oneness

unity : 1.the quality or state of not being multiple , oneness, 2.a condition of harmony , accord

separate:1.to set or keep apart , disconnect/sever .. to make a distinction between

2. to disperse in space or time

It has been said that the first step of understanding is separation and that the second step is one of unifying . This is the basic pattern for the way we as individuated beings perceive, formulate, and discern what is exactly real in this creation we inhabit. It is a mirror of not only our own internal thought processes and growth but of our outward manifestation of these perceptions and ideas . To me it clearly points to the spiritual path that many perceive as a sort of ladder of evolution. Rung by rung , one step at a time until we climb to the top of our hole and find 'enlightenment' .

The parallel is this : The first step of understanding being the stage of separation. At this stage everything becomes polarized and defined. We label, categorize, cross examine and draw clearly defined lines around all things to give the appearance of distinction and individuality. This first step of understanding is also very clearly where we are in our collective development, as we take this stage of knowing and apply it in such rigorous form that our entire world is a collection of unconnected, separate objects, chaotically flying about on their own doomed solitary fate. But it is a necessary and logical step in the process of learning and becoming. However potent this present reality seems it is but one step in the process and at some point in this perceived linear expression of life we will come to our next phase of knowing which is the moment of unification. This is the path of oneness. The next wave of our human evolution.

In the next stage we go beyond the limits we exposed and then again cross examine our focus and begin to draw parallels . At this stage we begin to realize the underlying unity of things, not what separates but what unites. What is common to all things , what in each essence is expressed in the other . Without finally knowing what is the same in all we can never fully know the total essence of any thing. We have only perceived one side of any thing by comparing it to some other thing, which we have only perceived a fraction of in turn. This colors the page of our next phase of evolution. When we begin to awaken as one race of beings consciously exploring the commonalities of their kin. When humanity realizes its sameness not only with each other, but with the entire living universe around it.

In this day of rigorous scientific method there isn't much physical evidence to be found of these principals in every day life, but there are certain scientific ideas that correlate to these supposed 'meta'physical events . The subjective mind of an individual is hardly a fertile ground for bringing back hard physical , objective proof , thus the failure of modern science to adequately explain any of the psychic functioning of wo/mankind ; however, the blossoming arena of quantum phsyics and leading scientific theories such as zero point energy all point to the inherent connectivity of the universe and its mechanisms . I point to one simple example of scientific evidence of oneness in the ideas of wave/particle duality . In this, physical matter when broken down, becomes no longer an individual mass, but becomes smaller particles vibrating at a certain frequency. When these particals are broken down further an interesting event occurs they appear to be a standing wave. This shows that matter at its base is not really solid at all and the solidity we perceive on this level is really an illusion of the senses. This is a rudimentary demonstration of scientific principals of oneness but a fundamental perception in understanding such . Eventually the scientist and the mystic will cross paths once again and all these
synchroncities will appear in a better light .

As I continue to grow I realize all the more that the only walls we ever need to climb are the walls we have made for ourselves . That the only separation we ever experience is the distance we have run. We tunnel through life like ants in the earth, carving out a narrow space to exist inside, but the ant feeds the anteater and the anteater feeds another and so on ad infinitum . We are are all a part of this grand scheme and only as separate as individual blood cells that course through your body . This universe is an organism of which we are a part. We are as cells in its ever expansive body and share in its life. The evidence of oneness is all around at all times. It can be found in the smallest synchronicities of life, to the grandest workings of the universe. Carl Jung outlined the condition of synchronicity in which the coincidences of life are sometimes shown to not be coincidences at all, but connected events. There may be two seemingly unrelated events , but underneath thier outward appearance there may be some psychic component that is common to both and also links the two together as in a sort of mental cause and effect scenario. This situation demonstrates that the world of mind and the world of the physical are not seperate but are indeed both parts of the same whole, the unus mundus, or one world. All is connected ,and the development of our natural human instinct of intuition, which is our fluid connection to the all, is key to perceiving when such events are connected at thier roots and developing the sense of
relation to all things that is characteristic of the path of oneness.

