Nonduality Conference talk! — "A Common Stumbling Block to Nondual Realization." This is the presentation I gave at the Science and Nonduality Conference in San Rafael on October 24. It tells of what I call a common "stumbling block" - something that seems to block the joyful discovery that the self and world are one open, loving, undivided awareness. The stumbling block I'm talking about boils down to this: the sense that awareness feels personalized or localized. We grow up in modern scientific cultures to believe this. But as long as we do, then the sense of separation will continue. Direct experience, however, can establish that awareness is not personalized, and that localization is never experienced at any time. Our experience is always open, limitless, undivided and free.
"A Common Stumbling Block to Nondual Realization".

Have you wondered -

• Who am I?
• What is this “realization” I hear so much about?
• What is the meaning of life?
• What kind of life do I want to live?
• How can I find happiness and inner peace?
• Are limiting beliefs blocking the pursuit of my goals?
• I feel a conflict between my mind and my heart. What to do?
• I can't decide on this problem... I want to know what is right.
• Is the story of my life being told in my own voice? Are there parts that lay undiscovered?
• Which job?   Which school?   Which lover?

then read on!

Socrates, Buddha, Ramana, Nisargadatta, Shankara, Nagarjuna, and most of the world's saints and sages have this common. Dialog! It is a way of being-with and an exploratory tool. It is an expression of celebration. Beloved by the ancients, dialog is being rediscovered by modern thinkers as basic to the very way that thought functions. Philosophers, mystics, scientists, and therapists of all kinds are using dialogical means more than ever before. As practiced at the Heart of Now, dialog combines compassionate communication and deep listening with Socratic questioning to explore your beliefs, values and goals. Dialog yields insight into all manner of issues, from everyday problems to questions of life and death.

This inquiry heals, empowers, and liberates. It is a compassionate exploration that begins from your questions, and results in insight and understanding. You can experience peace and clarity on issues pertaining to self-knowledge, the meaning of life, conflicts in values, cross-cultural tensions, ethical dilemmas at work and at home, family and relationship issues, and more. Even for issues that don't seem "philosophical," this kind of investigation has the time-tested ability to foster radical shifts in your intellectual, emotional and perceptual experience.

• This inquiry heals because thinking and feeling are so closely intermingled that a sincere investigation pays off throughout all of one's experience. Regardless of where one begins inquiry - from the point of anger, fear, hope, wonder, or from the global perspective one's view of life - sincere philosophical inquiry transforms both thinking and feeling.
• It empowers by focusing on issues you suggest. It's not disempowering, and works most effectively with your active participation. The direction we take, as well as the results, are yours.
• It liberates by freeing you from false beliefs and limiting assumptions. You come to discover a more joyful experience of yourself, others and the world.

Nondual inquiry is another ancient and powerful form of investigation, especially strong in Eastern traditions. Are you seeking inner peace, the meaning of life, contemplating your true nature? Nondual inquiry (self-inquiry) is a fast and direct direct route to peace and clarity on these issues. I use methods culled from Eastern philosophical traditions — the “direct path” from Advaita Vedanta and the Middle Way from Mahayana Buddhism. Nondual inquiry is holistic. It is based on the insight that experience is global, not sectioned or partitioned. Besides conversation, it involves body-sensing, perceptual exercises, visualizations, meditations, readings, and just being.

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