Duality litmus test: Awareness of the 'notion' of individuality.
As soon as you are aware of yourself, that is, as soon as you are aware of the Individuality thought / the 'I'-thought / ego, the notion of 'you' different from a 'world' arises; two things, 'you' and a 'world' i.e. duality. For non-duality, the 'I'-thought should not arise. When individuality disappears, the situation is non-dual.
Note the distinctions made here among the following:
a) awareness, by itself,
b) awareness of 'I'-thought and
c) awareness of thoughts and things other than 'I'-thought.
Only when there is awareness of the 'I'-thought (case 'b'), there is duality.
Non-dual experience litmus test: Disappearance of the 'notion' of individuality.
1) Dreamless sleep: When in deep, dreamless sleep, neither the sense of 'self' nor the 'world' is present. Awareness is by itself (case 'a'). Non-dual experience.
2) Flow: 'You' lose yourself when doing something that you like or have a passion. For varying amounts of time while watching a movie, hearing good music, reading a book, talking to your sweetheart, exercising, doing your job if you like what you are doing etc, you are aware of other things of interest but not your ego (case 'c'). Non-dual experience.
Side Note: What is the evolutionary reason for the thought of 'individuality' / 'ego'? Is it present in all animals? What purpose does it serve in functioning of a biological organism? Can't that same functioning be accomplished without the sense of 'individuality'?
The following was added to this blog post a few years later (18Feb2012) after the initial post; :
Maybe there won't be a difference between machines and humans if not for our experience of duality. Machines only have non-dual experiences; they are either shut down (deep sleep) or operating on a given instruction with full attention (flow). Humans on the other hand, in addition to non-dual experiences also have dual experiences which is both a blessing and a problem. It is a blessing because it gives us choice; the freedom to choose unlike a machine which is completely pre-programmed. It is a problem because, most humans don't know on what basis to choose, as there is clearly no absolute, objective, black and white answer to our questions. That is why we have created religions to set ourselves some boundaries, to give a distinction of right choice from wrong. I have outlined my take on god and religion here.
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