Life is non dual
Integral Non-Duality
The path of the pure joy of being
What does non-duality mean?
Non-Duality is the translation of the Sanskrit “Advaita” which means “not two”.
Non-Duality is an ancestral teaching from several spiritual traditions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism and Sufism, which invites to the empirical knowledge that reality is in fact non-dual. That is to say, reality is not composed of separately existing entities, but is one and indivisible. In other words, the reality of my being is the same as the reality of the world. There is no separation.
Non-Duality comes from the primordial question: Who am I?
It is our conditioning to believe that we are entities separate from others and the world. We identify with the body and with our mental activity, this identification is called the ego. It’s common to say “I’m a 38-year-old man, French, of Laotian origin. I am an optician, and father of 2 children.” My identity is limited by how I define myself, by what I believe I am.
In this dualistic vision of life, my individual consciousness is separated from the consciousness of another person, my consciousness is contained in my body and therefore knows all the vicissitudes of the destiny of the body and the mind. In other words, “I” was born on the date of birth of the body, “I” transform with the changes undergone by the body and the mind, and “I” will disappear with the death of this same body.
The ego at the origin of all sufferings
To live from the sole perspective of the ego is at the origin of all the psychological sufferings of human beings: the fear of dying, the fear of loneliness, the fear of not belonging, the fear of not having, the fear of fear of not becoming, fear of not achieving.
It is also the source-cause of societal sufferings on Earth: the ego-conditioning separates us from each other, and separates us from nature. It automatically creates a situation of comparison and competition with each other, and human beings with the rest of nature. The “self” is worshiped as a divinity. The sense of “we”, of the “common” is secondary, like a luxury. One must survive above all, and at all costs. From there grow all the conflicts, the race for profit, the outrageous inequalities between human communities, the spoliation of natural wealth. This fear of the other, this fear of missing out, justifies all crimes.
The path to awakening and integral Non-Duality
Faced with this observation, is there another reality? Is the duality of the world real or just a belief that has simply never been questioned? To answer these questions requires an exploration of our experience by stripping away all our so-called knowledge.
To dis-identify from the mind, to free oneself from the grip of the ego
Initially, the old deeply rooted habits of identification with the body and the mind form a shell around oneself, and one feels as if consciousness was limited to the body. Thanks to the real work of bringing one’s attention back to its source, one gradually experiences one’s dimension of presence-consciousness.
By persevering in pure observation of our experience, without any conceptual super-imposition, that is to say of the present moment, mental constructions appear false and illusory, and therefore lose their power to hypnotize us. In this way we free ourselves from the influence of the ego.
Gradually, our experience of beingness takes over the entire space and reveals to us the truth of what we really are: a space of presence-consciousness freer and more subtle than space itself. A space of deep peace, without limits, beyond time. A total welcome where everything is included, no separation. a space of being, saturated with goodness and harmony, and infinite creativity.
Integral Non-Duality: a lived experience
Our experience reveals to us through intense flashes of intuition what universal love is, and everything is adorned with a delicate and moving beauty.
Because everything is included. Everything is a modulation of Consciousness which belongs to no one in particular. Consciousness is, it has no beginning and no end. It is the true source of life and creation, at the same time it remains equal to itself, pure and unspoiled.
Living from this understanding allows one to feel deep compassion for all beings, because by recognizing one’s true nature, one recognizes the power of our ego-conditioning and therefore our weakness. Being able to see the ego and all its forms from the perspective of consciousness, in complete neutrality and benevolence, releases a tremendous energy of freedom and healing.
This understanding also allows one to feel that everything is so intimate to who one really is, there is no distance. When something happens, it is useless to throw the fault onto the other, because the other does not exist as such…It is the entire present moment which needs to express itself like that…And then, with the vehicle of this body and mind, how can I act to help the entire present moment change for the better? This is the real question that arises at every moment, in every situation.
To love = to be who I am
Living from this understanding gives one the impetus to best use one’s vehicle in this life (body and mind) to love and care for what is, to create more beauty and harmony, to celebrate Life, while experiencing this freedom and this pure joy which does not depend on anything.
Kamala
Kamala teaches integral Non-Duality as two main movements or paths:
1. Path of wisdom or exclusion
First, we learn to rest our attention back to its source of consciousness.
Follows the observation and the exploration of our sensorial experience (given through the 5 senses). One recognises that perceptions and sensations come and go within the space of consciousness, which does not change or move at all.
Sensations have not always been the same before, and are ever changing from one moment to the next. Sounds, visions, smells are never exactly the same at each instant. Every sensorial phenomena is in constant movement. Similarly, our thoughts come and go. Even our ideas and beliefs change over time. Change is what is being observed all the time.
But that within oneself that never changes and that perceives all the changes is consciousness. Our consciousness is the stable element of our experience, whatever the content of our experience may be.
When a thought appears, our consciousness can notice it. When this same thought evaporates, our consciousness can also notice it but consciousness itself remains the same. This is the same for sensations, sounds, visions, etc.
The recognition of our true nature/identity as consciousness the becomes our incorruptible foundation for peace and freedom. We realise that the content of our experience changes, but the essence of our identity remains and is not subject to time and space, it is eternal.
2. Path of love and beauty or inclusion
With the path of wisdom, we have been only half way. The main risk is to remain stuck there and to remain as the inner witness, far and aloof from the others and the world.
The 2nd part, the path of beauty and love, is about recognizing the simple fact that all we know of a world is only our perceptions. We do not know a world, we know only the experience of sensing, hearing, seeing, perceiving. In which space takes place perceiving? If we observe our real experience, all the perceiving appears always in our consciousness, and never any where else. Is there any other experience that has ever appeared outside of consciousness? NO!
There comes the realisation that it was never consciousness that was born out of the body, but the other way around: it is the body and the mind that appear in consciousness. Our life paradigm has changed radically.
From that understanding, which is not a belief but a fact, the path is about applying this wisdom to all the aspects of our life. It is a moment-to-moment endeavour, as subtle as may be. Progressively, the way we perceive reality and the way we feel translates this new understanding of the nature of experience.
The more we feel and perceive that all is truly just an expression and a modulation of us as presence-consciousness, the more our life experience becomes tainted with a sense of unity with what is, beauty and love transpires in the present moment,
If you are eager to learn more about Kamala’s teachings of Integral Non-Duality, several learning options are available:
- Join Kamala’s retreats
- Online training
- 1-to-1 coaching
To understand merely by the intellect will not do. The teachings have to sink into your heart and become alive in your every day seeing and perceiving. Only then the nectar of your own Self will pour into your life as perduring peace, freedom, beauty and happiness.