From Dualism via Non-Dualism to Monism

A Developmental Proposition with Historical Case Studies

By the Druid Finn

1. The Frame

We define God as the Universal Procedure: the generative set of rules (like a Universal Turing Machine) by which all identifiable realities emerge. Man is a finite, localized iteration of this Procedure, a transient event within the universal flow.

The relation between “God” and “man” has been imagined in three distinct ways—dualism, non-dualism, and monism—which correspond to developmental survival stages: infancy, youth, and maturity. Each stage has historical exemplars, each stage is necessary, and each becomes toxic if imposed outside its developmental context.

2. Phase One: Dualism – Infancy of Religious Thought

Definition: God and man are absolutely separate; God regulates man externally.

· Case Study: Ancient Judaism.
The God of the Hebrew Bible is radically transcendent: “I am that I am” (Exodus 3:14). Humanity is commanded to obey divine law, with blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. The covenant is parental: God as father, Israel as child.

o Example: The Ten Commandments are not suggestions but non-negotiable prohibitions.

o The sacrificial system reinforces dependence on external authority for forgiveness.

· Benefit (for its phase): Provides clarity and order for a tribal people in survival struggle. Instills obedience before reason is fully matured.

· Toxic outside its phase: When rigid dualism persists into cultural adulthood, it becomes authoritarianism and dogmatism. Example: Medieval theocracies suppressing scientific inquiry under threat of heresy.

3. Phase Two: Non-Dualism – Juvenile Transition

Definition: God is not wholly outside; He dwells “within.” Humanity carries God as conscience or inward light, yet still refers to Him as higher order.

· Case Study A: Christianity.
Jesus announces, “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). God is both transcendent and immanent—Father in heaven, but also Spirit indwelling the believer. The external law of Moses is reframed as internalized love: “I will write my law upon their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33, reinterpreted in the New Testament).

o The believer is no longer a mere child obeying rules, but an adolescent learning responsibility through internalized guidance (grace, conscience).

· Case Study B: Hindu Vedanta (Advaita).
The Upanishadic dictum tat tvam asi (“Thou art That”) suggests the individual self participates in the divine essence. Yet Shankara’s Advaita maintains a distinction: the ignorant must realize identity with Brahman through practice, still under guru guidance. God is both within and beyond.

· Benefit (for its phase): Encourages self-reflection, personal responsibility, and creativity under transitional support. Allows humanity to internalize authority.

· Toxic outside its phase: Too subtle for infants (confuses instead of guiding); too limiting for mature adults (clings to inward “God” instead of recognizing direct identity with universal procedure).

o Example: Quietist movements in Christianity, where believers renounce responsibility by saying “God acts in me,” avoiding personal accountability.

4. Phase Three: Monism – Maturity of Thought

Definition: Man and God are one. The Universal Procedure is not external or internal but identical with the event of being itself.

· Case Study A: Spinoza.
In the 17th century, Spinoza declared Deus sive Natura (“God or Nature”). God is not an external ruler nor a spirit within, but identical with the totality of existence. Every human is a mode of the universal substance. This was scandalous to dualist theologians, yet it represents intellectual adulthood: recognition of self as expression of universal law.

· Case Study B: Buddhism.
The doctrine of dependent origination (pratītya-samutpāda) and the identity of nirvāṇa and saṃsāra dissolve separation. There is no ultimate duality between the human and the divine, no “God within,” only direct recognition that all events are empty yet fully real as universal procedure. The mature monk realizes: “This very mind is Buddha.”

· Benefit (for its phase): Establishes full autonomy, creativity, and procedural sufficiency. Ends projection of authority, allowing humanity to live responsibly as universal events.

· Toxic outside its phase:

o Infants cannot survive without external order—telling them “you are God” is destructive.

o Adolescents may misuse monism as premature arrogance: “If I am God, I can do anything.” This is the seed of cultic delusion.

o Example: Modern pseudo-gurus proclaiming divinity while lacking maturity, leading followers into dependency or abuse.

5. The Evolutionary Logic

The three systems are not timeless metaphysical “truths” but phase-specific expedients:

· Dualism = external regulation for infancy.

· Non-dualism = transitional self-regulation for youth.

· Monism = full self-regulation for maturity.

When kept within their phases, they nurture development. When transplanted outside, they become toxic:

· Dualism infantilizes adults.

· Non-dualism confuses children and blocks maturity.

· Monism, if premature, degenerates into megalomania.

6. Implication: Why Philosophies Clash

Religious and philosophical conflict often arises because each system claims universality for what is in fact a developmental expedient:

· Judaism guards the dualist stage.

· Christianity and Vedanta exemplify transitional non-dualism.

· Spinoza and Buddhism articulate monism.

The battles between them (heretic vs. orthodox, mystic vs. theologian, philosopher vs. priest) reflect not contradictions of truth but mismatched developmental needs.

7. Conclusion: Maturity as Self-Regulating Autonomy

To mature is to pass through each phase in order:

1. Obey the law (dualism).

2. Internalize the law (non-dualism).

3. Become the law (monism).

Each is necessary, each is temporary, each becomes harmful when absolutized. The final recognition is simple: Man is God, as local event of the Universal Procedure.

Closest precedents

Modern Pantheism

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