth to all experiences.
The conceptually organized contents of consciousness come to the foreground,
And we are unaware of the underlying,
Direct,
Nondual perception which is primary,
And of the background of awareness itself within which all of this arises.
Because the conceptualized contents of consciousness are separated,
Partial,
Ever-changing and conflicting,
We are never fully satisfied,
And we suffer as a result.
We are forever seeking something that the conceptualized contents of consciousness cannot supply,
The indivisible unity of experience,
And the unchanging peace of awareness itself.
So in this meditation we return to the indivisible unity of immediate experience,
And the steadfast peace of awareness,
Nondual awareness.
Let's begin very simply.
Sit comfortably upright.
Rest your hands in your lap,
And lightly close your eyes.
Open to a felt sense of being.
Are there any boundaries to that felt sense of being?
Does it begin or end?
Is it possible,
Rather than resting in being,
To rest as being?
As being,
Is anything lacking?
Is there anything special you need to do,
To be?
Is this felt sense of being familiar?
Rest as this felt sense of being.
Rest as being itself.
As being,
Are you aware?
Inquire deep into the root of your experience.
Trust in the knowingness of experience.
What is the one thing you know for sure?
As Rupert Spira so aptly points out,
It is this,
I am aware.
I am aware is a fundamental datum of experience,
Which is covered over with the contents of consciousness,
So we lose touch with that which enables experience,
Awareness itself.
Awareness is that within which experiences arise,
That which knows experiences,
And the very substance of experiences,
That from which experience is made.
There is only awareness with its contents,
Which are expressions,
Modulations,
Or apparent activity of awareness itself.
Are you aware right now?
Yes,
You're aware.
What is the nature of awareness?
Inquire into it.
Explore the subtle felt sense of awareness itself.
This spaceless space.
This dimensionless origin of experience.
Let go,
And rest as awareness itself.
Silent.
Wordless.
Indivisible.
Undefinable.
Now,
Let's explore the non-dual nature of sensory experience.
All experiences are non-dual first.
Prior to thinking about an experience or reflecting upon it,
There is no separation of a perceiver and what is perceived.
There is simply the experience itself.
Prior to conceptualization,
Experience is non-dual.
We impose subject-object duality when we think about an experience,
Describe it,
Ascribe meaning to it,
Or explain it to ourselves or others.
You assign yourself a position in relation to an experience,
So there is now a you who is having the experience.
You layer that on top of the non-dual sensory experience itself,
In which there is simply that which is experienced.
What is it like to rest the activity of the mind and simply be aware of what is present?
Listen to the sounds that are present.
Can you notice that sounds occupy the whole space?
No inside,
No outside.
Simply sound.
There is simply that.
Non-dual arising of sound.
Open your eyes and look at something in front of you.
Are you aware of that?
Observe what is in front of you in terms of its shape,
Size,
Color,
Texture.
Without labeling it,
Giving it a name or assigning meaning to it.
Simply perceive it as a raw sensory experience.
Be aware simply of shape,
Size,
Color.
Are you aware of these qualities?
Now feel the space between you and the object.
Are you aware of this space?
Lightly close your eyes again and let a thought arise of waking up this morning.
Are you aware of this thought,
This image?
Listen to me speaking.
Are you aware of me speaking?
Listen to the silence after my words.
Are you aware of the silence?
Put your hand over your heart.
Are you aware of the sensation of your hand on your chest?
The body sensation of touching your chest?
Rest your hand in your lap again.
Are you aware of your hand resting in your lap?
Being aware or awareness itself accompanies all these experiences.
Awareness is the one element common to them all.
Being aware is the one thing that stays the same.
Everything else changes.
Every thought,
Feeling,
Perception,
Plan,
Idea,
Concept,
Past,
Future,
All the contents of consciousness,
They all change.
Everything you know or are aware of changes.
Being aware,
Awareness itself,
The knowing of being aware,
Stays the same throughout all modulations of experience.
There is always awareness,
Non-dual knowing awareness,
Shining upon and through all experiences.
What is awareness?
It is really so simple,
Subtle,
And ever-present,
So intimate,
Closer than close.
It is that which knows experience,
That which enables experiences to shine forth.
Be aware of awareness itself.
Let go of attending to anything in particular.
Rest in choiceless attention.
When you let go of attending to anything in particular,
When attention is choiceless,
The arrow of attention dissolves,
And there is simply awareness itself.
Prior to content,
Non-dual awareness itself shines forth.
The dimensionless origin of all experiences shines forth when there are no contents to cover it.
Rest in choiceless attention,
And rest the activity of the mind.
Let go of doing anything.
Simply remain present.
Simply aware.
Effortlessly aware.
When the activity of the mind is still,
What remains?
When the mind is silent,
What remains?
Rest as what remains.
Prior to content,
Let go,
And rest as awareness itself.
The dimensionless origin rests as knowing awareness.
Indivisible,
Dimensionless knowingness.
Now,
Feel the space of your body arising within this indivisible,
Open,
Dimensionless knowingness.
Your body appears as a felt sense of a seemingly inner space within knowing awareness.
Slowly open your eyes and be aware of the space of your body within the space all around as one space of awareness.
Your sense of individuality appears within awareness like a point of awareness in an infinite field of awareness,
A wave in the vast ocean of awareness itself.
What would it be like to live as indivisible,
Welcoming the play of life in all its apparent diversity,
Appreciating the mystery of how it all appears,
While remaining as steadfast,
Peaceful,
Knowing awareness as being itself underneath and through it all?
What if you are non-dual,
Not indivisible?
Take a moment to reflect on your meditative experience along with any insights and inspirations.
Well done.
Thank you.
