Catching a Glimpse of Oneness!

“ My question is this -- if Oneness is One and that means I am IT, why do I live such a limited life experiencing fear and separation?”

We are a Human Being and therefore seemingly live in the polarity of both Human and Being. It is this subject and object that have to be seen in their wholeness to get a glimpse of Oneness.
When we take a look at these polarities of Human (object) and Being (subject) we tend to identify with the object rather than the subject and it takes insight, intelligence, sensitivity and a ‘readiness’ to start seeing that the object, which seems tangible, solid and real is nothing more than ‘densified’ thought made real to our perception. In other words we live in mind.

What we call ‘soul’ is really mind and the world that appears so real and solid and material is nothing more than the One Mind making it seem so through the creation of senses.

Subject and object
We may well ask, “What came first, the subject or object?” or again we can ask, “What came first, Spirit or Thought?” and if we say, “It is Spirit that came first then thought followed…” then we are back in the same quandary of creation. When did matter start? When was the world actually created? In fact, when did it all start? Now you see, we are back in time.

Time and thought are synonymous.
When did time start? Could it be that it never started at all but was the creation of perception? How did perception start? Isn’t it mind? We can say that there is only One Mind and everything that seems to exist in time and space emerged from that One Mind, just like the great One big ocean creating waves from itself that seem to be separate, unique and different and yet all the same water. Are there really waves or just a movement emerging from the one big ocean? Do we have a mind that emerged from the One Mind or is it just a movement of this gigantic Mind that is collective and appears as individuals?
What if all this is just one big illusion that appears real? How can we find out and live from what is real? The next question is, “What is real?”

What is real?
Let’s stick to what seems to be obvious. We are here existing and we know it. This ‘knowing’ is in everyone, but who is it that knows this since everyone has that inherent capacity of awareness? Please see the difference between perception as our individual conceptual seeing and knowing from the ‘heart.’ This knowing that you exist is the ‘felt-sense’ of the Mind “I AM” that initially starts from the seeming individual framework. This ‘knowing’ that you exist is not a ho-hum subject but a “Wow! Gee Whiz” recognition. It is collective Mind recognizing its existence just like, as an example, a wave knowing it’s a wave because it is imbued with the ocean’s knowing. This Self-recognition is the wonder and mystery of existence. When we take it for granted then it is known as a state of ‘sleep’ and when we see its grandeur then we can say it is a state of ‘awakenness.’ When we look at the ‘obvious’ we have to arrive at the only conclusion – Oneness!
Oneness is limitless
One can never say, “I realize Oneness fully” simply because that very statement would erase the very one who said it. Oneness is a fact, and no matter how we look at it, or NOT look at it, we eventually awaken to the fact that it is the only ‘thing’ that answers every question and resolves every ‘problem.’
When people complain and say, “I am confused” or “I can’t seem to understand such questions as…
“Do we have free-will?”
“Do we have a choice?”
“Is there purpose to life?”
“What is the meaning behind existence?”
These are questions that every intelligent ‘person’ would ask and will not receive an ‘answer’ because such an ‘answer’ does not exist in mind except in Oneness. As long as you have the slightest belief that you are a separate person then these questions will elude you. The moment you start ‘seeing’ (knowing) that Oneness is Truth and Truth Oneness then here, probably for the first, you will see clearly what free-will, choice, purpose and meaning truly mean.

An ‘awakened’ teacher might say there is no free-ill, no purpose, no destiny and no choice since there is no ‘doer.’ That teacher would be correct. And hearing this we would feel helpless, hopeless and discouraged until we ‘see’ the truth that there has never been a wave to the ocean but the same water appearing in ripples.
There is no individual person separate from Life; there is only Life appearing as human. Therefore, look at the other side of the coin and for just a moment, for just one moment, see how grand you actually are. There are no waves to the ocean but ripples of its expression. There are no separate people in life but humans appearing as expressions of this One Life. Now stop and see that you are LIFE itself and therefore everyone you see is also. Your very awareness by which you experience life is the same, the very same, awareness that everyone else is. The seeming difference lies in perception, which is individually conditioned. And, please do not confuse perception with awareness. Awareness is the knowing of presence whereas perception is individual separate and conditioned seeing. As we recognize that we are pure awareness (Presence) then that very recognition ‘purifies’ or refines our limited perception so that we see a little clearer. And, there is no limit to our clarity. This clarity is known as unconditional love. The more we recognize Oneness, the more love awakens until like Jesus we become pure love.

Cause and Effect
We do not deny our individuality but simply ‘see’ it as our limited perception of what-is. In fact, it is through this acceptance of how things appear to be that we start ‘seeing’ how they truly are.
We start this ‘seeing’ by getting to know the experiencer. That is, who is it that experiences this world but the experiencer of it? If we have the courage we can move even deeper and ask, “How real is it what we perceive and experience?” It takes courage to ask that question sincerely because the very ‘asking’ is challenging to the ego conditioned perception. The ego (the seeming-separate individual) faces his/her conditioned state and is often frightening if not horrifying. The average ‘person’ deals with such confrontation by escaping, ignoring or simply (if intellectual) by finding logical excuses not to do it.

Assuming that you are sincere in your quest for what is real (which is Oneness) then you are faced with this question – who is this experiencer called Burt, Susanne, Karen? None will come to mind and understandably so. However, our honest inquiry will lead us to the obvious statement – we came from a cause. This cause couldn’t have a beginning because if it did then there would be another cause to have caused it. Now we come to the deeper conclusion “This primal cause had to be Causeless (beginningless and, of course, endless).” This automatically brings us to the question of time since the Causeless Cause (from which we came) has no beginning and therefore timeless. So, we have to see here that our natural state is timeless and causeless. Isn’t this enough to blow your perceptual mind away?

