Non-Duality Questions, Non-Duality Answers , livre ebook

“It is rare these days to find an unequivocal non-dual communication. Attempting to describe that which is beyond understanding, process, or path is hardly ever embarked upon. However, Richard undertakes this task in his own inimitable style. He also includes relevant stories and perceptions about the human condition gleaned from a rich and varied experience.”
— Tony Parsons , author of The Open Secret
“The reader is guided on an exceptional journey into the unknowable by an expert in psychology and spiritual traditions who awakened from the dream of separation.”
— Christian Salvesen , MA, author of Advaita
“Richard Sylvester fields a spectrum of questions that covers personal journeys and non-duality culture. He barely breathes on questions and…they disappear. To try to say what remains would invite more questions, yet it is present on every page.”
— Jerry Katz , editor of One


Publisher’s Note
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering psychological, financial, legal, or other professional services. If expert assistance or counseling is needed, the services of a competent professional should be sought.
Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books
Copyright © 2016 by Richard Sylvester
Non-Duality Press
An Imprint of New Harbinger Publications, Inc.
5674 Shattuck Avenue
Oakland, CA 94609
www.newharbinger.com
Cover design by Amy Shoup
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file
18 17 16
With deep appreciation to Tony Parsons for communicatingnon-duality so clearly and with such love and humour
Also by Richard Sylvester
I Hope You Die Soon
The Book of No One
Drink Tea, Eat Cake
Too many people have contributed to the writing of this book to list them all here. However, particular thanks are due to Tony and Claire Parsons and to the following: Allan Bloxham, Brett, Cha, Dawn, Jason Lee, Jay Mistry, Jeremy Robinson, Jonny Roth, Karin, Michael Dobias, Rosemary Cochran, Rupert Peene, Seamus Gilroy, Terry Murphy and Thorsten.

“I have no use for traditions or traditional knowledge. If you do the slightest research on tradition you will see that it is all a concept.”
Nisargadatta Maharaj
“A day will dawn when you will laugh at all your past efforts.”
Ramana Maharshi
“There is no rider on the horse.”
Sam Harris
THE TOPICS IN THIS BOOK INCLUDE NON-DUALITY AND…
a course in miracles angels anger anxiety astrology attachments awakening bliss buddhism celibacy channelling children choice and choicelessness christianity conflict between teachers of advaita conflict with family and friends consciousness contraction and localisation death de-personalisation depression despair detachment drugs electronic voice phenomena emptiness evolution evolutionary enlightenment fear god gratitude gurus john rowan karma liberation madness maslow meditation mindfulness mystical experiences mystics negative habits negative thoughts neuroscience neurosis nisargadatta maharaj non-action non-duality trolls out-of-the-body experiences paranormal phenomena past-life regression paths and practices positive thinking post-modernism pre-destination projections psychosis psychotherapy quantum physics ramana maharshi ramesh balsekar ramtha rebirth and reincarnation relationship difficulties religion sacred cows sadhana seeking self-enquiry separation spiritual fascism spiritual paths spiritual people suffering superstition teachers of awakening the cosmic ordering service the golden rule the laws of attraction the mind the secret the shadow the tiger’s mouth the witness thinking time transcendence unconditional love wei wu wei zen
For about ten years people sent me questions on non-duality by e-mail and usually I answered them. I am no longer able to do this, so I have put some of these questions and answers into this book. If you have a question, I hope you will be able to find the answer here. Alternatively, you could come to a meeting and ask it and you will get a cup of tea and a biscuit as well.
Most of the questions have been edited to maintain anonymity. Where names have been given, this is always with permission.

IS AWAKENING a CHANCE EVENT?
Question: You say that there is no separate person and therefore no free will. So is it simply a matter of chance whether the sense of self drops away?
Richard: Answers to questions such as this one will always be frustrating for the mind. Liberation, or the seeing that there is no separation, is either seen or it is not seen. That is all that can be said.
As soon as we suggest that it is a matter of chance, or of fate, or it is willed by God, or it is earned by spiritual striving or purification, or it is the result of karma or grace, we are entering into another story.
Of all the stories that there are about this, I quite like the one that says that it is grace. But that is also a story.

