Non-duality: Living at Two Levels Simultaneously as an Ode to Joy

An experiential investigation into the extraordinary possibility that there is but one Single Reality. What is it like to address the practical (level of the Relative) on the one hand while knowing the Causeless Joy of Being (level of the Absolute) on the other?

This session of Pathways to Conscious Leadership features Dr. Rick Chaffee sharing his journey into non-duality and conscious leadership. He begins by noting how even small attachments, like the outcome of a sports game, reveal the tension between being fully engaged in life while recognizing the deeper truth that nothing is ultimately at stake. His central theme: living at two levels—the relative world of roles and experiences, and the absolute reality of unchanging Awareness.

Dr. Chaffee guides participants through a meditation highlighting that awareness is not a byproduct of the brain but the foundation of experience. Known in Sanskrit as *Sat-Chit-Ananda*—Being, Awareness, Bliss—this resonates across spiritual traditions and invites recognition of love and beauty as glimpses of our essential oneness.

Rick shares how, despite outward success, he suffered from deep depression until a midlife crisis led him to non-dual teachings. Recognizing “Awareness as Divine” dissolved his fear and separateness, freeing him to live from joy instead of suffering. This transformation reshaped his marriage, work, and leadership.

Rick concludes that conscious leadership naturally arises when one lives from Awareness—fully engaged with life yet anchored in the Oneness of Being, allowing authentic relationships, creativity, and love to flow.