”Knowing others is wisdom,
knowing yourself is enlightenment.” Lao Tzu
Wonder of our true nature - Nondual awareness*
“Nondual” means "not two", or "one without a second " in Sanskrit. The simplest term would be "unconditioned". Direct recognition of our unconditioned nature allows us to realise the most liberated dimension of ourselves, beyond our conditions and situations. When we live our moment by moment knowing our unconditioned nature, we feel nothing is missing - we are complete as we are.
As human beings, we naturally have our conditioning. It is a necessary function of our mind to ensure our survival & maintain the quality of our lives, but when it involves our self-image (known as “ego”), it can function against our well-being at times.
Our conditioning consists of ideas, concepts, preferences, and judgments. They manifest as psychological patterns and create reactions to our experience. These patterns act like filters, interpreting our experience and creating narratives for our lives. These conditions fuel our behaviour both positively and negatively; moreover, we can be mostly unconscious of them. The purpose of all human endeavour is happiness, be it through achieving individual goals based on our ideals, financial success, social recognition, peace in our community, restoring our environment, or healing our own trauma. We all try hard to find peace within, where we feel complete and safe so we can enjoy our lives without worries, through different means. Most of us try to make efforts to take ourselves closer to these goals by achieving the condition that we believe is our ideal – I’ll be happy when I get "this" playing at the back of our minds. Whilst there is nothing wrong with this, it is often the case that when “there” becomes “here”, there is another problem to solve and we find ourselves still unhappy - something is still missing, or you simply realise that our happiness depends on ever-changing situations.
This reveals the nature of our dualistic perception that is designed to make us chase what we believe is missing, which automatically makes our "now" incomplete. This takes us away from appreciating our experience of life and feeling complete, which was supposed to be our goal in the first place.
Realisation of the unconditioned dimension of ourselves, on the other hand, sheds light on our dualistic thinking patterns and reveals wisdom that our goal can be found in this very moment, regardless of our conditions or situations. It doesn’t deny or dismiss the suffering that we are experiencing but, at the same time, reveals that there is profound peace within that nothing can intervene. Here, no suffering can be found, nor is there an absence of suffering.
This dimension of consciousness is also called "ultimate medicine" in Buddhism, because it is a dimension of ourselves in which nothing needs to be changed. In other words, there is nothing that needs to be healed. There is nothing that needs to be worked on or maintained. No pressure. We are totally at ease with what is, in the moment we live. Here, we are where our goal is - simply content as we are. Whilst it might be uncommon to be immersed in unconditioned awareness at all times like enlightened sages, we can certainly have a taste of it from time to time. As we get familiar with this dimension of ourselves and seek refuge in the totality of our lives, fundamental trust in our life process emerges. From this place of wholeness, we can spontaneously contribute to our world as a unique expression of life. I hope to share this timeless wisdom that you don’t need to go anywhere to obtain it because we are already that!
* Nondual Awareness is also known as No-boundary Awareness, Buddhamind, Shiva, Christ consciousness, No-mind, Mind-itself, Nothingness, Centeredness, Suchness, That which is prior, Ultimate state of evolution, "Self" as "non-personal, all-inclusive awareness", etc.