AWAKENING aND PRACTICES
The same experience that you and Tony Parsons describe is very familiar to me from several years ago. At the time I felt very joyful. In fact I laughed out loud. I felt a tremendous sense of peace, freedom and relief. This state lasted for about two years, during which life was simply living itself and there was no searching for anything else.
But then somehow I found myself searching again. I started reading about non-duality, going to meetings, talking to all sorts of people about this. I’ve become terribly frustrated with trying to understand this and very confused by what different people say about it. Some teachers tell me that I should develop awareness, others that I must become totally present in the here and now. Could you comment?
What you describe is quite common. There can be an unequivocal seeing of This, Oneness, Presence. Then after a while the mind can come back with all its theorising and with its suggestions that maybe, just maybe, there really is something more than This. That is how the mind tries to clamber back onto its throne, or into its Managing Director’s chair.
So heigh ho, we are back on the hamster wheel and searching again, with all the terrible frustration that this can entail. Many people who write and talk about non-duality encourage this, wittingly or unwittingly. They may suggest that the seeing of Oneness can be used instrumentally in a variety of ways, for example to improve our life and our relationships. Often they teach that we can approach closer to Oneness by increasing our Awareness or by practising being Present.
And then off we go on another merry-go-round of inadequacy and searching.
If I gave advice, I’d say “Forget all that and relax.”
“Becoming totally present in the here and now” is a phrase which is time-bound and space-bound. It has nothing to do with the seeing of non-duality. It encourages people to think that they can be more present by making an effort. Indeed, some people can, but it usually doesn’t last more than a few minutes.
Seeing Oneness has nothing to do with making an effort or being totally present or anything else that a person can do. No amount of effort will reveal presence. There is only This, only presence, which is either seen or not seen.

HOW SHOULD WE LIVE?
Does it matter how the apparent person lives their life? Does it matter if I simply eat, drink and be merry? How free am I?
It is not a question of how free or not you are. Ultimately it may be seen that there is no you, so you can neither be free nor bound.
In the meantime, life will be lived as it is lived. I am not sure whether your question is about morality, but if it is, the golden rule covers a lot of eventualities. It says simply “Don’t do to others what you wouldn’t want them to do to you.” It can be written on a postcard and it is simple enough for a child of five to understand.

LIBERATION EVENTS
The event that you describe as liberation happened at a definite time and place. Have you come across other individuals for whom similar events have happened? And if you have, is this becoming more common?
Tony Parsons describes an event. He was walking through a park, then there was just walking through a park but nobody walking. Nathan Gill describes an event. He was riding a bicycle down a lane, then there was just riding a bicycle down a lane but nobody bicycling. I describe an event. I was walking through a country town, then there was just walking through a country town but nobody walking.
Others also report events like these. The realisation of liberation may come with such an event, or afterwards, or not at all. Or the realisation of liberation may come without any event. There are no rules in this, because liberation is all-embracing and therefore excludes no possibilities.
The trouble with hearing these stories about ‘liberation events’ can be that they set up an expectation that something has to occur. This can lead to yet more searching. However, if searching for an event happens, then it happens. I know this is a tautology, but it expresses nicely the hopelessness of our case. If that hopelessness is realised, then there might at least be some relaxation.
It is becoming more common for people to report these events. It cannot be known whether that is because the events themselves are becoming more common or because more people are communicating about them. For other people there is no event, just a gentle gliding into the realisation that liberation is already the case.

EVOLUTIONARY PATHS
I live in Tehran. Today I came across you by chance on the internet. I appreciate the beautiful sharing that you’re engaged in. I have a question for you.
I know someone who claims that liberation can be achieved only by following a guru tradition, involving many spiritual techniques that will purify the emotional, mental and body systems of all their accumulated toxins from the past.