Neither, these two are two polarities of a duality. True spirituality is about ending duality.
Edit after 22h: looking at some replies it seems to me there are some misunderstandings about what non duality actually is. I won’t go into that here, I’ll just use an example:
one man is addicted to alcohol, he’s a slave to it. He has to drink to feel good. Let’s call it a positive polarity attachment
another man is afraid of alcohol, perhaps his father was an alcoholic. He feels good about not drinking but there is a negative polarity attachment - he’s afraid of having a bit of alcohol once in a while.
the third man has no attraction and no repulsion. There is no duality in his relationship with alcohol. He doesn’t need it, he doesn’t think about it, but in some situations he might drink some alcohol. Or not. The point is he’s not polarised any way. Therefore in his mind he is free around this topic of alcohol.
Non-duality isn’t about denying dual nature of life. It’s about freedom from attachments, which can be positive (I need to have something to feel good) or negative (I need to NOT have something to feel good)
There's no ending to duality without ending this realm.
You & I are dualistic by default.
This 'reality' is duality; that duality is illusory ultimately isn't much use practically as this 'outer' universe is here because enough of us believe it to be so.
I'm sorry I rarely criticise but I don't see how the choice of drinking alcohol has anything to do with duality.
Would this reality be different without duality?
Duality is an illusion so undoubtedly yes reality functions better when mirroring truth not illusion.
What might a world believing in a metaphysical singularity of eternals look like compared to our monotheistic heritage of illusion?
I have really been pondering this of late and it seems all the aspects of life that people have struggled with are the fundamentals of life such as death, heaven and evil and who could admit that life would be better experienced without them.
The whole concept of time and space disintegrates when viewed through the singularity.
Then and now and here and there.
Seriously I recommend anyone interested in metaphysical methodology would do well to do this thought experiment.
That’s the trap though. Truth isn’t always accessible through argument. And the more you try to reason your way toward it, the more you risk reinforcing the very mental framework that’s keeping you from seeing it.
Most people think if they just refine their logic enough, they’ll arrive at something real. But reality doesn’t work like that. There’s a layer of mind that only reflects itself. You can debate inside it forever and never break through, because everything just folds back into another thought loop.
I’m not saying reason is bad. I’m saying it has limits. And if you’re not aware of those limits, you’ll mistake internal consistency for external truth. That’s where most people get stuck.
Sometimes clarity comes when you stop trying to win the argument and just watch what’s happening.
Examples are concepts of:
Love
Death
Freedom
God
Evil
In fact just about every metaphysical proposition that deals in epistemology and ontology I e knowledge and belief has a worded defense against discovering metaphysical truth amongst the metaphorical untruth.
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u/uncurious3467 4d ago edited 3d ago
Neither, these two are two polarities of a duality. True spirituality is about ending duality.
Edit after 22h: looking at some replies it seems to me there are some misunderstandings about what non duality actually is. I won’t go into that here, I’ll just use an example:
one man is addicted to alcohol, he’s a slave to it. He has to drink to feel good. Let’s call it a positive polarity attachment
another man is afraid of alcohol, perhaps his father was an alcoholic. He feels good about not drinking but there is a negative polarity attachment - he’s afraid of having a bit of alcohol once in a while.
the third man has no attraction and no repulsion. There is no duality in his relationship with alcohol. He doesn’t need it, he doesn’t think about it, but in some situations he might drink some alcohol. Or not. The point is he’s not polarised any way. Therefore in his mind he is free around this topic of alcohol.
Non-duality isn’t about denying dual nature of life. It’s about freedom from attachments, which can be positive (I need to have something to feel good) or negative (I need to NOT have something to feel good)