Upshot of Nondualism?

[Space Lizard]

I see a lot of this “all is one” nondualism around these days, like it’s trendy, and I’m puzzled by it. My question is very simple: what's the upshot of nondualism? How does believing that "all is one" change anything about your reality? Monotheists tell us that eternity in heaven/hell are consequences of belief/non-belief in God; what are some consequences of belief/disbelief in “all is one”? I.e., how is this anything other than mental masturbation? (Note that I’m not trying to start a “nonduality war”; I’m genuinely curious and don’t have a position on the matter.)

[Guest Bazooka Jesus]

Belief doesn't get you anywhere. It is in fact the single greatest obstacle towards recognizing that "all is one".

God, non-duality, "all is one"... these are all just a bunch of random words, ideas, concepts. As long as you are attached to them, you are stuck in the matrix. That which they point towards is what is realized once all belief (i.e. attachment to ideas and concepts) is dropped.

[Space Lizard]

6 minutes ago, Bazooka Jesus said:

Belief doesn't get you anywhere. It is in fact the single greatest obstacle towards recognizing that "all is one".

God, non-duality, "all is one"... these are all just a bunch of random words, ideas, concepts. As long as you are attached to them, you are stuck in the matrix. That which they point towards is what is realized once all belief (i.e. attachment to ideas and concepts) is dropped.

OK replace the world "believing" with "perceiving". What are some consequences of perceiving the reality of "all is one", vs. not perceiving it? (Yes these are just words, but we're at an internet forum so words are all we got...)

Edited January 2, 2022 by Space Lizard

[Guest Bazooka Jesus]

8 minutes ago, Space Lizard said:

What are some consequences of perceiving the reality of "all is one", vs. not perceiving lt?

Only one way to find out... drop your beliefs and see what happens. 

Anything I tell you about it will just be another story that's going to keep you from realizing the truth for yourself.

Edited January 2, 2022 by Bazooka Jesus

[Space Lizard]

Like I said I don't really have a position on the matter. Common sense tells me that all is not one, and it's impractical to believe otherwise, but I don't feel strongly about it. I am just curious why it's so important to some people. But if you think it's a pointless conversation, that's fine. You're probably right.

[Sempiternity]

54 minutes ago, Space Lizard said:

How does believing that "all is one" change anything about your reality? Monotheists tell us that eternity in heaven/hell are consequences of belief/non-belief in God; what are some consequences of belief/disbelief in “all is one”? 

"Benefits":

• You are literally God.
• You are eternal.
• You can never not be, so fear of Death is gone. Not having fear of death greatly improves the quality of life. Fear of death is the root of most all fears, so not having this fear means you don't have fear in general. You live with confidence. Can fully experience life, without holding back.
• You are infinitely intelligent (whether you realize it or not).
• There is no Past to suffer from, as the Past is a concept you are imaging Now.
• There is no Future to worry about, as all there is is Now, and Now forever.
• There are no other people to suffer from, as they are illusions you have dreamt up. No one can ever hurt you, as You know they are figments of your imagination. Others are inconsequential, as they are just You experiencing Yourself. This recontextualization changes everything in how you relate to "others".
• There is no meaning to anything, except the meaning you create.
• There is no purpose to any of it, other to experience.
• There is never anything to worry about, except if you as God want to experience worry. Taking ownership of the experience of all of Reality (You), recontextualizes your experience of it. 
• Everything is Love. You are all that exists. You are Love. So You (as consciousness) are bathed in Love for eternity.

Edited January 2, 2022 by Sempiternity

[Guest Bazooka Jesus]

Well, in a sense it is a highly impractical realization. You - i.e. your imaginary you - has quite literally nothing to gain from it, and it might even impair your ability to 'function in the world' to a certain degree. Which is not to say that it's not an incredibly amazing realization, but its value cannot really be conveyed in any concise way... and if you try to put it into words, it will just create more ideas and concepts that, like I said, will just lead so-called others further away from truth.

Is the realization of eternity 'practical'? You tell me!

Edited January 2, 2022 by Bazooka Jesus

[Space Lizard]

@Sempiternity  Yeah but those are just, like, your opinions man--just thoughts bouncing around in your head. I can believe I'm Superman, but that doesn't give me the ability to fly. I'm asking about actual differences in your reality. Show me how your life is concretely different since you starting believing or perceiving these things.

Edited January 2, 2022 by Space Lizard

[Tim R]

"All is one" can be a belief. But it is possible to become directly aware of the oneness of existence, at which point it is no longer a belief, but recognized to be reality. 

Being is one, which is to say that there is one existence, which is everything. It's really not as woo-woo as people think. Within existence, things appear to be different from each other and not one, but this illusory and can be recognized as that. 

Saying that everything is one doesn't mean that everything will blur into everything else, into some kind of homogenous goo in which all boundaries and distinctions melt into each other, that is not at all what is meant by "oneness", even though people tend to have this sort of image in their head when hearing that all is supposedly one. 

[Sempiternity]

7 minutes ago, Space Lizard said:

@Sempiternity  Yeah but those are just, like, your opinions man--just thoughts bouncing around in your head. I can believe I'm Superman, but that doesn't give me the ability to fly. I'm asking about actual differences in your reality. Show me how your life is concretely different since you starting believing or perceiving these things.

All was answered. Any shared answer will be unsatisfactory. Find answers for yourself through direct experience. 

[Space Lizard]

12 minutes ago, Sempiternity said:

All was answered. Any shared answer will be unsatisfactory. Find answers for yourself through direct experience. 

OK well it all sounds rather delusional to me, like believing you're gonna spend eternity with angels in heaven, but whatever floats your boat.

Quote

There is no meaning to anything, except the meaning you create.

What if I'm looking for an absolute meaning that I didn't create? Am I shit out of luck?

Edited January 2, 2022 by Space Lizard

[Guest Bazooka Jesus]

Here is an analogy that just popped up which hopefully will make the matter a little bit more clear instead of filling your head with a bunch of conceptual BS, lol:

Imagine you are an actor standing on a theater stage. You are performing a stage play together with a group of other actors, and you are so completely and utterly engaged in the role you are playing that you totally forget that you're an actor giving a performance. At some point during the play, one of the other actors holds a gun to your head (or rather the head of the character that you're playing) and threatens to blow your/his brains out. Now imagine that in this very moment, you suddenly 'wake up' and realize what's really going on... "oh shit, of course, this is just a play, I am not really this character right here... it's all just make-believe! Nothing will actually happen to me if this guy who is holding the gun pulls the trigger! The character might die, but I shall survive - duh!"

What would be the 'benefits' of this realization? Would it benefit the character that you are playing in the context of the theater piece if you simply laugh in the face of the apparent danger of him getting shot? Would it benefit you knowing that no matter what happens in the play, it's all fake anyhow and that you will eventually walk away from it all unscathed and give another 'fake' performance the following night and then the night after that and the night after that and the night after that etc?

You be the judge.

[Terell Kirby]

3 hours ago, Space Lizard said:

how is this anything other than mental masturbation? 

All language is mental masturbation, can't really get away from it.

[mandyjw]

Like @Bazooka Jesus  pointed out, we seem to get lost and wrapped up in ideas about ourselves existing in time, nonduality is the mind sort of catching up with the logical understanding of what it directly knows are true. 

I'd suggest reading The Power of Now and seeing if it resonates. It's a great place to start but also isn't nonduality. Have you ever experienced the future outside of a thought about it? How about the past? So all there is is now. It can seem on the surface like a dumb realization but the ramifications of living it totally changes eveeeerything.