A Lot of Small Truths Can Add Up to a Big Truth!

The email dialogue from the previous blog post (Proof of Oneness) continues as follows:

Q: If non dual universal is the true nature of consciousness, then it must have somehow been forgotten. Maybe it's this way so that duality can appear. Otherwise we would have no objects or "objectiveness". That maybe explains the condition of the illusory "I". The seeming existense of a universe external to ourselves depends on it.So how does the "I" disappear?  And can the "I" disappear and "knowingness" or "beingness" still be present? And where would "present" then be? It's hard to see how this universal knowingness could seem to be localized in a body still. I know you have spent a good many years studying all this and you seem to be convinced. Maybe the sense of 'I' just shifts to something that cannot be known by the illusory, limited, separate "I" ahead of time? So how does it happen? I have looking for objective evidence to destroy the belief in the limited "I". Is this the wrong approach?

A: As usual, you ask very good questions. Again, duality and nonduality are not really opposites. Duality is just the experience of a smaller part of nonduality. The bigger truth is always here whether we are experiencing it or not, just like the entire room you are in is still here even if you contract your experience of it by putting your hand around your eyes like a pair of blinders.

The I is also not the opposite of the universal knowingness. It is simply a small part of it. All of the qualities of universal consciousness are present in the apparent separate self, just like a single drop of the ocean is still wet. And since the I is just a thought, it is a very temporary form within this larger ocean of consciousness. Thought is the mechanism by which we focus or contract our awareness to experience the separate self and the world it appears in. But it is still just a thought, even though it is very effective at making ourselves and the world appear to be lasting and real.

You ask how it happens that the sense of identity shifts from the small idea of self to the larger reality it arises in, and I would simply say that there is no method or technique that we can do to make it happen. It is something that happens to us, not something we do. What we can do is pay a lot of attention to our sense of identity or the felt sense of "I". That way when it happens to us, we are paying attention! Most spiritual practices are designed to get us to pay attention.

As for your last question about objective truth, I would say it is wonderful that you are looking so passionately for the truth. I might suggest that you could start looking at subjective truth more also. What is your actual experience of the 'I" right now? Where is it located? Does it move around? Where are you noticing its location from? Does the sense of I stay within your body all of the time? Is it sometimes bigger than and sometimes smaller than your body? Where do your senses actually exist? Are they inside of you, outside of you, or both? Where do thoughts come from? What is the source of your awareness? There are wonderful exercises for exploring subjective experience on the Headless Way website.

Questions like these cannot be answered objectively, but they can be answered subjectively. Someone else on facebook also responded to the blog post I made out of your earlier question (Proof of Oneness) with this observation:

"There is no objective reality. Reality is by its nature, subjective and probabalistic. The term "objective" merely identifies those things that are highly probable independent of time and space."

I replied:

Yes, there is no completely objective evidence or reality....but it is a useful concept or term to describe something that has more truth, reality, evidence, or as you say, probability than something that has less truth which we might then call subjective. Ultimately, all there is is truth, so all subjective evidence has some truth or reality, even if it is just real as a thought in someone's mind....i.e. he was a legend in his own mind

A lot of things that we conceive of as opposites are really just different degrees of one thing. Like light and dark: the one thing that exists is light or photons. But dark is a useful concept for describing the situation where there is little or almost no light.

Similarly, objective and subjective are just part of the spectrum of truth. Truth is what exists, and some observations or experiences contain more truth and some contain less, but they all contain some, no matter how subjective. So in a sense, an objective truth is just an observation or experience that contains a lot of subjective truth. And therefore you could say that all objective truth is made up of subjective truth.

You might find the bigger truth you are seeking if you start including every smaller subjective truth you can discover. A lot of small truths put together can add up to a big truth!