It is difficult, if not impossible, to state affirmatively what inseparability or non-duality really is because language is our main mode of communication, yet language is based in dualism. Instead of using affirmative terms, let’s investigate our present experience and see whether inseparability is the nature of our experience.
The basic assumption is that there are real objects that exist “out there,” separate and apart from each other and separate and apart from our awareness of those objects. Let’s examine this more closely. The questions below involve a chair. But you can do this exercise with any object or person. Just substitute the word “chair” with “table,” “flower,” “building,” “my friend Tammy,” “America,” “earth,” “universe” or any other concept.
When the thought “chair” appears, is it pointing to something “out there” that exists separately? (don’t think about this question. Rely only on non-conceptual awareness and just look)
When the thought “chair” is dropped, or is not appearing, and awareness is looking without any labels, can you know for certain that there is a separately existing object “out there” called chair?
What we take to be separately existing objects are thoughts appearing within awareness. These objects aren’t separate objects existing “out there” at all. When you look at a chair without the thought “chair” in your mind, there is no way to know what you are looking at or that a chair exists totally separate and apart from the space around the chair or other apparent objects in the room like “table.”
Thought is the predominant mechanism that provides a sense of separation between “things.” When we look more closely, however, we see that there are no separate things. There are only thoughts. And when no thought is appearing, there is no way to isolate anything in awareness as a separately existing thing. So things are essentially thoughts. Even when the thought “chair” appears, we see that it never appears outside awareness. We see that it is a transparent image within transparent awareness. Therefore, it appears inseparably within awareness — as awareness itself. Awareness and thought are “not two.” This goes a long way in recognizing inseparability.
An obvious question can pop up at this point: “What about touching and visualizing the chair (and other senses), aren’t those senses revealing a separate object out there even when I’m not thinking the thought “chair?” Let’s look!
Let’s take each sense separately and look at whether the sense, by itself, is revealing a separate object. It is important to actually investigate yourself, rather than merely reading the words written here.
Touch the chair without the thought “chair” in your mind. Don’t rely on any other senses, only touch itself. Close your eyes and just touch the chair. What does touch, by itself, reveal? It reveals only hardness. Without thought, there is no way to even recognize that these are “your” fingers touching this “other separate thing” called chair. There is only the sensation of hardness. And when you touch the chair without the thought, “hardness,” there is no way to even describe the sensation at all. It is just ISness itself, without division between the subject doing the touching and the object being touched. So nothing about the sense of touch, alone, reveals a separate object called “chair.” There is only touching itself. It takes awareness for the sensation of touching to be experienced. Therefore, touching never happens outside of awareness. Touching is inseparable from awareness. It is awareness itself.
Now open your eyes and take your fingers off the chair. Just look at the chair without the thoughts “chair” and “hardness” in your mind. Just experience the chair visually only. Look with non-conceptual awareness. When you look without the thought “chair” and without touching it, there is no way to know that there is a separate object there.
You may find yourself still wanting to describe what you see conceptually. You might say, “But I see colors and lines and textures that indicate a separate object.” Fair enough. But those are all concepts. Look without those concepts. What is seen when you aren’t looking at the chair with the concepts “color,” “lines,” and “textures,” appearing? All that you see is seamlessness itself. There are no gaps or seams in your present experience. Just one seamlessness recognizing itself everywhere. There is no way to know that there is a separate subject, you, recognizing a separate object “out there” called “chair.” To know that you would need concepts. Nothing about the sense of sight, alone, reveals a separate object called “chair.” It takes awareness for visual seeing to occur. Therefore, visual seeing never happens outside of awareness. Seeing is inseparable from awareness. It is awareness itself.
Now close your eyes again. Knock three times on the chair, keeping your eyes closed. You are now isolating the sense of hearing. There is no visualizing of a chair. There is no touching of the chair to feel “hardness.” There is only hearing of a knocking sound. When you listen to that sound without the thought “chair” appearing, nothing tells you that it is a chair. There might be a tendency of mind to call it something. You might experience the thought, “Well, I know it is wood because that sounds like wood.” But wood is a concept. Listen to the knocking without concepts. Nothing about the sense of hearing, alone, reveals a separate object called “chair.” It takes awareness for hearing to be experienced. Therefore, hearing never appears outside awareness. Hearing is inseparable from awareness. It is awareness itself.
