I find myself very drawn to the concept of NonDualism. It’s a concept that is very hard to summarize. Which makes sense as I think about it. NonDuality asks us to let go of what we know to be ‘right’. Do we see the table, the chair and the bowl or do we see the Matrix? To me, it’s an invitation to remain open to the nothing-of-it-all.
I like that idea of nothing. Yoga has taught me to be open to the possibility that things are not as I see them. My reading on how the brain works also teaches me to be wary of what my senses tell me is right. I am learning to be an empty vessel. I am learning not create stories and pictures of an imagined world. I am learning that maybe LA drivers are not assholes, even when they sure drive that way. Then again, maybe they just are.
We so often race to non-emptiness in a situation. In our world of infinite information we leap to conclusions and leap to knowing. We want to fill the gaps with the concrete of an answer. We miss sitting in the emptiness, we miss asking what’s not there.
Stephen Cope talks about this in his book The Great Work Of Your Life. He speaks of the power of being in the paradox of two discordant realities held at the same time. Instead of one option being right, what if neither are right? He asks, quoting Jungian analyst Marion Woodman, “what if there is a third possibility that could transcend and unite the two?”
I recently heard the same question posed in the Netflix documentary The Creative Mind. Neuroscientist David Eagleman explores how our brains optimize for the creative process. It’s brilliant; one of the most interesting and approachable explorations of the creative process I have seen.
Eagleman explains that our brains are energy efficient so will naturally follow the path of least resistance. We are wired to be reductionist. We are wired to fill the emptiness with concrete.
Challenging yourself to not race to a conclusion is hard work. We know that to be creative and different we need to push ourselves out of the box. Meanwhile our brains would prefer we stayed in the box. It’s easier and it’s less work.
The opportunity is to be different to everyone else. To resist the natural path of our brain. To sit in the nothing, the emptiness, the paradox of two discordant realities. To allow yourself time for that third possibility to be revealed. To allow two obvious options to become one extraordinary idea.