Conversations on Radical Non-Duality

If you’re really into radical non-duality — the idea that there is no ‘you’ and that nothing separate is ‘real’, just an appearance in a limitless field of possibilities — you might want to subscribe to Frank McCaughey’s treasure trove of 70+ discussions and short films on the subject on Patreon.

It doesn’t matter if you’re (like me) a ‘seeker’ hoping (hopelessly) to ‘see’ this as true, or if your apparent self is gone and this astonishing ‘natural reality’ is already seen: Frank has done interviews with both, and they’re quite amazing. For the seeker with questions, there are lots of videos with very articulate answers, and IMO the interactive interview/discussion process that Frank uses with his guests allows these answers to be expressed more clearly and succinctly than is usually possible in the Q&A of group meetings (which most radical non-duality videos are recordings of).

You also get some context about how the ‘disappearance’ of the illusory self ‘happened’, as each story (of course it is only a story) is quite unique, although what is described and what is ‘left’ is unquestionably the same thing. Somehow, that’s reassuring to the struggling self.

And equally reassuring are the stories that those of us still seemingly afflicted/infected with selves tell Frank, about how easy, or how difficult, the incredible cognitive dissonance is to deal with, between the need to continue to ‘act’ and ‘function’ as a responsible person in relationships with others, and the intellectual appreciation that there is actually no person, no agency, no controlling ‘self’ inside us. Not to mention the cognitive dissonance this creates in our own heads! For some ‘selves’ this seems agonizing; for others it’s almost fun.

I was delighted that Frank has elected to post my conversation with him as Ep. 70 of his series, which is entitled Behind the Curtain. You won’t be able to see my episode, or any of Ep. 50-69, without signing up to support Frank on Patreon (which was well worth it for me). But even if you’re unable or unwilling to do so, there are some great episodes (see some of the links below) viewable by all. Here are my personal favourites to date (*indicates those still seemingly struggling with selves):

  • Ep. 68 — Giselle Suarez (US)
  • Ep. 67 — Niall O’Murchu* (Ireland) — Niall turns it around and interviews Frank
  • Film — This is it — between Ep. 64 and 63
  • Ep. 63 — Robin Kurkhus (Norway)
  • Ep. 62 — Jim Gagnon* (US)
  • Ep. 60 — Nancy Neithercut (US)
  • Ep. 57 — Michael Riley* (Canada) (warning: this lovely chat is 4 hours long)
  • Ep. 56 — Tim Cliss (UK)
  • Ep. 52 — Christian Milon (France)
  • Ep. 51 — Giselle Suarez (US)
  • Ep. 50Kenneth Madden (Ireland)
  • Ep. 49Tim Cliss (UK)
  • Ep. 47Giselle Suarez (US)
  • Ep. 37Tim Cliss (UK) (my partial transcript of this episode is here)
  • Ep. 34Boris Jansch (UK)
  • Ep. 29Lisa Lennon (Spain)
  • Zero & One — film that Frank made with Tony Parsons (UK), Jim Newman (Austria), Andreas Müller (Germany) and Richard Sylvester (UK) that got him started exploring this subject

Lots of other films, more interviews on non-duality and other, subjects and extra content from Frank’s renowned film Zero & One can be found on Frank’s channel.

I’d suggest you watch these (and all non-music videos including TED talks) at 1.75x speed, using any of the available browser extensions, for two reasons: (1) It forces you to pay full attention, so you’ll actually absorb, reflect, and retain more than you would watching it at actual speed, and (2) you’ll get through 50 minute videos in 30 minutes, giving you more time to think about the ‘obvious’ — like that nothing is real, ‘you’ do not exist, and nothing has any meaning or purpose. You’re welcome!

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1 Response to Conversations on Radical Non-Duality

  1. Eric Lilius says:

    Hi Dave,
    Are you familiar with Gary Weber.
    http://happiness-beyond-thought.com/
    I know I have mentioned Douglas Harding
    http://headless.org
    My gateway to
    ” The Great Way is not difficult for those not attached to preferences.”
    Hsin Hsin Ming http://www.mendosa.com/way.html
    ” If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body will be filled with light.”
    Matthew 6:22

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