We’ve done this exercise with the three senses of touching, seeing, and hearing. But you can isolate the other senses of tasting and smelling and find the same result, which is that tasting and smelling are inseparable from awareness. It is probably not a good idea to taste or smell a chair. Try the experiment with food.
The point of this exercise is that no sense, by itself, reveals a separate object. And, in fact, all the senses taken together do not reveal a separate object either. They only reveal direct and immediate nonconceptual sensing itself. Life sensing itself, without the conceptual boundaries imposed by thought. It is only the additional layer of conceptualization that gives the appearance that what is being sensed is a separate object, separate from the awareness that sees the object and separate from other objects. So “objects” are not objects at all. They are appearances within awareness that require sensory experience plus thought. Yet thought itself never appears outside of awareness. Therefore, thought is inseparable from awareness. It is awareness itself.
This is a profound insight. We see that what we took to be an entire world out there full of independently existing things is really a set of appearances that never appear outside of awareness. Awareness and appearances are inseparable. Awareness is the world. The world is awareness. This is emptiness and fullness together. This is nonseparation, which is love itself. In this seeing, it is impossible to see spiritual awakening or awareness as being about escaping the world or divisions of any kind.
One more issue may pop up for you with regard to this notion that awareness is the world and the world is awareness. The thought may appear, “But there is a universe out there beyond this world we call earth,” or “There is a country called China that exists out there beyond my present experience.” Notice that those are only thoughts. You never experience anything existing independently called “universe” or “China.” You only experience those thoughts. And those thoughts never appear outside awareness. So “China” and “universe” are only thoughts appearing within present awareness.
Even if you flew to the place we call “China,” you could do the same experiment with the senses that we just did. You would find that nothing exists separate and apart from the awareness that experiences it. You could feel the streets of China for hardness. You could look at the buildings and landmarks in China. You could taste the food and smell the flowers there. But nothing about those sensory experiences, alone or together, would tell you that you are in a separate place called China. It is only the thought “China” that provides the sense that you are in a separate place called China. And the thought “China” never appears outside awareness. The experience of being in China is not an experience separate and apart from awareness. It is awareness itself.
It’s all awareness, including the universe that you think you perceive as something that exists out there independently. Everything that makes up what you believe to be a separate universe out there (including air, wind, clouds, planets, space, sun, and moon) is an inseparable appearance of awareness. The universe, like everything else, is a combination of sensory experiences plus thoughts, none of which are possible without awareness. Subject and object have no separate existence.
The body deserves its own discussion because of the stubborn and persistent belief that awareness is contained within the body or that the body is an object separate from other bodies and objects.
Let’s use the sensory investigation above, applying it to the body. Close your eyes so that you cannot rely on visually seeing the body. With eyes closed, you see no body. All that is left when eyes are closed are sensations like heat, discomfort, aliveness, and tingling happening in formless spacious awareness. There may also be an image or thought appearing as you close your eyes. This image may create the sense of an outline of the body. Let both the thought “body” and any mental image of a body come to rest naturally and effortlessly. Now there are only sensations left. Again, we might feel heat, discomfort, aliveness, tingling, or some other sensation. But nothing about these inner sensations, taken alone, tells us that there is a separate object there called a “body.” There are just sensations themselves.
These sensations never appear outside awareness. How could they? How would you know they were happening without awareness? They are inseparable appearances within awareness. For example, how can you experience tingling in your arm without the space within which that tingling occurs? That space is awareness itself. It is recognizing itself in and as the tingling. This is true of all sensations. Awareness and sensations are inseparable.
The line between the tingling and awareness is conceptual only. For example, let even the thought “arm” and the thought “tingling” come to rest. Don’t even emphasize the thought “sensation.” Let that thought come to rest.
Without these concepts appearing, there is no way to describe the experience as an arm or a body tingling. There is no way to say that something is happening in the body or that there is a body. There is no way to say that there is a sensation happening in awareness. It takes concepts to say that. It is just awareness experiencing itself in and as the tingling, so to speak. Now drop the word “awareness” while your eyes are closed. There is no way to say anything about the experiencing. It just is.
After this investigation, open your eyes. When you look at the body without the thought “body,” you cannot know what you see. You cannot know that what you see belongs to you — that it is your body. You cannot know even that there is something separate here called a body, separate from other things around the body including space, table, and floor. Visual appearance alone, without thought, provides nothing but seeing itself. It does not provide an object. Stated another way, when you look with your eyes open with non-conceptual awareness, life is one seamless interplay. There are no rigid boundary lines between body and not-body. Everything seems to bleed seamlessly into everything else. This is to say that there are no independent things. It is only the conceptual overlay that we call “thought” that divides this seamless experience into table v. chair, awareness v. body, sensation v. awareness, my body v. your body, this room v. outside the room, America v. China, and so on and so forth. Awareness is the true body.
