Nonduality

Nondual Activism

Jerry Katz

Admittedly, the understanding of nondual "activism" can be seen as a stretch for those invested in the remembered meaning of the term. A more appropriate meaning would be to see it as a creatively vigorous nonvolitional, even aesthetic response to the politics of separation. --Ed Arrons

I know there are activists who talk about nonduality. The Nondual Activism that gave birth to the I Am list and NDS was nonvolitional in the sense that we didn't see ourselves or ours actions as activist.

Then there is Anthony Padgett http://www.theism.co.uk/. An exploration of his website might reveal the volitional/esthetic side to nondual activism.

Or visit Drew Hempel http://lightmind.com/library/hempel/preface.html and read his Masters thesis. In the preface he says, "After ten years of intensive work in environmental justice activism it is exactly the pervasive lack of a nondual approach in the West that I have found to be the real limit for environmental and social justice.

"This includes but is not limited to field canvassing for Greenpeace and Citizens for a Better Environment; being vice-president of a labor union local; getting arrested eight times for civil disobedience; being co-owner of a consensus run housing co-op of 35 people that is part of a ten-house collective; co-founding the MN Free Burma coalition; and helping lead many successful campaigns in alliance with many groups."

Where I'm coming from in the nondual activist movement -- and there are already many activists who understand nondualism -- is a point that is as radical or rooted in nonduality as possible.

My primary concern with NDS and NDSA (Nonduality Salon-A; A for activism) is to create a black hole which once entered will draw people to the root of nonduality. Because the nonduality of activists, as I deem it, is not radical enough. It's not radical, period. Therefore it will not stick. It will not change the world. The movement I'm spearheading which is called Nondual Activism, is not out to change the world. It is only intended to create that black hole drawing toward the root.

Perhaps most simply stated, I'm trying to bring activists to NDS, and to do so I'm making up a new term, nondual activism and starting a new website. It's a fancy way of inviting people to NDS.

It may not be so difficult to bring nondually inclined activists to an email list or a website. It may not be so difficult to impart a new way of seeing things. The challenge is going to be the bringing together of all sides to the website and the email group. Terry Murphy has stated: "Causes, in fact, are like Views: Right View is to cling to no views at all. Rather than be a member of a group which advocates ecological purity, better to be part of a coalition of interests, a group combining hunters, fishers, mining interests, forest companies, recreationalists and ecologists, and come up with viable solutions to real problems that leave people more-or-less satisfied and willing to continue to work together."

I think the coming together can happen. It could take a few generations, and there's a chance most of the human population will perish in the meantime, but it's something that has to be done, I feel. It's going to take work in all media and on all levels of communication.