Abstract

Humanity currently possesses a great wealth of wisdom teachings discussing the notion of unity or oneness. The most radical of these teachings insist upon a perspective of absolute non-duality, a point of view which admits no distinction between consciousness and reality, and which posits that awareness and existence are a boundless singularity. Versions of the non-dual view presently emerge from a diverse variety of traditions and disciplines, including the ageless worldwide traditions of shamanism, mysticism, and esotericism, known collectively as the Perennial Philosophy, and the postmodern disciplines of Quantum Physics and Transpersonal Psychology, addressed together by Consciousness Research. ;The problem is that there is a difference between notions of unity and the reality of unity. Wisdom teachings offer instruction for realization as well as information on the non-dual point of view, but this information and instruction is usually discussed within the exclusive context of a sectarian tradition or academic discipline. To serve human unity non-dual teachings must be rendered accessible for the global culture. ;The purpose of this project is to codify a generally accessible, non-sectarian and interdisciplinary approach to the non-dual view. The method employed was an integration of a theoretical synthesis of Perennial Philosophy and Consciousness Research, along with the development of an awareness practice based upon an adaptation of mindfulness meditation and the experiment in dialogue proposed by the physicist David Bohm. Both the theoretical synthesis and the awareness practice were applied as a university curriculum, and this series of articles was composed in response to the problems and insights arising in the process of attempting to articulate the non-dual view within actual courses in Consciousness Studies. ;"Awareness Itself: The Non-Dual View" is a collection of five pieces, intended to function as either an informative introduction to issues and methods associated with the non-dual viewpoint, or, as a set of instructions designed to accomplish an introduction to direct knowledge of non-dual awareness itself