In the section above, we examined our belief in a separate gross, physical world of objects. With regard to the five kinds of appearances in Living Realization (i.e., thoughts, emotions, states, sensations, and experiences), the section above was directed mainly at sensations and experiences. Now let’s look at the more subtle realms including thoughts and emotions (although states are not mentioned below, the same investigation applies to them).
The thing to remember here is that this investigation can be done with any thought (including even pointers to awareness). And we encourage you to see that every thought is the same. It is a transparent, temporary image that is inseparable from the awareness within which it appears.
Let’s use the thought “chair” since we used it in the experiment above. We have already seen that the word is not pointing to a separate object that exists “out there” waiting for us to discover. The thought is creating the sense that there IS a separate object. If this is not clear, you might want to revisit the discussion above called “Isolating the Senses.”
Once we have seen that it is not pointing to a separate object, all that is left is the thought “chair” itself. Notice that, before the thought appears, there is only awareness. The notion of a chair is nowhere in awareness. It is completely absent. Then, all of a sudden, the thought “chair” appears. It appears out of nowhere, out of awareness itself. It appears seamlessly within awareness. By “seamlessly,” we mean that you cannot find the line that divides awareness from the thought “chair” appearing within awareness. This reveals the inseparability of awareness and thought.
In stopping for one moment and simply looking at a thought, you see it is transparent. What is looking at the concept “chair” is nonconceptual awareness itself. Pure seeing. When you look at a thought, it tends to disappear back into awareness. When a thought disappears, it is gone completely, leaving no trace. Even if you have a sense that you are looking directly at the thought while it is appearing, notice that there is no way to say that the thought exists as something separate from the awareness that sees it.
Let’s use a metaphor to talk about the inseparability of awareness and thoughts that appear in awareness. Suppose you just finished taking a shower. You turn the water off and notice a cloud of steam in the air. You see that the cloud of steam is absolutely inseparable from the space in which it appears. There is no way to pull the steam apart from the space in which it appears.
The same is true for thoughts. A thought is like a cloud of steam. It appears inseparably within the space of awareness. Thoughts can never be pulled apart from awareness. In fact, we can’t do anything with thoughts other than notice that they come and go and notice that awareness is the space in which they come and go.
Do you see why we suffer and seek? There is an underlying belief that we can do something with thoughts. Yet the notion that we can do something with thought (manage it, make it more positive, neutralize it, or get rid of it) is just another thought. That is all. The notion of believing that we can manipulate a thought comes from separation itself. It comes from the notion that there is a separate person inside that can split thought apart from awareness and treat it as a separate thing to do something with.
In recognizing present awareness, and not moving to manipulate a thought when it appears, we see that the thought is inseparable from awareness. It is then allowed to be just as it is. We see that we cannot pull a thought apart from awareness because the two are inseparable. In this seeing, thoughts are allowed to be just as they are. Yet they are no longer emphasized or manipulated. They are allowed to be just as they are. And because the world of separate things and people is really just a bunch of thoughts, when the thoughts are allowed to be just as they are, the world of people and things is allowed to be just as it is. This is perfect acceptance.
But let’s don’t leave it there. In pointing in this way, we continuously emphasize the concept “thought.” What happens when you look at thought without the idea that it is a “thought?” You see, emphasizing the concept “thoughts” makes it appear that there really is a dividing line between awareness and thought. But that dividing line, as with all dividing lines, is conceptual only.
Although it may be helpful at an earlier stage of the investigation to rest as non-conceptual awareness and to see that thoughts come and go within that unchanging, non-conceptual awareness, there is a tendency to end up in another split. This is the notion that thoughts exist separately from awareness. From this split, if we aren’t careful, we begin denying and vilifying thought, as stated above in the section “Inseparability Is Not Formlessness Only.” We shadow box anyone and anything that represents thought, intellect, stories, philosophies, science, religion, theories and worldviews. That is denial, not awakening. Awareness has never been divided.
