Nondualism
Nondualism, also called nonduality, is a polyvalent term originating in Indian philosophy and religion, where it is used in various, related contemplative philosophies which aim to negate dualistic thinking or conceptual proliferation and thereby realize nondual awareness, 'that which is beyond discursive thinking', a state of consciousness described in contemplative traditions as a background field of unified, immutable awareness that exists prior to conceptual thought.
The English term "nonduality" is derived from the Sanskrit Hindu term "advaita", "not-two" or "one without a second," meaning that only Brahman, 'the one', is ultimately real while 'the world', or the multiplicity of thought-constructs, 'the second', is not fully real; and from the Buddhist term advaya, which is also literally translated as "not two" and has various applications, including the Madhyamaka negation of thinking in opposites such as ordinary, conventional truth versus ultimate truth, and in Yogachara the deconstruction of the "apprehension of sensory objects as separate from the perceiving consciousness."
A perennialist view posits that nondual awareness, despite fundamental differences in the explanatory frameworks, is a common essence in various religious traditions. According to this view, nondual awareness is not only paradigmatic for Hindu advaita-traditions including Advaita Vedanta and Kashmir Shaivism, and Buddhist advaya-traditions including Yogachara, Madhyamaka, Zen and Dzogchen, but can also be found in Taoist philosophy, and in Western philosophy, Christian mysticism, and Sufism.
Nondualism is also used to refer to the satsang movement, also called neo-advaita, for which nonduality is a central tenet, emphasizing sudden awakening or insight. The term may also refer to monism and nonplurality, the idea of a unitive essence behind the multiplicity of distinct entities. Related definitions include interconnectedness interdependence, and holism or 'wholism', the idea that "all the things "in" the world are not really distinct from each other but together constitute some integral whole." Further definitions are the rejection of thinking in binary opposites such as the mind–body dualism, while "nondualism" is also used as a synonym for mysticism, mystical experience, and spirituality.
Etymology
"Nondualism" and "nonduality" are the translation of the Sanskrit terms advaita and advaya."Advaita" is from Sanskrit roots a, "not"; dvaita, "customarily translated as dual." As Advaita, it is usually translated as "not-two" or "one without a second", and most commonly as "nondualism", "nonduality" or "nondual," invoking the notion of a dichotomy. Fabian Volker, following Paul Hacker explains that dvaita does not mean "duality," but "the state in which a second is present," the second here being synonymous with prapanca, "conceptual proliferation," and with jagat, "the world." Advaita thus means that only Brahman, 'the one', is ultimately real, while the phenomenal world, or the conceptual multiplicity, 'the second', is not fully real. The term thus does not emphasize two instances, but the notion that the second instance is not fully real, and advaita is better translated as "that which has no second beside it" instead of "nonduality," denying multiplicity and the proliferation of concepts "that tend to obscure the true state of affairs."
"Advaya" is also a Sanskrit word that means "identity, unique, not two, without a second", and typically refers to sunyata and the two truths doctrine of Mahayana Buddhism, especially Madhyamaka, and the negation of the conceptual duality between observer and observed in Yogacara. The term prapanca, conceptual proliferation and the creation of a multi-faceted world, is also used in these discourses. Hookham renders nisprapanca as "nonconceptual," explaining:
"Dual" comes from Latin "duo", two, prefixed with "non-" meaning "not"; "non-dual" means "not-two". The English term "nondual" was informed by early translations of the Upanishads in Western languages other than English from 1775. These terms have entered the English language from literal English renderings of "advaita" subsequent to the first wave of English translations of the Upanishads. These translations commenced with the work of Müller, in the monumental Sacred Books of the East. He rendered "advaita" as "Monism", as have many recent scholars. However, some scholars state that "advaita" is not really monism. According to Alan Watts monism often leads to conceptualizing reality as a single entity, whereas nondualism points beyond conceptual frameworks entirely.
Definitions
Flavors of nonduality
Nonduality is a fuzzy concept, for which many definitions can be found. Gibbons notes that "Terms such as "awakening" and "enlightenment" and "nonduality" undoubtedly mean different things to different people," and states that "n the widest sense these kinds of experiences fall under what is typically called in the west "mystical" experience." Gibson further notes that "the term "nondual" has in many circles become virtually synonymous with "spirituality" itself."T. R. V. Murti
gives the distinction between advaita and Madhyamikya advaya as follows:Murti's distinction has been described as a distinction between ontology versus epistemology, and has been referred to by other authors.
