Is non-dualism pessimistic?

If you're interested in optimism and pessimism, you really must read a book called Learned Optimism by Martin P. Seligman. He describes sociological and psychological experiments and then couples them with self-help ideas and suggestions.

One important ramification for the spiritual path is this: people who are optimists generally feel happier but see situations inaccurately; pessimistic folks see things more realistically and are usually more dreary. My dad is an example of the latter. He loves to state that if you're a pessimist, you're never disappointed!

A great many spiritual avenues start with disillusionment. This is a whole other topic, but is related here. We find a life path or thought system to be not representative of reality, and we feel the let-down, emptiness, and fear of disillusionment. The realization that we have been out of touch with reality. Now that we realize that, what do we do? Often, in these moments we finally ASK for help, and Spirit responds.

Back to the question. Non-dualism is not inherently pessimistic. But it can seem so to people who dabble in it rather than embrace it. A few of my close friends know that I hold no hope for the earth, the world, the United States, the human race, the environment, etc. All these things are, I'm fond of saying, DOOMED.

But that's not bad news. That's GOOD news!

You know, there is something beside pessimism and optimism. Realism. What about being concerned with Truth, rather than your feelings? What about pursuing the Real, and trusting that you will feel better when you're living life more authentically?

William Glasser asserts that all mental illness, the tall and the small, is caused by some degree of disassociation with reality. I find this to be true. And helpful. Each time I identify a neurosis lurking in my mindset, I ask myself where I've lost touch with reality. And each time, when I find and re-establish the connection to reality, I feel better.

So I would say that non-dualism begins with a somewhat pessimistic (but accurate) realization that life as we perceive it is just not workable. But the good news is that life is not really as we perceive it. It's our perception that needs help, not life.