Non-Dualism Misunderstood

My Mystical Path, Part 3

Despite developing an interest in contemplative prayer in 1998, I didn't encounter the concept of non-dualism until I heard Richard Rohr talk about it in a YouTube video less than a decade ago. Unfortunately, I can't say which one it was, but it doesn't matter. From that moment on, my perspective on life shifted radically. 

I suddenly realized the extent to which the mystical experience I had embraced had implications for how I saw the world around me. This whole idea of “otherness” started to dissolve into a perspective of “Oneness”.

Later, I came across a new mystic who took me even farther, Alan Watts, whom I adore. A former Episcopal priest, he drew significantly on Eastern traditions. I listened intently as he talked about the Hindu perspective of the world as an illusion. The universe, you see, is actually the dream of God. The only thing that is real is the Divine from which all things manifest. The extent to which you realize this truth reveals the extent to which you have awoken.

That did it. I loved this interpretation of existence. While I could never really buy into the metaphor of the universe being nothing but a Divine dream, I could definitely buy into the idea that everything that is our universe is ultimately an expression of the Ground of All Being, which I call God. 

So, I shifted my identity. No longer was I a dualist thinker, but rather now I had become a non-dualist thinker. 

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Did you catch the problem?

Yes, you heard it right. I was not a dualist any longer, but a non-dualist.

Think about that statement for a moment. 

In dualistic thinking, the world is broken out into distinct identities that are separate from each other. 

• I am me, and you are you. 

• I am me, and that tree is that tree. 

• I am me, and the sun is the sun.

One of the ways we come to know who we are is through contrast with otherness. This is how we form our identities as distinct individuals. 

This dualistic thinking that fragments reality into separate and identifiable pieces is actually a healthy and vital part of what it means to be human. So from a non-dualistic perspective, dualism isn't bad. It has its place. Once it is established, then we can transcend it. 

When I “transcended” dualistic thought, the way I framed non-dualistic thought was in contrast to dualistic thought. I began to operate from the perspective of non-dualism versus dualism. 

In other words (and here’s the problem), I had turned non-dualism into another form of dualism.

More recently I had come to realize what a mistake that was. I think it is a natural and necessary stepping stone into a more non-dualistic perspective, but it's not the end of the journey. 

To enter into a non-dualistic perspective, from what I've gathered, you need to take (at least) one more step.