“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing 

and rightdoing there is a field.

I'll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass

the world is too full to talk about.”

~ Rumi

Non-duality is all the rage right now and here’s the thing for me... non-duality is a natural result of meditation and contemplation. If you practice meditation and contemplation along with contemplative action, there’s a point where non-dual thinking isn’t theoretical anymore. By the grace and action of God when you lie down in the grass and notice the fullness of the world often enough, you stop finding your identity in your opinions about right doing and wrongdoing.

Non-duality becomes natural and integrated over time. 

Over time, and after years of contemplation you will naturally begin to view things as impermanent, for example. You become more and more open to change and the fluidity of life.

Over time, you naturally see the danger of “isms” because you no longer find your identity in your thinking and addiction to the energy that believing and defending these things tends to give you.  You learn to walk in “middle ways” which are “God’s ways” such as grace, compassion, and kindness.* You become more accepting and see that everything and everyone belongs.

Over time, you see the value of equanimity, and you are able to center yourself and be the calm in the midst of chaos. This is a gift you begin to naturally give to others without even knowing it. 

Over time, you begin to love unconditionally (tear break). It begins with unconditionally loving yourself, warts, shadow, successes, failures, and all. You experience the depth of that love. There is no end to it, just as there is no beginning to it. It’s an inexhaustible love. 

Then, because an experience of unconditional love is so healing, and with compassionate meditation and contemplation, your vision changes. You want others to know that they are loved in the same way and you give it away through your prayers and actions whenever you can. With unconditional love, there is no division. There is no right or left. There is no right or wrong. There is no in or out.  All are loved with unconditional love.  

Over time, as you practice contemplation and meditation this love turns to joy. Joy is your natural state and is available to all. It just needs to be uncovered and it will be as you surrender self to Self. It is always on tap if you choose it. It’s a joy that cannot be stolen. It’s deeper than the divisive news and the latest attention-grabbing headlines.

Over time, in a contemplative community and in Spiritual direction you wrestle with the suffering you experience in contemplative ways. You meet out in the “field”, to return to the Rumi metaphor. 

Over time, in a community where non-duality instead of conformity is a goal, your duality is transformed if you allow it to be. In a contemplative community, you will have people that are naturally non-dual because of their years of contemplative practice and action and this tends to rub off. 

Over time, you “take action based on oneness.”** Think about it. You can take action out of fear and duality that shows up as separation and inclusion and exclusion based on arbitrary rules, or you can take action based on acceptance and compassion that shows up as justice, reconciliation, mercy, and forgiveness.

Take good care,

Rod

FOOTNOTES

*Perennial Wisdom p. 223

**Rohr https://cac.org/action-based-in-oneness-2021-05-27/