David Loy
According to David Loy, since there are similar ideas and terms in a wide variety of spiritualities and religions, ancient and modern, no single definition for the English word "nonduality" can suffice, and perhaps it is best to speak of various "nondualities" or theories of nonduality. Loy sees non-dualism as a common thread in Taoism, Mahayana Buddhism, and Advaita Vedanta, and distinguishes "Five Flavors Of Nonduality":- The nondifference of subject and object, where the observer and the observed are ultimately inseparable. This idea is central to Buddhist Zen, Advaita Vedanta, and Taoism, which describe reality as a unified field of experience beyond conceptual thought.
- The nonplurality of the world – Although we experience the world dualistically, "as a collection of discrete objects the world itself is nonplural, because all the things "in" the world are not really distinct but from each other but together constitute some integral whole." According to Loy, "he negation of dualistic thinking leads to the negation of this way of experiencing the world." According to Loy, this is expressed in notions like Brahman, One Mind, Tao, and Dharmakaya, moving away from nonduality in the world to another kind of nonduality.
- The negation of dualistic thinking – Some nondual traditions reject binary oppositions such as self/other, good/evil, or existence/non-existence. The yin-yang symbol of Taoism reflects this transcendence of opposites.
- The identity of phenomena and the absolute – Nonduality in Madhyamaka Buddhism and the two truths doctrine asserts that phenomena and emptiness are inseparable. This differs from monistic nonduality, as it denies a singular, unchanging essence.
- Mysticism and divine unity – Some mystical traditions describe a direct experience of unity between the individual and the divine, such as Sufism's fana, Christian mystical union, and Kabbalistic Ein Sof.
Like, Michael Taft, as quoted by Chris Grosso, explains that nondualism points to the working of the brain, which creates mental representations out of its sensory input, realizing that "you are simply the awareness of those sensory signals and are none of the content."
Loy sees the nondifference of subject and object as the "core doctrine" of nonduality, quoting Yasutani roshi as giving an example of this nonduality:
He also refers to pariniṣpanna-svabhāva, a Yogachara-term meaning "fully accomplished," "just pure seeing devoid of all concepts," "experience without subject-object duality." Further references from Loy are to Giuseppe Tucci, who states that the awakening of shes rab is the final objective in Tibetan Buddhism, transcending the subject-object dichotomy. Another reference is to D. T. Suzuki as stating that satori is "the realization of nonduality, and to the story of Hui Neng, "which presents "the Zen concept of "no mind", which asserts, in effect, the nonduality of subject and object." Gibson also states that "the apparent disappearance of a separate, individual self" is an important aspect of nonduality.
Loy, writing in the early 1980s, takes a perennialist stance, suggesting that the nondifference of subject and object stem from a shared experience of reality. Since the late 1970s this common core thesis has been challenged, notably by Steven T. Katz, arguing that religious experiences is shaped by the frameworks being used, and takes different forms in different traditions. The perennial position is "largely dismissed by scholars" but "has lost none of its popularity."
Fabian Volker
Fabian Volker criticises Loy's analysis as being explicitly anti-transcendent and limiting the immanent aspect, stating that Loy "fails to provide a systematic typology of nonduality and nondual experiences," and that "his program does not hold up in terms of the historicity of religion or the phenomenology of religion." Volker further notes that adequate typologies of nonduality are lacking because of a lack of interest of "students of nonduality" in the "extensive research on mysticism." According to Volker, the two are not distinct fields of research, but are "two complementary and inextricably interwoven approaches to the same complex field."Referring to Murti's distinction between advaita and advaya, and Richard H. Jones' typology presentrd in Philosophy of Mysticism. Fabian Volker distinguishes three types of nonduality:
- Asymmetric-vertical nonduality, which postulates a transcendent but immanent reality, which forms the ground or essence of the manifold phenomenal world. This is experienced in introvertive mysticism. Volker further divides this in three subtypes:
- * Nontheistic-personal experiences of this transcendental-immanent reality
- * Theistic-personal experiences of this transcendental-immanent reality
- * Death-like trance
- Symmetric-horizontal nonduality, or mystical mindfulness, which rejects the existence of an unchanging ultimate reality, but negates the distinction between observer and observed. This is akin to extroverted mystical experience
- Existential nonduality: post-awakening experience of the phenomenal world