The whole thing is a thing. That’s all non-duality, and Eastern teachings are trying to tell us: A thing is a thing; what’s not a thing is not a thing.
What’s funny about it is if I was some really rich, you know, an important spiritual teacher up on a chair in front of a stadium and I say,
“Thing is a thing.”
Everyone would be like, “Sigh. How wise.”
If we were in a non-duality group and I said, “A thing is a thing,” everyone would start arguing. “Oh, but what about a no thing? Which part? What concepts are looking at the thing? Is it the big self or is it the little self that sees the thing? Who is the no thing? And what is the other thing?”
And it’s like… how did it get so complicated?
If it’s hugely complicated like that, then what’s happening is that those neurons in your mind are trying to put language together to describe something that doesn’t need to be described.
This is why so many spiritual teachers say, “Just sit still for a moment, just sit there and be.” This is why Eckhart Tolle teaches presence. When you’re in what he calls presence, then you don’t have all this argument going in your head, “What is a thing? Who is this? What? Where are we going?”
This is why Native American teachings always teach us to come into balance. Just come into balance. Do something simple that puts you in balance, to the point where a thing is a thing.