' Duality and non-duality '...

The human mind is dualistic. I only know a “me” if there is a “you”—an “us” if there is a “them.” I know myself only in relation to the other. I make the other wrong so that I can be right. I judge others to know who “I” am. When I say, “She is dumb,” I am comparing myself to her in some way—as either dumber or smarter.

My philosophical conclusions exist only in relation to other philosophical conclusions. I have no view unless there is an opposite view. There is no political party without opposition. No Christian without a non-Christian (Muslim, Jew). No enlightened being without a non-enlightened being.

Non-duality is not about strengthening the dualistic mind or further defining a me against you. It is about seeing through these false divisions and judgments.

For the most part, my thoughts of others have nothing to do with them. They are mostly about me. These are ‘my’ thoughts, interpretations, and philosophies. The “me” is kept alive by comparing who I am, what I do, and what I know to who the others are, what they do, and what they know.

When this mirror of relationship is exposed, the separate self is revealed to be a phantom. Everything from war to the simplest of disputes with my spouse about taking out the trash is seen to be a dream of separation, entirely created by dualistic thought.



-Kiloby, Scott. Reflections of the One Life: Daily Pointers to Enlightenment