This Causeless Cause is the Source. And, since it is the Source of all then it is Oneness. Everything is interdependent, interconnected and interrelated to this One Source. Isn’t it logical to call this Source Oneness or that which is Real? Therefore this Cause produced an Effect, in other words, Spirit became visible as matter. Is matter Spirit then? What would you say? After all, all matter emerged from pure energy, and since all emerged from the same One Source then everything must be the Source in its natural state! Cause and effect are one!

Here’s the big question then – when we look at a form, what is making this effect seem real when it is the result of pure mind energy? Cause (Spirit) and Effect (mind) are One Source or Oneness.
When Einstein came out with the theory of relativity he pointed out how everything is relative to Light (Source). For example, when you walk in the sun your body casts a shadow, and so in this case the body is the source of the shadow? The shadow appears real even though one dimensional because cause and effect are one.
Now if we have seen how cause and effect are one then we also see that the world we see is the result of thought (perception). Just like when you dream at night and it seems real and vivid, yet when you wake up you see it was all a creation of mind. How real is this world you see about you? Isn’t it a creation of mind since in this case your mind created it?

If you have some insights about this then we can move on a little deeper how everything is One and that’s Oneness.

The frustration of human life
The human seeks meaning in life, why? The human seeks purpose and strives towards it. The human believes it has free-will, choice, control. This belief is inborn in the human, why? Look a little deeper into Oneness and you will begin to have insights. Just keep open as you read.
When we seek through the world, which is a creation of mind, we expect to attain our goals and find meaning but unfortunately even after a full lifetime one ends up believing the worst and hardness of heart, cynicism and sadness become one’s lot. It is not whether there is purpose, meaning or free-will but what are they? Why are we all the same? As we mature spiritually and explore as we are doing here we will find that the answer lies in Oneness. The human chases the Being unknowingly thinking it is chasing after some tangible goal in the world of illusion until it finally wakes up and finds it is a dog chasing its own tail. It is Oneness we are missing.

We believe we have many choices and, one after the other we find it is not what we wanted. One day we wake up and discover we never had any choice, and it is then that we discover our true choice – Oneness itself. We pursue goals with the hope of finding some meaning to our life ending up in disillusionment and unhappiness after years of struggle and seeking. Finally, hopefully we wake up and discover that the real meaning we were after was Oneness itself propelling us towards itself.

Polarities are one
Polarities meet in Oneness when you begin to see that everything you made real in this world was nothing. However, the moment you realize that everything is nothing then that nothing becomes everything to you.
We begin to experience oneness when we emphasize the nothingness; the emptiness of everything and see Spirit as the Source. It is in Silence and a tranquil mind that everything is revealed. When we cling to objects or effects rather than Source spirit then we lose everything and end up negatively empty, tired, old and deprived of life. When we go after the Source spirit as the truth of Being then we find we have everything.
The human ego wants everything and will end up empty, frustrated and futile. When, on the other hand, we realize we have no choice then we discover the one true choice which is Oneness and then have everything. Oneness is everything, does everything and appears as everything and yet it is but pure Spirit.

We have a choice between ego mind or spirit. If we choose ego-mind as most people unconsciously do then we live in fear and guilt that will haunt our dreams in both day and night. We’ll feel overwhelmed, confused, frustrated, unhappy and lost. When we choose nothingness (spirit) then we have everything we truly wanted above everything else…we had found ourselves.

The greatest ‘practice’
What is the greatest ‘practice’ for experiencing Oneness? There is only one direct way and it has been called LISTENING to what-is or FORGIVENESS. They are both the same ‘practice.
Please watch the video clip titled “The Great Secret” – here’s the link…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhuNDbP92dQ

How do we listen? There are two voices inside us. The first voice is of the ego and all reactions, impulses and first words often come from ego. This is the conditioned perception that has seemingly molded our life into thoughts and emotional feelings. We really believe this is who we are. When I receive questioners about emotional suffering there is one thing everyone has in common in asking it – they thoroughly believe that what they are emotionally feeling is real. Statements like…
“Of course my depression is real!”
“How can you say that my emotional drama is not real?”
We do not realize that everything we feel emotionally is what we have bought-into through thought. It was this realization that created the founding of cognitive therapy – “People do not feel negative because they are depressed – they are depressed because they believe their negative perceptions.”
Ego acts like a robot based on its past and its beliefs according to how it feels about the world and itself. This voice believes in ‘wrong’ and often says to itself, “I don’t feel good enough” “I feel I am missing something” “I feel as if I have done something wrong without knowing what” “I feel a sadness without knowing its cause”
This egoic voice often takes over before we have a chance to see what we are telling ourselves. This is the voice of EFFECT. This is the voice of conditioning and brings about fears, anxieties and emotional suffering. And, it is all unreal and unconsciously created.

Then we have a second voice, which is the voice of the Holy Spirit. This is the true voice of Source and it speaks of love, happiness, win/win and balance. It understands your illusory pain and if you listen to it, it will help you to find strength.

We hear this second voice when we first allow our first voice to release itself and see it as simply conditioned automatic response and that we are in truth innocent.

This voice has no words but Silence, warmth, love, joy and harmony. It teaches us through pure feeling and not words. This is the voice of forgiveness.

Here’s how to start listening…
Take time daily to be still and just look at a tree as if for the first time and then listen to it. Sit on a bench or rock watching the sunset and just look and listen. Watch and listen to the break of dawn. In silence listen to a flower, to the moon at night, to the stars, to the bird singing and the rain falling and to the wind…just listen to what words cannot convey but the heart can feel. Then you will begin to feel a connection with all that is YOU…Oneness!! Recognition of Oneness does not happen through words but beyond them. It is in Silence and stillness of mind that our center starts resonating and recognizing its origin.