I want to give non-dualism a TRY; how should I begin?
Just reading this post indicates you've already begun!
But you want some kind of practice, something to DO, don't you? Yeah, you do. Ego wants you to believe that your doings matter.
Okay. Here's something you can do.
Get quiet, take several deep breaths, and search your mind. See if you can find something in recent memory over which you are harboring a grievance. Find a situation where you feel you were treated unfairly by another person, an institution, the universe, a circumstance. It can be anything. Just find a time when you felt like a victim.
Now, as you think about your victim experience, you will notice that separation is integral. That is, there had to be two roles: persecutor and victim. You are playing the victim role, in this case. You have read in other posts that non-dualism claims that separation is not real, therefore there can't truly be such a thing as a persecutor or a victim. As you contemplate this, you may start to feel defensive. You may begin to realize that holding onto the grievance and your role as victim is perversely attractive to you! You also may not be ready for that realization yet. But, for now, just identify the situation, replay it, and TRY to come to grips with why you feel you were slighted.
Now, the ASKing part. ASK yourself (or God, or Jesus, or Spirit, or the Universe) if there could possibly be a different way of seeing this situation? Is there some other way to define your role in this? Is there another interpretation possible for the other person? Also ASK yourself how willing you would be to consider other perspectives if, and when, they are offered to you. Are you going to argue? Are you going to get all defensive? Or could you at least take a breath and say, "Hm. That could be true. I will consider it."
This whole process takes, what, about five minutes? Just TRY it! Then, just go about your life as usual, but be watching, listening, and reading. Your new perspective is on its way. It may be a startling mystical experience, a vision, a revelation. It may be something you read or hear about. It may be lyrics in a song, or a quotation shared with you. It may just be a thought that slips into your mind or comes to you in your dreams. It will come. The big question is, will you receive it?
But you want some kind of practice, something to DO, don't you? Yeah, you do. Ego wants you to believe that your doings matter.
Okay. Here's something you can do.
Get quiet, take several deep breaths, and search your mind. See if you can find something in recent memory over which you are harboring a grievance. Find a situation where you feel you were treated unfairly by another person, an institution, the universe, a circumstance. It can be anything. Just find a time when you felt like a victim.
Now, as you think about your victim experience, you will notice that separation is integral. That is, there had to be two roles: persecutor and victim. You are playing the victim role, in this case. You have read in other posts that non-dualism claims that separation is not real, therefore there can't truly be such a thing as a persecutor or a victim. As you contemplate this, you may start to feel defensive. You may begin to realize that holding onto the grievance and your role as victim is perversely attractive to you! You also may not be ready for that realization yet. But, for now, just identify the situation, replay it, and TRY to come to grips with why you feel you were slighted.
Now, the ASKing part. ASK yourself (or God, or Jesus, or Spirit, or the Universe) if there could possibly be a different way of seeing this situation? Is there some other way to define your role in this? Is there another interpretation possible for the other person? Also ASK yourself how willing you would be to consider other perspectives if, and when, they are offered to you. Are you going to argue? Are you going to get all defensive? Or could you at least take a breath and say, "Hm. That could be true. I will consider it."
This whole process takes, what, about five minutes? Just TRY it! Then, just go about your life as usual, but be watching, listening, and reading. Your new perspective is on its way. It may be a startling mystical experience, a vision, a revelation. It may be something you read or hear about. It may be lyrics in a song, or a quotation shared with you. It may just be a thought that slips into your mind or comes to you in your dreams. It will come. The big question is, will you receive it?
posted by AWB @ 2/06/2011 06:48:00 AM
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