Non-Duality: Between New Weird Literature and Vedanta
I try to float above the dualities and categorisations of reality
Escaping the Categorization of Reality — AI Image by Author (Bing).
I try to float above the dualities and categorisations of reality. To pull this off, I’ve stumbled upon an unusual method — forging a mental short-circuit between New Weird literature and the study of Vedanta philosophy.
I submerge myself in the contorted realms of New Weird, where reality bends and distorts. I devour the works of Miéville, VanderMeer, Swainston. Their impossible cities, hybrid creatures, time flowing in reverse — it all burrows into my mind, leaving me doubting the solidity of the world around me.
Approaches
Then I turn to Vedanta, that ancient Indian philosophical tradition. I pore over the concepts of maya, the cosmic illusion, and Brahman, the ultimate non-dual reality. I ponder the notion that my self is truly indistinguishable from the universal consciousness.
At first blush, these two approaches seem worlds apart. New Weird plunges headlong into chaos and multiplicity, while Vedanta seeks fundamental unity. Yet it’s precisely in their collision that I uncover a revealing spark.
Reading Miéville’s “The City and the City”, I see a vivid metaphor for the Vedantic idea of maya. Those two overlapping cities, divided only by the conditioned perceptions of their inhabitants — it speaks volumes about the illusory nature of everyday reality. The characters’ struggle to “unsee” what they shouldn’t see mirrors my efforts to pierce the veil of illusion.
Not just an intellectual exercise
When I mull over non-duality, my mind conjures the surreal imagery of New Weird. The abstract notion of Brahman comes alive as one of those morphing cities, where the boundaries between organic and inorganic, natural and artificial, dissolve into a ceaseless flow of transformation.
This mental short-circuit isn’t just an intellectual exercise. It’s the crowbar I use to pry open the locks of my ordinary perception. Submerging myself in these turbulent waters, I feel my mind unshackling itself from the rigid categories that imprison it. Dualities — good/evil, mind/body, real/imaginary — start to lose their seemingly ironclad grip.
The result is a kind of cognitive buoyancy. Liberated from the weight of my habitual categorisations, my mind floats in a realm of infinite possibilities. Contradictions are no longer hurdles to overcome, but portals to new understandings. Uncertainty becomes not a threat, but an invitation to explore.
Dualities
The dualities that once seemed so rigid — the self and the other, the animate and the inanimate — start to dissolve, revealing an underlying unity that takes my breath away.
The process isn’t without its challenges, mind. Like the protagonists of New Weird, I often feel disorientated and even terrified when my certainties crumble. But Vedanta reminds me that this is a necessary passage — only by shedding my illusions can I hope to grasp reality’s true nature.
I’m not after the escapism of fantasy or the philosophical asceticism. What I aspire to is an awakening to the wonder and mystery of existence. Freed from conceptual cages, I experience the world with a renewed freshness and wonderment.
And..so?
This practice has transformed how I engage with the world. In an age riven by polarisation and conflict, the ability to transcend dualities has become my guiding light. I find myself better equipped to navigate the complexities of contemporary life, and to seek creative solutions to seemingly intractable problems.
My short-circuit between New Weird and Vedanta isn’t a destination, but an ongoing process. Every plunge into a surreal tale, every meditation on Vedantic truths, is a chance to push the boundaries of my perception. Over time, this practice is altering not just how I think, but how I exist in the world.
It’s an endless journey, a ceaseless exploration of the limits of mind and reality. But in this floating above dualities, in this creative short-circuit, I’ve found a freedom and an understanding that I’d scarcely have thought possible.
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