Oneness understood in different ways

There are different forms or versions of oneness.

All as a system. The universe is a seamless system. Everything is evolving from, within, and as the universe. In the same way, the Earth is a seamless living system, and all parts of the Earth is evolving from, within, and as the Earth. (And, yes, that includes humans and our culture, technology, and society.) Everything has infinite causes. Our health and well being is intimately connected with the health and well being of the larger social and ecological wholes. This is a systems view of oneness.

All as consciousness. In our immediate experience, any experience happens within and as consciousness. Any experience is consciousness and cannot be anything else ever. It’s form empty of substance. Any appearance of substance of solidity comes from mental images or words combining with sensations, and that too happens within and as consciousness. (Images or words lend meaning to sensations, and sensations lend a sense of solidity to images and words.) This is something we can – if we explore it skillfully – agree on whether we come from a psychological view or a spiritual view.

All as Spirit. To us, any experience is inevitably consciousness. But is reality in itself – the whole universe – consciousness? (Or Spirit, Brahman, Buddha Mind, Allah, God.) It certainly appears that way to us, but that doesn’t mean it – in itself – is. As with anything else, we cannot know for certain. We can say that there are hints that everything, in itself, is consciousness, including synchronicities, various forms of ESP and knowing, and perhaps distance healing. But, in fairness, these can be interpreted other ways as well.

Is it so obvious? I have assumed that it’s obvious that all our experience happens within and as consciousness. I know that to many, the world appears to be made up of solid and substantial “things” that exist “out there” in the world. And yet, within one session of Living Inquiries, guided by a skilled facilitator, we can all have a taste of how the mind creates its own world. And that all of it happens within and as consciousness. A brief exploration will typically reveal it, even if most will revert to the “solid objects in a real world” experience afterward.

My view? To me, each of these three forms of oneness seems valid and useful. The systems view helps us organize ourselves so we are more aligned with reality, and it can also open for awe, gratitude, and humility, and a deep sense of belonging. The second helps relieve stress from recognizing how the mind creates its own experience. And although the third is perhaps a less needed addition, it does help us function in a more sane and mature way in the world.

Play of the divine. These three forms of oneness have an additional component for me. And that’s lila – the play of life, the mind, or the divine. From a systems view, the universe is the play of life. From the second view, our experience is the play of the mind. And from the third view, all of existence is the play of the divine. It’s life, the mind, or the divine, expressing, exploring, and experiencing itself in a great multitude of ways. There is perhaps no ultimate “goal” to it all apart from the play itself, and that’s perhaps enough. Of course, within this play, there are apparent sub-“goals” or stepping stones, but it’s all happening within and as the play.

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Initial notes…..

• oneness understood in different ways
  • history and energy
    • Big History – all evolving from/within/as the universe
    • Earth as a seamless living system – including humans and human culture etc.
  • experience
    • all happening within/as awareness/awakeness/consciusness
      • whether from psychology or spirituality, have to agree that that’s our experience
  • all as Spirit
    • in our experience, all happening within/as awakeness
      • can’t really know if it’s our subjective experience or reality
      • apart from synchronicities, ESP etc. – many hints and signs there suggesting all is Spirit
  • ….

All content of experience is experience, is awareness.

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All as awareness. In our immediate experience, all happens within and as awareness. Even images combined with sensations that tells the mind something is awareness and something is not happens within and as awareness. So in our own experience, all our experience is already awareness. (Or awakeness, or consciousness, depending on the label we chose.) This is something we can – at least if we explore it slightly – agree on whether we come from a psychological view or a spiritual view.

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All as Spirit. So any experience is consciousness. But is reality consciousness? We cannot know for certain. But there are some hints including synchronicities, various forms of ESP and knowing, and perhaps even distance healing. These can be explained in other ways as well, although they do also hint towards all as consciousness, or Spirit, Brahman, God, Allah, or whatever we wish to call it.