No duality in nonduality

[Moondance]

Nonduality means not-two-ality. Not-two means One without a second. In the realisation that reality is without a second it’s seen that whatever state/condition is arising - that is it.

Often when people are trying to grasp nonduality with the usual tools for grasping things - i.e. the (left hemispherical) analytical functioning of mind, they reason, ‘my cup has got an inside and outside’ or ‘hey, I’ve got two ears’ and conclude that nonduality can’t be the case. But these sort of objections are misguided. No credible speaker on nonduality rejects the apparent relative dualities, multiplicities, variations and contrasts (up-down, in-out, hot-cold etc.) of everyday experience.

This manifestation of ’everyday experience’ is the very stuff of Source. Things, forms, states, situations, feelings, thoughts etc. are not other than the radiant play of Source just the way they are. They don’t need to be banished or overcome - they don’t need to disappear or be corrected. You don’t need to enter a state of cessation, oblivion, nothingness, absorption or nirvikalpa samhadi for nonduality to be the case. Right now, just as things are - realised or not realised - nonduality is the case.

As Nagarjuna said, “nirvana is not other than samsara - rightly seen”.