When we stop emphasizing the idea that there are thoughts that are happening separately from awareness, we then see it’s all the energy of awareness. Thoughts are none other than awareness. These mental images can never and will never appear outside of awareness. They are inseparable from awareness. They are awareness itself. In that seeing, thoughts are allowed to be just as they are. Just as the space never has an agenda to be rid of a cloud of steam that appears within it, awareness has no agenda to be rid of thought. The point of Living Realization is to no longer place identity in thought. It is not to be rid of thought.
The exact same investigation can be done with regard to emotions.
As an emotion arises, it is important not to label it. By labeling it, we make it into a separate thing. If we place the label “anger” on it, we tend to treat it as something separate and apart from the awareness within which the “anger” appears. Even if we call it an “emotion,” we have placed a label on the energy. Once the label is emphasized, thought tends to believe that the dividing line between the subject experiencing the emotion and the emotion is real. But as with all divisions, the line is conceptual only. In believing that emotion has a separate existence from awareness, we usually get into the business of trying to manipulate the emotion — trying to witness it away, neutralize it, make it feel better, escape it, rationalize it, or get rid of it. This is just more seeking. We are looking for a future, pain-free existence. That is not awakening. It is denial. The way of freedom is not to escape or neutralize an emotion. It is to see that it has no independent existence. We go through the emotion, not around it, so to speak. We suffer openly and fully, being completely vulnerable to the entire experience of emotions appearing and disappearing inseparably within awareness.
Emotions are not things that exist separately from awareness. As an emotion appears, recognize awareness as the space from which it appears. The emotion is the energy of awareness itself. There is no actual dividing line between awareness and the emotion. The emotion may be uncomfortable, unbearable even. But there is still no dividing line.
The emotion bleeds seamlessly out of awareness. It never appears outside of awareness. In other words, without awareness, there can be no emotion experienced. And when there is no movement to manipulate an emotion, it is allowed to be just as it is. Just as the space in the shower metaphor never has an agenda to be rid of the cloud of steam appearing within and as it, awareness — as the actual cognizing space — has no agenda to be rid of emotion. Emotions are none other than awareness. The two are inseparable. You cannot pull steam apart from the space in which it appears. Similarly, you cannot pull emotions apart from the awareness in which they appear. Seeing this is helpful to keep from trying to manipulate emotions. When we are no longer moving to manipulate emotions in any way, and when we are seeing that emotions are the energy of awareness itself, we are facing emotions directly for the first time, instead of trying to escape them or make them feel better. This has a natural, transformative effect. Emotions are seen to come and go inseparably within awareness. They are no longer seen as big, bad monsters. They are seen to be awareness itself.
We invite you not to simply scan over what is being said in this chapter. If you really look to where the words are pointing instead of trying to grasp what is being said only with the intellect, inseparability or non-duality is seen to be the nature of your present experience.
We have looked at objects, experiences, sensations, thoughts and emotions. We have seen that nothing exists separate from awareness. There are no separately existing objects. There are only appearances inseparable from awareness. Stated another way, it’s all awareness. In other words, it is all love. Non-separation is love. In every moment, love is experiencing itself. This is what Living Realization is all about.
Maybe now it is easier to see why we stick with the basic invitation in Living Realization, which is this:
Recognize present awareness. Don’t move to manipulate appearances. See that all appearances are not separate from awareness.
If nothing exists independently, how can we talk about anything? I seem to enjoy being in the world, apparently doing things, and enjoying life.
We talk about life the way you just did, by using language in a conventional sense. The recognition of awareness does not destroy language. It doesn't destroy thoughts. Thought may or may not quiet in the recognition of awareness. But awareness has no agenda to get rid of words or thoughts. Only a thought would seek to be rid of thought.
Awareness is like the pure space in which all thoughts appear and disappear. In knowing yourself as that space, you begin to see that every thought is inseparable from that space. Thoughts cannot destroy that space. They cannot bring you closer to what you are — awareness. And they cannot pull you away from what you are — awareness. Thoughts are just appearing within the present awareness that is looking right here and now. That awareness is changeless. It doesn't come and go. Only thoughts come and go and seem to change.
In a conventional sense, life, relationships, thinking and talking go on just as they always have. We enjoy the company of each other. We enjoy our families and our lives. We help each other, discuss politics, and do whatever we have always done. The notion of “me,” “you,” “politics” and “world” are thoughts, yes. But the recognition of awareness does not make you believe that thought is bad. “Thought is bad” is just another thought coming and going in awareness. That is freedom.
