AN INTRODUCTION TO AWARENESS ITSELF
THE NONDUAL VIEW
BROCK TRAVIS Ph.D.
(Reprinted with permission from Noumenon:Newsletter for the Nondual
Perspective)
The nonduality of awareness and existence, or the unity of
awareness and the absolute, has been the central insight of my
pursuit of unity, revealing the way that self and all are one.
Writings by Alice Bailey, Edmund Husserl, Ken Wilber, and
Padmasambhava1 offered directions, oriented me toward the subject
of my study, introduced me to the subjectits location,
identity and substancethus referring me to the point at
which one accomplishes the movement from the notion of unity to
the nondual reality. These teachings provide instructions to
noticing awareness itself. Without hyperbole, I can state that I
believe a serious student of the nondual view could study any one
of these seminal teachings for countless lifetimes without
exhausting the potential for awakening awareness to its own
nature. Apparently direct knowledge of this subject unfolds
itself continuously, for each reading provides fresh insight.
Certain phrases and images from these teachings can be used as
seeds for meditation, or points for conversation, opening
endlessly, becoming clearer and clearer, in effect transforming
one's consciousness as understanding deepens. These teachings are
the theoretical pillars of my approach, but I cannot trace direct
knowledge to any one source. My sense is that the teachings
provide an introduction to the nondual view, along with
instruction for how to attain direct knowledge, but at some point
the student must realize the subject itself. For me, the process
of direct knowledge, which is basically examining my own
awareness, studying my subject, inquiring into my own being, has
become and remains an everyday discipline, a way of life. Above
all else, these writers and teachers provide inspiration and
guidance for that endeavour. My intention has been to abstract
the meaning of these teachings from sources that may seem
archaic, arcane, sectarian, or just difficult, and to present the
nondual view in a format accessible to a reader unfamiliar with
these traditions and disciplines. I offer this effort in
gratitude to the wisdom teachings that have led me to the nondual
viewpoint, and with the intention of providing assistance to
others who may find themselves pursuing similar inquiries.
Conversations with others who share the nondual view are precious
and powerful moments in the course of this pursuit. Probably the
primary reason that I have attempted to codify an approach to the
nondual view is to create such conversations. Any meeting with
another carries the potential to become an encounter with an
expanded sense of one's own being. If that other by some chance
shares the nondual view, then the potential of the meeting is
vastly enhanced. Mutually conscious encounters can become
extraordinary opportunities to engender awakenings and
realisations. Intentional participants in nondual communication
can enter into communion or union together. The possibility of
meeting others in this nondual way motivates my efforts to
contribute an accessible approach to the nondual view. To this
end I developed a non-sectarian awareness practice and put it
into application by inviting hundreds of others to participate in
an integration of meditation and communication.
I began by establishing, along with colleague Kurt Hoffman, The
Awareness Project, an informal research institute (now called The
Awareness Institute) dedicated to the development of a
non-sectarian awareness practice, based upon adaptations of
mindfulness and dialogue. Over two years (and counting) we
offered private consultations, community workshops and university
seminars, lectured publicly, facilitated processes for other
groups, and convened a regular monthly meditation. For me this
was an opportunity to practice creating discourse with the
potential for discussing the nondual view. I explored different
formats for introducing the subject, and discovered different
angles of approach for the varying levels of interest and
ability. The awareness practice continues to evolve, but the
essential elements are relaxation and attentionallowing
whatever happens to happenwhile noticing exactly what is
happening. This non-manipulative orientation is central to my
approach. In fact, I now offer it as a basic means for inquiring
into awareness and thus attaining direct knowledge of the nondual
view. The problem with awareness practice, though, is that people
are usually too distracted by personal concerns to focus on
awareness itself. People tend to focus on the physical, emotional
and mental issues arising within their consciousness, and so fail
to notice the subject itself.2
During this period I also participated in The Livingroom Group, a
loose association of educators, psychologists, consultants and
artists, committed to the experiment in Dialogue proposed by the
physicist David Bohm. We offered community workshops and a
university seminar, co-facilitated a dialogue at a national
conference for organisational development, and sustained a
regularly meeting dialogue group. This was an extended
opportunity for me to practice awareness in diverse
circumstances, to engage in discourse with a variety of people,
not necessarily familiar with the nondual view. A dialogue is a
participatory conversation. Because it totally involves everyone
present, and because it both demands and supports enhanced
awareness, dialogue seems to offer great potential as a format
for nondual conversation. My sense is that the most potent force
operant in dialogical process is that it is intentionally
structured to permit the emergence and resolution of multiple
points of view, and I believe this is an appropriate means for
encouraging the meeting of minds necessary for a nondual
discourse. Whenever or wherever I am involved in an opportunity
to discuss the nondual view, I tend to try to create a dialogue.
