## Metadata - Author: [[John Sefton]] - Full Title: Identifying Nonduality - Category: #books ## Highlights - In general, we could say that the scientist is looking for what is observably true, and the mystic is reporting what is ultimately true. By first distinguishing and investigating this core difference, can help us to begin identifying our true nature. But where exactly does the viewpoint of science and the vision of mysticism differ from each other? They diverge precisely at their initial starting point. The scientist begins by looking outward as a subject that measures objects in the physical world. In contrast, the mystic is looking inward to realize the essence of pure consciousness itself, from which all reality arises. ([Location 204](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09BDHW6K6&location=204)) - What has to be grasped here is that the nondual awareness that becomes self-aware in the mystic isn’t an object that can be seen from a third-person perspective. And it’s not even an object that arises in the mind like an idea, emotion, experience, or conceptual understanding. Rather, it’s the ever-present aware basis of reality itself, that all objects and phenomena arise from. So we certainly have to go beyond looking only at physical reality if we want to realize this underlying pure awareness. And since science can only investigate objective things “out there,” it’s unable to reverse the direction of its inquiry and look into the aware nature of that which is looking. As the Christian mystic Saint Francis of Assisi, said, “What we are looking for is what is looking.” ([Location 234](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09BDHW6K6&location=234)) - It’s not that science is outright wrong or bad; it’s just that the third-person perspective isn’t positioned to see the entire landscape of reality. It shouldn’t be our only mode of knowing, and it shouldn’t be considered the final arbiter of what is real. This doesn’t mean we should disregard, devalue, or deny science and assume some outdated mythological belief system that’s devoid of it. Science is not the enemy; we just have to know that its viewpoint has a critical blind spot when it comes to seeing the full scope of reality. We have to approach and embrace first-person experiential reality on its terms, and not solely through the filter of third-person objectivity. ([Location 300](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09BDHW6K6&location=300))