Some working definitions

Oneing, Contemplation and Non-Dual have become trendy words in the language of Christian spirituality in the 21st Century. But what do they mean?

Well, I can tell you what I mean by them! 

Oneing is a term that describes the ultimate goal of life - being "oned" with God the Holy Trinity through Jesus Christ. This is what Jesus meant by salvation. St Paul called this "being in Christ", "having the mind of Christ" and "growing up into Christ". The eastern church calls this "theosis" or "deification". Richard Hooker, the 16th century author of one of the most important founding documents of Anglicanism calls it "participation", a term also used by St Paul when speaking of the Eucharist. "Oneing" is the word that returns us to the burden of the Gospel - that God created us for union with himself. 

"The human being is an animal who has received the vocation to become God." Attributed to Basil of Cæsarea (329-379) by Gregory Nazianzen (c330-390 AD) who, together with Basil's younger brother Gregory of Nyssa (330-395) were the three Cappadocian Fathers)

Contemplation is the business of sitting before God and minimising the amount of active thinking we are employing. By 'thinking' I mean the constant chatter we engaged with inside our heads which is easy to confuse with our deeper selves.

Meditation, on the other hand is the positive employment of thought and reason to consider a subject. We need both meditation and contemplation.

Dualism is a philosophical outlook which is often blamed on the Greek philosopher Plato (roughly 428–347 BC). This may not be entirely fair. But it is true that he saw this world as a shadow of the "real", which was, if you like, "in heaven". The problem with this way of looking at things is that it can make matter seem of less worth than the spirit and this can lead to all kinds of "dual standards". So, some said that we shouldn't enjoy physical things because the spiritual is better... indeed, maybe matter is evil. On the other hand our bodies are just shells to carry us so it's OK to abuse them because they aren't permanent. And so on. 

Jesus saw things in a non-dual way, he lived a life in which the spirit and the body were a complete whole, which is why, of course, he had a physical resurrection.

"Spirits without bodies will never be spiritual men and women. It is our entire being, that is to say, the soul and flesh combined, which by receiving the Spirit of God constitutes the spiritual man (sic)."
Irenæus of Lyons (c130-208 AD) Against Heresies.