The problem with dialogue, however, at least for the purposes of
an intentionally nondual conversation, is that people who are
unacquainted with the nondual view must be initially introduced
to it, a process sometimes requiring extensive orientation.3
The real test of this approach was to apply it as a university
curriculum in Consciousness Studies. In the Fall semester of
1993, at the Psychology Department of Sonoma State University, in
California, I taught two classes based upon my approach. One was
an undergraduate course of my own designConsciousness
Laboratoryand one was a graduate course traditional
to the departmentTools for Self-Discovery. I
employed awareness practice and created lively dialogue in both
classes. In both classes I oriented the focus of inquiry toward
subjectivity, directing the students to investigate their own
being, and, during the course of the semester, I attempted to
introduce the nondual view into the ensuing discourse. I found
this a delicate task, because although the groups were both small
(five to seven students) there was a wide range of understanding,
and of meditative and dialogical competence, and the differential
between advanced and beginning students was problematic. I
addressed this issue by organising the classes as participatory
research, challenging everyone involved to practice mindful
dialogue; to allow insights to unfold, noticing rather than
attempting to control the flow of meanings, while maintaining
awareness of the unified wholeness of the group. I composed
several articles (presently available through The Awareness
Institute) in response to the problems and insights arising from
the process of implementing a consciousness studies curriculum,
employing meditation and dialogue to investigate subjectivity,
and, attempting to discuss the nondual view. The overall
intention motivating this writing was to provide, in an
accessible format, the theoretical and practical foundation
necessary to accomplish an introduction to the nondual paradigm,
and ultimately to accomplish an introduction to awareness
itself.4
The primary learning derived from my attempts to apply this
approach to the nondual view is this:
Almost no one notices awareness.
In order to study a subject, to direct attention toward it, the
student must notice that subject, must become aware of it. The
subject of the nondual view is awareness itself. Unless, however,
some teacher or teaching refers the student toward this subject,
it is unlikely that it will ever occur to the student to notice
that which notices. This reference occurs very rarely within the
average human lifetime. This is the reason the wisdom teachings
are priceless. But even if the reference is provided, the
tendency to be distracted by the objectal contents of
consciousness bodily sense-data, feelings, thoughts, and
personalitiesis so great as to actively prevent noticing
the subjectal context of consciousness - awareness itself. Some
degree of contemplative competence seems to be prerequisite to
accomplishing an introduction to awareness itself, at the very
least the ability to relax the attention and sustain an expanded
focus is necessary. From my students, I have the sense that human
beings are generally capable of developing this skill and
accomplishing the initial movement of realisationnoticing
awareness. I believe that the significant factor involved is
motivation. Although nondual awareness is a natural state, the
distracting tendencies of our personal and cultural conditioning
militate against the realisation of that state. Even an abstract
understanding of the nondual view requires a serious rather than
a casual focus; awareness practice involves rigors, and certainly
not everyone is interested enough to persevere toward the
attainment of direct knowledge.5
Be that as it may, my attempt has been to render the nondual view
accessible by synthesising the theory and integrating the
practice into a generally workable approach to direct knowledge
of the unity of existence and awareness.
Offered in thankfulness to the wisdom teachings (
May this work be of benefit and cause no harm.
Notes and Sources
1 Alice Bailey wrote within the esoteric, or occult (meaning
hidden or inner) tradition.
Edmund Husserl founded Phenomenology, and wrote of
Pure or Transcendental Phenomenology.
Phenomenology, as a discipline for the study of subjective
experience, is often cited as a rationale for qualitative
research for the human sciences, but Husserls phenomenology
is an attempt to establish the transcendent foundation of both
Philosophy and Science. Husserls method of radical
philosophic meditation is intended to lead to a fundamental
ground of knowledge, the source of being itself.
Ken Wilber codified the spectrum of consciousness,
the pre-eminent theoretical framework for Transpersonal
Psychology. Wilbers efforts in the development of a
philosophy of science that addresses subjectivity, experience,
consciousness and spirituality, provide a rigorously argued
rationale for consciousness research and spiritual science.
Padmasambhava is the ancient (eight century) legendary founder of
Tibetan Tantric Buddhism. Padmasambhava is credited with the
authorship of a number of esoteric treasure texts, including the
work popularly known in modern culture as The Tibetan Book of the
Dead, as well as other works specifically intended to accomplish
an introduction to the nondual state. (This state in known
variously as primordial awareness, pristine
cognitiveness, immediate presence, or
great perfection. These terms refer to an intrinsic
awareness, radically distinct from the consciousness conditioned
into identification with sense-data, feelings and thoughts.) This
nondual state is the natural condition of the individual. The
teachings of Padmasambhava propose that ordinary
awareness, our own present awareness in its natural state,
is in fact perfectly boundless, or purely nondual, and suggests
that one examines ones own awareness to determine if this
is so.
2 The Awareness Project (Sonoma County, California):
Probably the most significant contribution of this approach is
this simplified codification of nondual methodology, a formulaic
set of instructions designed to direct the student toward the
subject:
Relax the attention.
Allow all that is happening to be exactly as is.
Notice all that is happening, exactly as is.
Notice whatever it is that notices -
Notice awareness itself.
