The non-dual principle
Good morning monks, gates of the Neon Lotus Monastery are open again. Come close and listen, thus I have heard.
Once the congregation was asking the Great Ones: What is the one non-dual principle? This was the answer: It is said that the Absolute contains all contradictions. The Eternal Now is non-contradictory in that it always contradicts itself. The Absolute never contradicts itself in that it always contradicts itself.
This is the neti-neti, for what we can say about absolute is only what it is not - not this, not that. All we can say about it is false, for it is also the opposite of that at the same time. And hence, noble silence is the best answer one could give.
And yet, it is non-dual. How could it be? What is the principle that has no opposite? One in which all becomes the One? The one principle that has no contradiction is Existence itself. Non-existence cannot exist by definition. Hence Existence is all there is and indeed, all there ever could be.
The undivided truth at the bottom of reality is a tautology. It is the first self-evident axiom.
"Existence exists"
Nonexistence cannot exist so existence must exist.
It cannot change. It cannot be one thing now and something else later. It must be found in all things – it is a property of everything. Nothing can possibly exist outside of existence. It is absurd to suggest otherwise. It cannot be part of something larger or half of a whole. It cannot be limited or finite. It must be universal, unlimited, and unbound. Existence is absolute. Not a part, subset, or aspect.
Existence is absolute and non-existence is impossible. That’s the plain answer to the great question “why is there something rather than nothing?” It is like asking what is north of the North Pole – it is not even a wrong question. Nonexistence cannot exist any more than non-being can be or untruth can be true.
What could be simpler?
So now, to determine what existence is, we need only determine what, with absolute certainty, exists. What can you say, with absolute certainty that is true? I can say that I Am. I know that I exist. Cogito ergo sum. This is the second self-evident axiom.
And what is the nature of your existence? The nature of my existence? Consciousness, of course. The only thing I know for certain is that I exist, which is the same as saying that consciousness exists.
If Existence is All and “I AM” - the consciousness - exists then Consciousness is All.
QED