This whole message of Living Realization is about recognizing inseparability, not destroying language or communication. This knowing provides a sense of peace, love, joy, and well-being that is unconditional. It is not based on any appearance yet it permeates every appearance. It is every appearance. This well-being is not based on whether we are speaking or not speaking, feeling or not feeling, thinking or not thinking.
Just like space, awareness is ever present. It certainly doesn't preclude using words or talking. Those who think that the recognition of awareness precludes using language are confusing viewpoints about awareness with awareness itself. When you cling only to a viewpoint about awareness, you make it into an idea. Then you try to fit all other ideas into that idea or make sure all ideas are in agreement with the main idea you have about awareness. This is born from the frustration of not seeing where words like “awareness” are pointing.
This is a question about physical reality. I did your experiment of touching the chair while removing concepts of chair and finger, and all that was left was a non-specific sensation of hardness. And when the concept of “hardness” is removed there is just something indescribable, but is there actually something happening at what could be called a physical level? It seems to me that any concept of an actual physical world necessarily involves separation, and if there is no separation then there could not be an actual physical world. Any input on this issue?
The Living Realization text does not state final, ultimate conclusions like, “There is a physical reality,” or “There is no physical reality.” These are fine as mental viewpoints that can appear and disappear. But they are limiting when held as bedrock truths. Thought may land on what may seem like a final truth (usually one side of a pair of opposites). But Living Realization is much freer than that. Seeing through separation and opposites is the key to this freedom.
It is good that you are not assuming a split between awareness and something “out there” such as a physically separate reality. When we start with the premise that there is no separation, we can then look to where separation seems to appear and then address that.
There seems to be a question about separation in this statement of yours: “And when the concept of ‘hardness’ is removed there is just something indescribable, but is there actually something happening at what could be called a physical level?”
When the concept of hardness is removed, all that is left is the “raw feel” or sensation without a description. Nothing about that raw feel is communicating any conceptual information at all. The nonconceptual, raw feel (of the table) is not saying to you, “I'm a separate physical reality” or even something more subtle like “I'm indescribable.” Those are concepts.
Close your eyes and touch the table. Notice that, when it seems like there is a separate physical reality, there are concepts appearing. The concept is a very subtle mental image of a hand, belonging to you (a separate body/mind) that is touching (or meeting) something elsesomething that you have conceptualized as an indescribable but separate physical reality.
Let the image of these two things that seem to be “meeting” each other gently disappear while your eyes are closed. Let even the concept “sensation” disappear. Now there is only this “raw feel” without a description. Where is the separation? How far is this raw feel from awareness? Let even the words “raw feel” come to rest. The question about distance doesn't make sense does it? When we aren't entertaining concepts, there are no physically separate objects.
When there are no physically separate objects, there is no sense of distance (near or far). Distance only arises when there is a sense of separation. Notice that as soon as it seems like the sensation or raw feel is “out there” separate from you, concepts are appearing again (the mental image of a body or hand). Let those thoughts come gently to rest again. When there are no concepts arising, there are no separate objects. Does it make sense to then postulate something in here that is separate from something out there, called a physical reality? The whole thing breaks down. Separation is conceptual.
The entire universe from the sun to the dust in the air to the sound of your mother's voice to your own body can be accounted for completely through thoughts and sensations. And how far are thoughts and sensations from awareness? The question doesn't make sense. These are inseparable appearances within awareness. There are “not two.” Even your thought, “Is there a physical reality?” is an inseparable appearance within awareness. Life and all our questions about life are inseparable from awareness.
Now open your eyes and stop touching the table. Now we are isolating the visual sense. The visual sense, when there are no concepts arising, is not telling you that there is a table there. For there to be a notion of a separate object called table, the thought “table” would have to appear. When looking without thought, there is only the color brown. But the color is not saying, “I'm a table,” nor is it saying, “I'm brown,” nor is it saying, “I'm an indescribable physical reality.” These are thoughts. Vision alone gives you only color. Now let the thought “brown” disappear and the thought “color.” Where is the physically separate reality?
Now back to the statement about final conclusions. Once it is seen that the physically separate world is really thought plus sensations, separation has been seen through. Therefore you can talk about an apparently separate physical world, knowing that it is just thought and sensation appearing inseparably within what you are — awareness. You can talk about the Sun, the dust in the air, brown tables, your mother's voice, and your body. You are that free! No viewpoint has to be absolutized, not even non-separation. That is the Living Realization.