How to understand Non Duality proper.

[Dontaskme]

The nondual community and people like DAM often touted and peddled nonduality as if it is something great and they are superior people.
(I have had such altered states of consciousness in various forms, it is nothing great)

In essence consciousness is not a state, it's this direct immediate self-shining stateless state of BEING experientially self-evident.

Dam herself has never experienced an altered state of consciousness. Consciousness does not need to approach itself in any way shape or form via artificial stimulants such as hallucinogenic drugs or alcohol, which are just appearances interacting with other appearances causing the illusion of separation and is counter intuitive to what is actual direct experiential Non-duality.

To claim I am experiencing an altered state of consciousness ... is all ego.

Non-dual Consciousness is already this OBVIOUS self-evident proof of BEING - you are IT...and IT does NOT need a prover.

Non-duality which is just another word for Oneness or Consciousness or Beingness or Awareness...is a stateless state and does not require any altered states of consciousness in order to be experiential, it's already directly manifesting right now as you, you already are Non-duality/Oneness/Being. You do not need to reach a state in order to be who you already ARE.

Any attempt to approach what you already ARE via altered states...is all egoic fantasy ( within the dream of separation)

To have an altered state of consciousness is to claim knowledge of such a state. All knowledge, truth claims belong to the thinking mind. Thinking is a mental function that conceptualises experience, it's nature is to measure and define, thereby separating things.

See that when you ''do not know'' like when the thinking mind is silent - there is no separation. But in order to mind/think/ know -there is a knowing there also available. So both knowing and not knowing have to exist in the same moment.
Non-duality is the experiencial answer to the one question ''who am I'' ? when the thinking mind is silent.

So in that silence there is knowledge of being ''no one'' and this is experiencial, but the knowledge of being ''someone'' is the thinking mind of duality. So you are both being and not being simultaneously. And that is Non-duality. . Two but not two.

Non-duality is understood experientially and not via the ''thinking mind'' which causes Duality that negates Non-duality.

See that when you ''do not know'' the thinking mind is silent and there is no discontinuity to being. The thinking mind on the other hand dams up the boundless flow of BEING causing what is essentially ''Boundless Noumena'' to appear bound.

To claim Non-duality as having a neural basis has nothing to do with direct experience of Non-duality, any truth claim and you are right back in the conceptual thinking mind again.

Non-duality CAN NOT be understood or experienced via the thinking mind.

.

[Veritas Aequitas]

The nondual community and people like DAM often touted and peddled nonduality as if it is something great and they are superior people.
(I have had such altered states of consciousness in various forms, it is nothing great)

In essence consciousness is not a state, it's this direct immediate self-shining stateless state of BEING experientially self-evident.

Dam herself has never experienced an altered state of consciousness. Consciousness does not need to approach itself in any way shape or form via artificial stimulants such as hallucinogenic drugs or alcohol, which are just appearances interacting with other appearances causing the illusion of separation and is counter intuitive to what is actual direct experiential Non-duality.

To claim I am experiencing an altered state of consciousness ... is all ego.

Non-dual Consciousness is already this OBVIOUS self-evident proof of BEING - you are IT...and IT does NOT need a prover.

Non-duality which is just another word for Oneness or Consciousness or Beingness or Awareness...is a stateless state and does not require any altered states of consciousness in order to be experiential, it's already directly manifesting right now as you, you already are Non-duality/Oneness/Being. You do not need to reach a state in order to be who you already ARE.

Any attempt to approach what you already ARE via altered states...is all egoic fantasy ( within the dream of separation)

To have an altered state of consciousness is to claim knowledge of such a state. All knowledge, truth claims belong to the thinking mind. Thinking is a mental function that conceptualises experience, it's nature is to measure and define, thereby separating things.

See that when you ''do not know'' like when the thinking mind is silent - there is no separation. But in order to mind/think/ know -there is a knowing there also available. So both knowing and not knowing have to exist in the same moment.
Non-duality is the experiencial answer to the one question ''who am I'' ? when the thinking mind is silent.

So in that silence there is knowledge of being ''no one'' and this is experiencial, but the knowledge of being ''someone'' is the thinking mind of duality. So you are both being and not being simultaneously. And that is Non-duality. . Two but not two.

Non-duality is understood experientially and not via the ''thinking mind'' which causes Duality that negates Non-duality.

See that when you ''do not know'' the thinking mind is silent and there is no discontinuity to being. The thinking mind on the other hand dams up the boundless flow of BEING causing what is essentially ''Boundless Noumena'' to appear bound.

To claim Non-duality as having a neural basis has nothing to do with direct experience of Non-duality, any truth claim and you are right back in the conceptual thinking mind again.

Non-duality CAN NOT be understood or experienced via the thinking mind.

.

You got it wrong.

All unconsciousness states [altered and unaltered] within a living person cannot be understood & experienced directly via the thinking mind.

For example the thinking mind normally do not experience nor understand what is going on when one is sleeping, dreaming or in other state of unconsciousness.

