What is wholeness?
There are several forms of wholeness, all part of the main form of wholeness.
There is the wholeness of what we are. We are that which the content of our experience happens within and as, whether we call this awakeness, consciousness, or something else. This makes our experience into a seamless whole, whether we notice or not.
As soon as the mind believes its thoughts and latches onto the viewpoints of some of these thoughts, there is an experience of fragmentation and it’s more difficult to notice what we are.
The process of what we are noticing itself is called awakening. And the process of living from this in more situations in our life is called embodiment.
There is also a wholeness of who we are, as this human self. Again, the wholeness is already here. And yet, there is also a sense of fragmentation since we tend to identify with some of who we are and disown or ignore other parts of who we are. The process of finding our wholeness as who we are is what Jung called individuation.
There is also the wholeness of the world and the universe. The Earth is one seamless living and evolving system. The universe is also one seamless evolving system. And we – as human individuals and species with our culture – are an intrinsic part of those systems.
Finally, there is the wholeness of all of existence. Whether we use a small (psychological) or big (spiritual) interpretation of awakening, we can say that all of existence is one. We can also say that everything is existence exploring, expressing, and experiencing itself.
How do we explore these forms of wholeness? I have written many articles on each of them but I’ll say a few words here.
To explore the wholeness of what we are, we can use inquiry (Headless experiments, Big Mind Process, Living Inquiries, etc.), often combined with meditation (basic meditation, quiet prayer, training stable attention), and perhaps mindful movement (yoga, taichi, Breema, etc.).
To explore the wholeness of who we are, we can use psychology (parts work, shadow work, projection work), bodywork, relationship work, and more.
When we explore the wholeness of Earth and the universe, we can use systems views and integral (aqal) maps.
And what about the wholeness of all of existence? It includes all of the above, although we can most directly explore it as we explore what we are.
Note: The examples of approaches above are just the ones I have found useful. What works for you may be different, and what I use in the future will probably also change as I discover other approaches.
Initial notes….
- What is wholeness?
- as what we are
- all content of our experience
- happening within and as what we are
- including and beyond all polarities
- already are, notice, live from
- big interpretation – all of existence, small interpretation – appears that way to us
- as who we are
- recognizing the above
- getting to know/befriend our experience, disowned parts etc.
- already are in one sense and not another, notice, own etc.
- as the world
- one seamless system
- how to notice, explore
- bm, li, headless experiments etc. – notice, notice more through daily life, life from more in daily life
- deep ecology practices – feel, embody, life
- systems view, intergral view – understand, map
- …..
- as what we are
….
There are (at least) three forms of wholeness, and they are part of one main form of wholeness.
There is the wholeness of what we are. The content of our experience happens within and as what we are, whether we call this awakeness or consciousness or something else.