The path of oneness is a compassionate one. It brings an idea to mind about the nature of that thing we term love . I would state that love as we know it is not really an emotion as we have defined them to be. Love is the prime root , the initial primordial state of being unclouded by ego and perception , unseparated in its infinite wholeness . The feeling we interpret as love is the re-emergence of the union between the individuated branches of the prime root to its core . It is when we, on a subconscious or perhaps soul-level, recognize the fact of connection and relationship between what once appeared as seperate entities. It is like a returning to home when you see the smiling face of an old long lost family member welcoming you back . Love is then experienced as a feeling of wholeness and contentment in this physical world . This also brings me to an interesting point about the nature of guilt, and why we experience it ... I am thinking that it stems from when we KNOW we have done something that infringes on someone else's right to a loving peaceful life, when we know we have stepped over the boundaries from personal concerns into the realm of someone else's life , even small slights, when we know internally that our actions are the direct cause of some negative effect on another's existence. This means to me, that it is stemmed from us knowing on some level that we are all one, and that when we hurt another we are also doing it to ourselves . We realize that our own ego's are the cause of the strife and that underneath those egos is the connection that bonds us as one . Most of what is interpreted as love in this modern society is not much more than attachment and dependency . Many of our ego's desires are fulfilled in relationships and we then misinterpret these comforts and pleasures as love, but in the end it is only a momentary fulfilling of a passing desire . When you can feel emotion for another without dependent attachment then you have felt the prime root, the connection . It is always present underneath our worldly concerns, underneath our pursuits and goals waiting to be acknowledged and nurtured .

It has been postulated in the world of Psychology that the characters we meet in our dreams are reflections of our own selves . This paints an abstract portrait for a metaphysical model of what we experience as reality . If you have been with me up until this point then perhaps you will agree, as would most occultists , mystics and metaphysicians that the universe is founded on the cornerstone of mind. The things we experience in this world have been brought about by the power of mind . I feel that the term universal mind is roughly synonymous with the word god and that they are interchangeable . In the modern world of occultism perhaps this word bears more positive vibration than the old and overly misused word god. As we see in all things in life the macrocosm and the microcosm are mirrors of each other. "As above so below" . The mathematecial model of a fractal is a very apt visual symbolism for the structure of this parallel existance . The point I am coming to is that this universe is equivalent to the mind of god, and that every person you meet, and indeed even yourself is a mirror of that mind . We are imaginary dreamers borne of a dreaming imagination. We play out this grand drama of life exploring the vast , limitless potentials of being in this dream of reality we inhabit in the universal mind of god . Of course this technically also developed god into a personified being as does most organized religion, but it should be pointed out that this is just a comparative model based on our own limited capacity for understanding . The terms 'who' and 'what' and 'when' are only applicable to finite qualities possessed by the things that exist inside this structure of duality. We cannot hope to imagine, or fully comprehend, without intrusion of our own walls , the 'thing' that exists outside of it. We are so entrenched in the ways of separatist BEing that wholeness is a concept outside our current ability to comprehend . We have not yet evolved our language or capacity for understanding to a sufficient level that we could understand a concept that transcends our separatist ego minds . We are only as separate as our own definitions and perceptions . This seems to me to be the point of what we call ascension or enlightenment , the transcendence of duality . In many culture's religions it is expressed that when you die you enter the kingdom of heaven or some such equivalent, which means, figuratively that you become one with god, but since your spirit is essentially 'holy' or godlike in itself there never was a disconnection in the first place , only our mis-identification with finite matter . While we exist as a finite being, we also exist as an infinite being . The self that is YOU right now is only one part of the total self though your ego mind will constantly try to tell you otherwise because it is a self defense mechanism for its own survival . It has become an overspecialized facet of mind developed through our expanding social structure replacing our intuition and connectedness with the all. The ego mind specializes in seperatist perception and is a necessary component to our survival and interaction with this level of existance yet is not the complete picture of the self .

Oneness through Individuation

"Individuation is a process of differentiation, having for its goal the development of the individual
personality ."

"Since the individual is not only a single entity, but also, by his very existence, presupposes a
collective relationship, the process of individuation does not lead to isolation, but to an intenser
and more universal collective solidarity"
Carl Jung

Jung outlined a psychological process which he termed individuation . This is roughly equivalent to the so called spiritual path or is, as I see it, a necessary component thereof . It is a process by which the individual overcomes his social and moral programming as well all conditioned response and processes . In this development the individual gets to the root of his or her internal issues and can then remove the internal blockages and conditionings that artificially create that individuals character . The point being to find the core self, the internal perfected state of self that is not controlled by the passing whims of the finite physical world. This idea of individuation is also relative to Alestaire Crowley's Thelemic doctrine of "Do what though wilt shall be the whole of the law". The addendum to this doctrine being Love is the law, love under will . This idea means basically to find your inner potential, your purpose and to follow it all the while embracing all other's right to do thier own will without interference . Both of these are paths of self knowledge, which after all is what spirituality is all about . It is about becoming the whole self , acknowledging and loosening the chains of ego and therefore sterilizing the seperatist view, competition, defensiveness, pettiness, jealousy, etc. All these can be erased through development of true will and purpose eliminating the barriers that seperate us and allowing a greater freedom of understanding of ourselves and each other . The path is always there waiting to be walked. Every journey begins with a single step .

"one day you'll come to find that we are all one mind
capable of all imagined and conceivable"

Maynard James Keenan - TOOL
from the album Lateralus