A Subtle Trap of Non-Duality

'no self' is not 'absolute truth'

In recent months I found myself experiencing a deep spontaneous immersion in a mode of ‘emptiness’ or ‘no self.’ Because of that, some of my recent writings may contain a bias toward ‘no-thing-ness,’ ‘unknowing,’ ‘emptiness,’ or the notion that the radiant presence of now is ‘all there is.’

A stunning realization that is dawning on me lately—as I expressed in this video—is that these types of ‘emptiness’ modes are simply other valid modes. They’re valid ways reality can be with itself. They can be liberating to play with, but—contrary to what is taught in much of modern ‘nonduality’ and even ancient traditions—they aren’t necessarily ‘better than,’ ‘higher than,’ ‘more true,’ ‘more ultimate,’ or ‘more absolute’ than our ‘ordinary everyday human mode,’ or a ‘scientific materialist mode,’ or any other mode.

As far as I can see, all experiential modes are fully real and valid. They’re all fully reality being reality. No single mode can ever fully encapsulate or monopolize ‘truth.’ It’s like every mode reveals new angles, subtleties, and sides of the infinite-sided polyhedron-jewel of reality—a jewel that ~forever evades resolution or encapsulation. Reality is fully, intimately present in every experience yet no experiential or perspectival mode can ~ever fully grok infinitely-slippery, all-inclusive, all-transcending reality.

This is quite a stunning thing to notice. Additionally stunning is the recognition that seemingly *any* perspective—when repeated to oneself and deeply internalized—will *tend to become experiential*. So if you repeatedly tell yourself that “consciousness is ultimate reality” or “no-self is ultimate reality” or repeatedly listen to teachers who say these things, *this will likely become experiential for you* at some point—similar to how Jesus Christ becomes a living, experiential reality for many Christians.

I do not say this to negate the validity of those revelatory experiences—experiences which may be unbelievably liberating, heart-opening, or personally meaningful. Again, all modes are valid, sacred ways suprapersonal reality can be with itself.

What I am noticing, though, is that both ancient and modern non-dualists have fallen prey to the same tendency that plagues other types of (Christian) fundamentalists: the tendency to claim to have discovered the ‘ultimate’ or ‘absolute’ mode that is ‘higher’ or ‘more true’ than all the other modes. In this tendency there is arrogance and distortion.

As far as I can see, there is no actual hierarchy or dichotomy among modes. They’re all simply universe, wholeness, nature, God—whatever you want to call the one reality.

‘Emptiness’ is not ‘more true’ or ‘more absolute’ than form. ‘Nondual’ perspectives are not ‘more true’ or ‘more absolute’ than ‘dual’ perspectives. ‘Spiritual’ perspectives are not ‘more true’ or ‘more absolute’ than ‘materialist’ perspectives. The perspective of Ramana Maharshi is not ‘more true’ or ‘more absolute’ than the perspective of a sloth lazily napping on a tree. All these are simply valid modes to play with and explore. And *all* modes—when seen clearly—are noticed to be miraculous functions of What Is. All experiences are fully IT.

Yes, some modes may feel more beautiful from our human perspective. Some modes are almost certainly more practical. Some modes may be more supportive of ~universal human values, and some modes may lend themselves more suitably to the formulation of mythologies or ontologies that we would be happy to pass on to our children.

And from the human view, this may be the single most important thing to consider:

Which modes are we wise to codify and encourage within the reality-maps we pass on to our children?

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Love,
JB

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P.S. What are your thoughts on this? I’d love to hear from others who have contemplated these subtleties. Please also heart/share on Substack if you feel inspired to do so! This helps more people find my creations.

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🍃 jordan bates is a dad, husband, friend, author of 5 books, rapper, space-holder, world traveler, and passionate explorer of what is

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P.P.S. If you want to dive deeper into the traps, dangers, and shadows of neo-advaita & (radical) nonduality—and the notion of freedom as a capacity to fluidly drift among reality’s numberless modes and find your own flowing center of gravity—check out this playlist of mine on YouTube and watch my recent dialogue with Jessica Eve:

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