I developed this basic exercise to assist in the accomplishment
of the movement from the notion of the subject to the subject
itself. (The intention is to provide guidance toward direct
knowledge.) This exercise is non-sectarian, trans-disciplinary,
individually adaptable, appropriate for use in all situations, in
short, accessible. I gratefully acknowledge the many process
participants involved in the development of this exercise. I
especially want to recognize Kurt Hoffman for his integrity and
commitment.
Related to awareness practice (mindfulness):
Beck, Charlotte Joke. (1989). Everyday Zen: Love and Work. San
Francisco: Harper Collins Publishers.
Goldstein, Joseph and Kornfield, Jack. (1987). Seeking the Heart
of Wisdom: The Path of Insight Meditation. Boston & London:
Shambhala.
Suzuki, Shunryu. (1970). Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. New York
& Tokyo: Weatherhill.
Hanh, Thich Nhat. (1975). The Miracle of Mindfulness: a Manual on
Meditation. Boston: Beacon Press.
Varela, Francisco, Thompson, Evan, & Rosch, Eleanor. (1991).
The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience.
Cambridge & London: The MIT Press. (see pp 21 - 33)
Wilber, Ken, Engler, Jack, & Brown, Daniel P. (1986).
Transformations of Consciousness: Conventional and Contemplative
Perspectives on Development. Boston & London: Shambhala. (see
pp 21 7 - 284).
3 The Livingroom Group (Marin County, Ca.):
Another significant contribution of this approach is that it
isolates the principle that permits an inclusive dialogue to
function:
Each participant must practice mindfulness of the group as a
whole.
I facilitate dialogues by offering this challenge at the outset,
and by reminding people of the responsibility of the part to the
whole.
I gratefully acknowledge my colleagues in dialogue for the
opportunity to discover and explore this principle.
Related to Bohmian Dialogue:
Bohm, David. (1989). On Dialogue. Ojai, CA.: David Bohm Seminars.
Bohm, David. (1985). Unfolding Meaning: A Weekend of Dialogue
with David Bohm. London & New York: Ark Paperbacks. (see p
175)
Bohm, David & Edwards, Mark. (1991). Changing Consciousness.
San Francisco: Harper Collins.
Bohm, David & Krishnamurti, J. 1985). The Ending of Time. San
Francisco: Harper & Row.
Bohm, David & Peat, David. (1987). Science, Order and
Creativity. New York: Bantam Books.
Bohm, David & Nichol, Lee. (1993). Conversations. Ojai, CA.:
Bohm Archive Series.
Bohm, David, Factor, Donald, & Garrett, Peter. (1992).
Dialogue: A Proposal. Mill Valley, CA.: The Institute for
Dialogue.
Krishnamurti, J. (1973). The Awakening of Intelligence. New York:
Avon Books. (see pp 475 - 507)
4 Consciousness Studies curriculum:
Travis, Brock. (1993). "Consciousness Laboratory" -
Psych 490. Rohnert Park, Ca.: Sonoma State University.
Travis, Brock. (1993). "Tools for Self-Discovery" -
Psych 520. Rohnert Park, Ca.: Sonoma State University.
I gratefully acknowledge the students in these courses for their
perseverance in the study of their own being, and for their
willingness to surface and share insights into consciousness.
5 Noticing awareness itself:
From conversations, both formal and informal, I have to conclude
that very few of the participants in my processes, the
meditations, the dialogues, the college courses, have
accomplished direct knowledge. Several, however, reporting a
sense of boundless awareness consistent with the nondual view,
seem to have done so. I attribute this to:
a. A readiness on the part of the participant to undergo whatever
rigors are necessary to prepare for the move to direct knowledge.
A familiarity with the literary background is useful, but
sustaining a focus without succumbing to distraction is crucial.
There are certainly developmental factors involved, but again, I
believe motivation is a powerful operant force. Some students get
the point instantly, but some are willing to stay with the
process as long as necessary, while many people apparently decide
at one point or another to abandon this admittedly difficult
pursuit. I have been impressed by the perseverance of several
students who have sustained involvement with this evolving
process for over two years.
b. The simplification of the instructions I have developed over
the course of this project. Through the ongoing process of
facilitating groups and individuals in awareness practice and
dialogue around this subject, I believe I have been successful in
reducing my approach to its fundamental principle. As the
individual aspect of awareness becomes conscious of its
participation in the absolute, realisation or awakening to the
nonduality of individuality and the absolute is accomplished. The
clarification of the basic formula, notice awareness
itself, is the final result of the evolution of my
approach toward facilitating inquiry into this subject. This
phrase, if offered and taken as guidance, seems to have an effect
upon a meditative dialogue, engendering an attitude of inquiry.
As a direction for further research I intend to become
increasingly specific in the way I offer the invitation to become
involved in this line of inquiry. Not everyone is willing to
immerse themselves in wisdom teachings or to engage in an
everyday contemplative discipline.
My sense is that if participants self-select according to their
interest in the nondual view, then the facilitator can offer
challenge for the rigorous and ongoing study of Perennial
theories and the practice of awareness. I am intrigued by the
potential of a program designed to structure support for
long-term inquiry into this subject.
Noumenon:Newsletter for the Nondual Perspective