Non-duality points at the unitary structure of experience.

Most of us focus on the content of experience most of the time. We are trained to do this as children. Focusing on the content of experience is not bad, or a problem, it's a necessary part of functioning in the world.

It can also be useful to "step back" and look at the structure of experience. When we do this, we can notice a number of aspects of experience that aren't evident from the content alone.

• We can notice that we only ever access what is not part of immediate experience through imagination. For example, sitting here with a computer in front of me, I have no experiential evidence that New York City exists. From the point of view of this experience here and now, New York City is only available through imagination -- it's imaginary. So is anything else I can think of that isn't immediately present to me.
  
• We can notice that as soon as something enters experience through imagination, it is no longer outside of experience, but part of it. With the thought of New York City, that thought becomes part of the ongoing experience.
  
• We can notice that we never experience objects directly. We only experience qualities of objects -- shape, color, weight, smell, sound, taste. We wouldn't say that the qualities are the objects, but looking closely, we notice that the qualities are all we ever actually experience.
• We can notice that experience is always here and now. From the perspective of this experience here and now, events that are distant in time or space are in the same category as New York City -- imaginary.
• We can notice that there is no separation in the fabric of experience. Awareness includes everything that is part of experience. Examining the nature of perceptions, we can notice that they are not different or separate from the awareness doing the perceiving.
• We can notice that thoughts are composed of "virtual" or imaginary sensations. Expository thoughts are spoken by a voice in imagination. Picture thoughts are seen in imagination. We can use imagination to simulate smells and tastes and kinesthetic sensations. Emotions are usually composed of a thought (a virtual sensation) combined with a sensation somewhere in the body. All mental activity seems to be based on simulated sensation.
  

These are things we can notice about experience by looking at it directly. When we focus on experience directly, these aspects of it gradually become obvious, but most humans never pause to examine experience in this way.

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