All Is Mind

All is Mind, other than which, naught exists. 

That’s it, that’s the complete teaching. All is mind; that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. Everything else that Zen, pop-nonduality, Advaita Vedanta or anyone else has to say caters to your deep-seated life-or-death fight-or-flight urge to avoid the ramifications of that one simple and true statement (better known to you and I as not-two). All is mind. You can call it truth or godmind or Brahman, or Skippy if you like, but it’s most useful to call it as you know it; awareness. 

Only two things exist, one of which doesn’t.
Awareness is true and does exist.
Appearance is untrue and does not exist.

All is mind is three words, not-two, ironically, is two words, and nonduality is one word; in English, eleven, seven and ten characters respectively. Except for stating it numerically or symbolically, a true and complete expression of everything doesn’t get much shorter than that. Scientists, in their search for the shortest possible equation that explains everything, can’t handle the truth because they’re existentially committed to the baseless belief that reality is real, but you, advaitin, by dint of the initial nondual insight, know better. You have pierced the veil and seen the light – or so I suppose.

Glimpsing the truth and fully processing the truth, however, are two very different things. Frankly, not to take anything away from you, but the initial nondual insight is a pretty low-hung fruit. Anyone could find it and pluck it off the vine with little effort. You have to be looking for it, and maybe receive a few hints, but forty-five seconds of serious thinking should do the trick. (The temptation to settle for all-is-one over not-two can be strong, so let’s round it up to a minute.) The term nonduality itself is a hard-to-miss clue, like a blinking neon sign in a dark theater; you have to close your eyes and cover them to miss it. Once you’ve beheld the truth of not-two, it grants you the power to change everything. However you came to acquire it and whatever you plan to do with it, you now possess the thought that can destroy the universe. 

Before you can put this knowledge to use, you have to make sure you have the right version. If you acquired all-is-one instead of not-two, for instance, you’ve already reached the end of your journey because all-is-one is not a bomb and packs no wallop. It has no power to destroy questions and dissolve barriers, so all you can do is take your complimentary coexist bumper sticker and go on your way, and thanks for playing our game. All-is-one is like something from a lullaby, dripping with syrupy sentimentality, meant to pacify a colicky infant, whereas not-two is a reminder that whenever you see plurality, you are ass-deep in delusion. 

Where do we draw the line between awareness and appearance? If it’s easier, try thinking in terms of absolute and relative. Truth is absolute, everything else is relative. Whatever is relative is untrue, and untruth does not exist. Truth does exist and untruth doesn’t, so this is a pretty easy standard to apply in any situation. This can’t be true because there’s that. Here can’t be true because there’s there. Now can’t be true because there’s then. Anything that appears, anything that changes, anything that is apart from anything else, anything with features, anything that can be created, preserved or destroyed, is relative, and therefore false, and therefore does not, in truth, exist. Of course, that’s way too much to swallow in a single gulp, which is why we must process truth like we eat an elephant; one bite at a time.

All is mind; beyond that, all beliefs and teachings are just stuff and nonsense. The term not-two is itself the full and complete teaching of nonduality; the name literally says it all. Anyone who promotes nonduality as a belief or teaching is distracting themselves and others from the back-breaking ass-sucking work of digging their own grave. Maybe they really want something other than to wake up; some title or colored belt or vanity badge, or maybe they just don’t want to perform the hideously unpleasant task of self-dissolution, and who can blame them? Somewhere deep inside, we know that deep inside, we’re hollow.

You are aware right now. You’re aware of these words and whatever else is going on in you and around you. Strictly speaking, you are not what you’re aware of, you’re the awareness of it. You are aware of your body, but you are not your body. You are aware of the character you play, but you are not the character. You are aware of your thoughts and beliefs and feelings, but you are not them either. It’s one thing to say you’re not your pet ferret, but it’s another thing to say you’re not your sunburn or your grumbly tummy or your soul-rending anguish; those strike a little closer to home. Mind, however, is a different story. Mind is the centerpoint of awareness, and awareness is what you are. Awareness is all, consciousness is all, mind is all, Skippy is all; different names for the only thing that actually exists. That’s what not-two means; not that everything is equally true, but that only one thing is true and everything else is bullshit. Pretty big difference.

You don’t just identify with your memories, beliefs and feelings, you’re energetically bound to them. That’s the same emotional force that pulls everything inward and holds it together so the dreamstate universe doesn’t just go flying off higgledy-piggledy. That’s what you’re up against in your bid to set yourself free; not the things to which you’re attached, but attachment itself. The energy that connects you flows from you, cocooning you in layers of not-you. Emotional cloaking is not a problem at herd-level where you need it to survive, but when you want to reach your level of neutral buoyancy, it’s like swimming in a steel straightjacket. 

I didn’t start communicating on this subject until I was twelve years into my second-stage birth, and I don’t see how anyone could begin a coherent expression phase before that. There’s a lot of processing and ripening and acclimating going on in those formative years, and it’s not until all that has settled out that one can rightly presume to share their story and take up the torch for others. That’s basically what I’m doing now, I suppose, just wandering around on the slope, shining a light and telling travellers things like, “You’re about to step into a trap that you’ll never step out of.” I tell them how the trap works and why they’re so eager to stick their foot in it. I say things like, “If you turn right at this juncture, you’ll end up lost in a network of sidestreets and deadends from which you’ll never emerge.” I might say, “I know it hurts to keep smashing your head against that boulder, but it will break before you do, and your journey will continue – at least to the next boulder.”  That’s my job as I understand it. Confoundingly, travelers often find the traps preferable to the path.

I can’t tell you what’s waiting for you in Room 101, but I can tell you that somewhere inside, you already know. I can show you that Zen, Hinduism, Buddhism and all teachings and beliefs in the spiritual marketplace are of negative value progress-wise (despite our fear-fueled eagerness to believe otherwise). I can spare you from getting bogged down in ancient texts from foreign lands, and suggest a few dozen books and movies that can truly aid you in this adventure, mostly at the level of parable. I can tell you who Maya is and how she works and where she dwells and, if not how to defeat her, at least how to get past her. That’s the information you really need on this journey; not techniques or knowledge or understanding, but real solutions to a real maze, which only exists in your heart. 

All is Mind, other than which, naught exists. 

Authentic nonduality is like having laser vision you can’t turn off. Whatever you behold turns to ash beneath your gaze, so be careful where you look (especially when taking naughty selfies). People without laser vision can safely look within or without and enjoy all the dreamstate has to offer, but they who have grokked the truth of not-two (and have not dampened or diluted or doublethink’d it to death), will destroy all upon which their mind’s eye settles. Maybe not everything before the laser juice runs out, but until then, they will wreak wholesale destruction the likes of which hostile nations and bad actors can only dream. Shiva has granted you the one boon to rule them all – the thought that destroys the universe – so what are you waiting for? Rip off the big red bow and take her for a spin. Get out there and start blowin’ shit up.

At some point on your journey, you’ll either run out of energy or stuff to destroy. Once the laser has powered down, the time of destruction is done and forgotten; dark emotions are of no further use and may never be employed again. Until then, you have serious work to do. It’s not what you’re attached to that holds you down in the dark, but attachment itself. You’ll encounter many mental-emotional Gordian Knots on your journey; don’t waste time and energy untangling them, just slice through them and keep going. You can unravel the mystery of you later, if you wish, but now is the time of sword and flame.