For a Friend:

 Ive been thinking about our conversation yesterday and trying to figure out a way to formulate my thoughts and feelings in a meaningful way. I just want to offer these words as a path of inquiry for you, a “yes and” or “what if” to the proclamations of “the world is illusion” and “everything is just a reflection of you.”

As you know I have had multiple experiences and prolonged chapters of my life where those two quoted statements were absolutely irrefutable for me… Some of them were positive and uplifting, others were horrific and terrifying…

But in each case the truth of “living in illusions” and “we are all reflections” was absolutely obvious, it was not just an intellectual thing, but a realization with one’s entire being… There have also been many times where I felt I had glimpses through illusion, and also many times of feeling -with the same certainty and conviction of the times of total connection- that I was completely disconnected, alone, an island to one’s own… Day to day, that feeling seems to be able to sway and arbitrarily settle somewhere along the spectrum of total unity and total isolation.. Is it possible for a universe to exist where both can be true? What undue suffering do we take upon ourselves by only accepting one side of that spectrum as true, and disregarding all the rest?

Two main points come to mind which may either further confuse or clarify things…

The first point, and I think the most problematic, is that everything, EVERYTHING - from our experiences of the external world, to our explorations of the inner world, all of that and everything between- happens in and is mediated by our nervous systems and brain… To even say “external world” is problematic, because all sights, sounds, tastes, all of that is created within our own skin.. It is like a frosted windowpane which colors and shapes all things… It is arguably an inescapable unity… We are always operating from within a unity(the biological being known as human), but even that unity is composed of an innumerable amount of disparate parts [ex: the human body contains more non-human cells (viruses, bacteria, etc) than human cells]

So perhaps we can think of our experience as being fueled by at least two things, all the time, simultaneously :

1. Our biological energy/ biological processing 

And
2. The energy which we receive as sense impressions from the external world… 

Both are needed to create and mediate our experiences.. Could it be that like a cocktail, the ratio of these forces may change and when they change so does the nature of our experience?

For example if our biological energy is at a higher ratio, has a greater prevalence in the mix, then everything has that unshakable flavor of unity.. But if the sensory energy is of a higher ratio, then the leading flavor is that of separation..

Now the second point, which like I said may confuse or clarify the discussion is related to the phrase, “As Above, So Below”

This one is a bit harder to formulate because it relies upon the insights bestowed upon us from a deep contemplation of the external world, and we have just explored how even calling it that is perhaps a disservice to understanding….but nonetheless!

At the very least it seems to be the case that the universe, the world, goes through changes, and the nature of those changes, despite all the intricacies, is again that of one which shifts from unity to multiplicity: the early universe seemingly spawning from a single point, expanding and transforming into many different particles and things, until those pieces re-formed into new, previously inexistent center of unity (stars, planets, etc) and then with time those centers of unity also break down creating more multiplicity… A seemingly unending set of Matryoshka dolls (those Russian dolls that have more inside them) alternating between unity and multiplicity, one nested within, and then birthing the other… it goes on and on and on…

Not one(not unity), not two (not multiplicity), that is the nature of the Non-Dual… Our minds have evolved for certainty- survival has been based on our ability to choose and exclude, to emphasize duality… but if we can now find a way to decrease the need for certainty, perhaps ironically it can lead us closer to that which is true...