However in more deeper states of sub and altered states of consciousness, the thinking mind can infer the states of non-waking consciousness from various subsequent activities that follow when the person wakes up from it.

Normally, the thinking mind do not experience sleep consciousness of the person. But one can infer from one feelings before sleep and after sleeping. One can easily check the time one has lost waking consciousness from a normal clock.
In addition one can make inferences of various experiences when a person is half-asleep or in lucid dreaming.

All the above can be supported by a neural basis verified via research using monitors attached to the brain during sleeping and dreaming.

The point is, whatever it is,

• -with nonduality there is always a time-period factor within a living person.
  -a time-period factor within a living person ALWAYS and imperatively entails neural activities.
  -therefore nonduality has a neural basis.

there is no way you can refute the above.

As for nonduality, those who have experienced such a state have narrated their experiences.
If you claim such experiences cannot be narrated, then you are lying.

The point is, with gnat-brain like yours, how can you have credibility over the famous nondualists who reported their own state of nonduality from various inferences.

Note this point;

Insight (prajna, kensho, satori, gnosis, theoria, illumination), especially enlightenment or the realization of the illusory nature of the autonomous "I" or self, is a key element in modern western nondual thought. It is the personal realization that ultimate reality is nondual, and is thought to be a validating means of knowledge of this nondual reality.
This insight is interpreted as a psychological state, and labeled as religious or mystical experience.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nondualis ... experience

There are tons of research going on in the study of this supposedly nondual state of , e.g.

Dr. Andrew Newberg is a neuroscientist who studies the relationship between brain function and various mental states. He is a pioneer in the neurological study of religious and spiritual experiences, a field known as “neurotheology.” His research includes taking brain scans of people in prayer, meditation, rituals, and trance states, in an attempt to better understand the nature of religious and spiritual practices and attitudes.
http://www.andrewnewberg.com/

Andrew Newberg specialize in the investigating the experience of long term spiritual practitioners who reported to have had experience of nondual states.

Note this;

Although this state of consciousness may seem to appear spontaneous,[note 1] it [nondual state] usually follows prolonged preparation through ascetic or meditative/contemplative practice, which includes ethical injunctions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nondualism#cite_note-4

Those who experience nondual state spontaneously or out-of-the-blue are normally those who suffer from some kind of traumatic experiences, mental illness, brain damage, taking drugs/hallucinogen, perverted practices, etc.

Since you have a gnat-brain and your so called experience of nondual is not from some sort of spiritual path, it would be wiser to check with a psychiatrist.

[Dontaskme]

"The concept, often described in English as "nondualism," is extremely hard for the mind to grasp or visualize, since the mind engages constantly in the making of distinctions and nondualism represents the rejection or transcendence of all distinctions. The world perceived through the senses, the phenomenal world as we know it, was described in early Buddhism as "empty" because it was taught that all such phenomena arise from causes and conditions, are in a constant state of flux, and are destined to change and pass away in time. They are also held to be "empty" in the sense that they have no inherent or permanent characteristics by which they can be described, changing as they do from instant to instant. But in Mahayana thought it became customary to emphasize not the negative but rather the positive aspects or import of the doctrine of Emptiness. If all phenomena are characterized by the quality of Emptiness, then Emptiness must constitute the unchanging and abiding nature of existence, and therefore the absolute or unchanging world must be synonymous with the phenomenal one. Hence all mental and physical distinctions that we perceive or conceive of with our minds must be part of a single underlying unity. It is this concept of Emptiness or nonduality that leads the Mahayana texts to assert that samsara, the ordinary world of suffering and cyclical birth and death, is in the end identical with the world of nirvana, and that earthly desires are enlightenment."

From The Lotus Sutra.


The Sage all the time sees and hears no more than an infant sees and hears. Lao-tzu

Seeing into one's self-nature is seeing into nothingness. Seeing into nothingness is true seeing and eternal seeing. Shen-hui

Like the empty sky It has no boundaries, yet It is right in this place, ever profound and clear. Yung-chia Hsuan-cheh

[Dontaskme]

Who or what is looking out of your eyes?

What do you see? You are now looking inwards – turning the direction of your attention round 180˚ from the objects out there to you the Subject, to the place you are looking out of. Do you see your face? Do you see anything at all there - any colour or shape, any movement?

Looking in to the place where others see my face, I find no colour or shape here. I find boundless capacity or awareness this side of my pointing finger. This capacity is empty, clear, transparent. It is self-evidently awake, aware.

At the same time this capacity is full of everything happening in it: my finger, my view of the scene beyond, sounds, feelings…

I am now seeing Who I really am – seeing the boundless One at the very heart of myself, the One in whom the world is happening.

What do you find? Are you also looking out of this wide-open, crystal clear, awareness?

The headless way.

This is how you understand Non-duality proper...


http://www.headless.org/experiments/pointing.htm

[Dontaskme]

From The Lankavatara Sutra

What is meant by nonduality?

