I am reading the “Cultivating the Empty Field” for the second time, and also Dogen’s “Moon in a Dewdrop”.

From this perspective I have been working to understand Dualism and Nondualism. In a nutshell, here are my thoughts, and I want to see if I am even close to understanding the basic concepts.

In Nondualism:

1. The tree and myself are distinct, but fundamentally the same, in that we are made from the same things, have a consciousness, are an extension of the source (that radiant and brilliant light).

2. As long as I believe the “inner” and “outer” are separate entities, that there is a border around
myself/consciousness, I will continue to travel this plane of existence. Only through a non-dualism thought process, where there is no border between the physical and consciousness, can you truly be free, be free of shackles of reality.

This puts a great spin on the saying “it’s only in your head”. How true that is! All of this, is only in our heads, as we allow the “outer” to control the “inner”. So much stuff litters this path, this overgrown field is dying, it is cluttered, and the clutter is blocking any light from providing the nutrients that it needs.

In Dualism:

1. On a another level, I have not philosophically thought of “mind” and “brain” as separate entities, thus thinking of them as one. In general, it seems that “mind” is the metaphysical, and “brain” is the physical, vehicle, or transport layer. Though, in some thoughts, the brain is made of building blocks of energy, thus not really a physical entity.

2. This can also be thought of as the state of consciousness and the building blocks, but can these both be reduced to quantum particles of energy, thus becoming a non-dualist approach?

I guess when we argue that reality is what we make it, versus living someone else’s definition, non-dualism is the only approach that makes sense to me, and I am unsure where Dualism fits in philosophically, and in my growth/path I am creating.

In non-dualism, and what Dogen and Hongzhi preach:

I see and do not see
I hear and do not here

– meaning there is no distinction, it just is, it comes and it goes, you let it go, do not dwell, it happens when it happens and then it is gone.
– also means that things we carry can be discarded – the experience has been actualized, assimilated into our being, and what is left: the negativity, the feelings, the emotions, can be discarded as they are no longer useful.
– if there is no distinction between seeing and not seeing, it means the being is self-aware and aware of the surroundings, and there is no conscious effort needed to know this. What needs to be seen will be seen, what needs to be heard will be heard.