''It means that light and shade, long and short, black and white, can only be experienced in relation to each other; light is not independent of shade, nor black of white. There are no opposites, only relationships. In the same way, nirvana and the ordinary world of suffering are not two things but related to each other. There is no nirvana except where the world of suffering is; there is no world of suffering apart from nirvana. For existence is not mutually exclusive.''

To awaken to the absolute view is profound and transformative, but to awaken from all fixed points of view is the birth of true nonduality.

[Walker]

Sri Nisargadatta's path was total, complete, unquestioning trust.

[Veritas Aequitas]

From The Lankavatara Sutra

What is meant by nonduality?

''It means that light and shade, long and short, black and white, can only be experienced in relation to each other; light is not independent of shade, nor black of white. There are no opposites, only relationships. In the same way, nirvana and the ordinary world of suffering are not two things but related to each other. There is no nirvana except where the world of suffering is; there is no world of suffering apart from nirvana. For existence is not mutually exclusive.''

To awaken to the absolute view is profound and transformative, but to awaken from all fixed points of view is the birth of true nonduality.

You are bullshitting your way through with cut & paste partial knowledge of Buddhism which only intellectual bastards will resort to when they run out of arguments.

Note;

The śūnyatā doctrine is an attempt to show that it is neither proper nor strictly justifiable to regard any metaphysical system as absolutely valid.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_truths_doctrine

The nonduality idea is a metaphysical system and in Buddhism it is never taken as absolutely valid.

On the other hand, your views cannot be in line with Buddhists thoughts because you stretch nonduality beyond to the Absolute [aka God, Oneness, Unknowing Knowing, etc].

Buddhism will regard your view is stupid.

This is why Buddhism's nonduality is anti-advaita_vedenta's nonduality.

[Veritas Aequitas]

Sri Nisargadatta's path was total, complete, unquestioning trust.

Nah.
If Sri Nisargadatta's path is that of advaita vedanta [most probably is] then his path is not immune from the "zombie parasite" forces that drove/compelled him to cling to the Absolute.

Nb: advaita vedanta is top class spirituality but it is still embedded with a sliver of the "zombie parasite" influence in his brain/mind.

[Walker]

Sri Nisargadatta's path was total, complete, unquestioning trust.

Nah.
If Sri Nisargadatta's path is that of advaita vedanta [most probably is] then his path is not immune from the "zombie parasite" forces that drove/compelled him to cling to the Absolute.

Nb: advaita vedanta is top class spirituality but it is still embedded with a sliver of the "zombie parasite" influence in his brain/mind.

That's not a judgment.

That's what he said.

So, you're saying you know the sage better than the sage knows the sage.

Okay.

[Veritas Aequitas]

Sri Nisargadatta's path was total, complete, unquestioning trust.

Nah.
If Sri Nisargadatta's path is that of advaita vedanta [most probably is] then his path is not immune from the "zombie parasite" forces that drove/compelled him to cling to the Absolute.

Nb: advaita vedanta is top class spirituality but it is still embedded with a sliver of the "zombie parasite" influence in his brain/mind.

That's not a judgment.

That's what he said.

So, you're saying you know the sage better than the sage knows the sage.

Okay.

Not "me" personally but I am relying on Buddha-the-sage's arguments to counter advaita_vedanta and Sri Nisargadatta.

After Gautama left his palace he went and learned from many Hindu teachers and he tried asceticism for many years. All these could not provide him the answers.
Eventually he found the answers where the core principle is 180 degree in contrast to Vedic-Hinduism, i.e. no Brahman, God or the Absolute.

What the Buddha preached is supported by tons of logical arguments [if you care to read up] and not on faith.

[Walker]

Actually, you're relying on your understanding.


Is a problem without a solution, actually a problem?

[Walker]

What the Buddha preached is supported by tons of logical arguments [if you care to read up] and not on faith.

“Out of compassion, the truly and completely Awakened One, with his skillful knowledge, enunciated a myriad of lifestyles and approaches to the teachings. In these cases he taught according to the inclinations and abilities of those to be trained. What he taught to the majority of people had only indirect, provisional significance.
He did not speak even once about the direct, real meaning.”

- (The incomparable) Longchenpa




Is a problem without a solution, actually a problem?

[Veritas Aequitas]

Actually, you're relying on your understanding.


Is a problem without a solution, actually a problem?

Note the Kalama Sutta;

The Kālāma Sutta is a discourse of the Buddha contained in the Aṅguttara Nikaya of the Tipiṭaka.[1] It is often cited by those of the Theravada and Mahayana traditions alike as the Buddha's "charter of free inquiry."[2]

The Kālāma Sutta is also used for advocating prudence by the use of sound logical reasoning arguments for inquiries in the practice that relates to the discipline of seeking truth, wisdom and knowledge whether it is religious or not.[3]

[Walker]

From your link:

“Instead, the Buddha says, only when one personally knows that a certain teaching is skillful, blameless, praiseworthy, and conducive to happiness, and that it is praised by the wise, should one then accept it as true and practice it.”

No one can do it for you.