Oneness
“You and I are all as much continuous with the physical universe as a wave is continuous with the ocean.” - Alan Watts
It is recognized across spiritual philosophies as well as quantum physics that the entire universe is a system of energetic waves that vibrate at various frequencies. We observe some of these in atoms and particles and call it “matter.” Others we are not able to observe with the five senses and therefore many people are not aware of their existence. Yet, everything that exists is effectively an energetic wave, whether it’s a tree in the forest, a thought, your breath, or your hand. These waves are constantly interacting and make up the totality of what is throughout time and space—regardless if you can see it, are aware of it, or comprehend it.
Hence my quote at the beginning of this article from Alan Watts, ““You and I are all as much continuous with the physical universe as a wave is continuous with the ocean.”
Oneness is how you are linked to all that is. It is how you are linked to other people and it is how you are linked to everything else that exists, whether they are vibrating at a frequency observable by your human senses or not.
There are hundreds of books available on this, and I encourage you to seek them out. Because the focus of my teaching is the application of spiritual practices to your tangible life for the purpose of new and more joyful experiences, I will focus my attention related to this in the ways that help your life work better rather than spending a lot of time philosophizing.
One of my favorite books is simple and powerful—it even includes illustrations! It’s Yehuda Berg’s The Power of Kabbalah and in it he explains, “There always has been, is, and always will be an infinite force of energy in the universe.” Imagine this force as boundless Oneness prior to the creation of earth as we know it today—nothing is tangible or separate yet. The following is a combination of quotes from Berg, paraphrasing, and incorporation with life with Awareness.
“The nature of this force is to…share endlessly, impart continuously, give ceaselessly,” and “bestow eternally,” Berg says. And then he adds, “the essence and substance of this Energy was infinite fulfillment, boundless joy, and limitless enlightenment.” Its purpose is to share what it is made of which is, among other things, personal fulfillment, peace of mind, relief from fear and anxiety, contentment, love, freedom and happiness. Even health, freedom and financial security. It doesn’t know resistance, comparison or judgment.
This energy that Berg describes is synonymous with Awareness. Berg continues to tell us that its only purpose was to love without condition, or give, but in order to do so it had to create something to receive what it wanted to share. This receiver is called the “Vessel,” in Kabbalah. The Vessel had only a single purpose—to receive from it’s all-giving Creator. Berg and Kabbalah calls this single act, “the only true Creation that has ever occurred.”
Similar to how you can fill a ceramic cup with hot coffee and feel the cup itself heat up, the Vessel began to take on the characteristics of what filled it. What was designed only to receive from the all-giving source itself, then birthed it’s own desire to give. However, it was not created with that ability! In this framing, the Vessel was no longer content because it now had the desire to give but no opportunity to do so. The only thing it could do was resist receiving. Berg describes this, “the moment the Vessel resisted the Light from filing it, the Light constricted itself, creating a vacuum, a single point of darkness within the Endless World. The infinite had given birth to the finite.” Berg adds, “like a loving parent who stands back to allow a child to fall so the child will eventually learn to walk, the Light withdrew the moment the Vessel said, “…I’d like to learn to create and share some Light on my own.” He completes his description with, “by withdrawing its radiance to create a point of emptiness, the Light gave the Vessel time and space in which to evolve its own divine nature through the act of finding the Light.” Time and space allow the Vessel to experience giving, or loving, because it’s now in a relative world where it can also experience shadows – where the light is absent or blocked. Berg also points out that whether this explanation works for you or you prefer the more scientific description of an explosion of incomprehensible force followed by a cooling into the universe as we know it called The Big Bang, we have ultimately arrived at the same understanding now.
I am far less interested in what or how it technically happened. Instead, I am interested in experiencing life with Awareness including my connection to Oneness. And I’m interested helping you do that in your life. I simply can’t imagine anything I desire more than to receive and give Light.
Experiencing Oneness begins with conceding that there is an energy or Power greater than you and it will help you do the things you cannot do for yourself. It becomes a way of life when your daily action and behavior confirm your Awareness. This is explicitly taught in all my coaching processes.
I know I’m connected to Oneness because I feel it. My behavior reflects my belief and results in more and more feeling connected. I can also juxtapose my previous experience—for years and years, I ignorantly lived and experimented with self-centeredness and self-reliance only. The results were depression, sadness, self-pity, fear and overwhelm. These were so heavy and dark that, for the first time in my life, I could not pull myself out of them. It required me to get help, initially from others and ultimately from my developing Awareness and redefinition of contemplation, prayer, and meditation (CPM)—all part of Oneness.
Today I continually look for where fear and self-reliance attempt to infiltrate my life. I do this through the very same CPM process that I’ll teach you to create for yourself. Additionally, I now know how important quality, aware friends and partners are in my life. Even if I’m lethargic or experiencing temporary resistance or depression, I put the footwork into connecting with others. I know that those feelings are almost immediately changed when I turn my attention to another person.
You are the Vessel as a human being in the real world. You are part of the Oneness, and you are capable of receiving and giving. In fact, it is your purpose to recognize this as your nature and then to do it.
This means that included in your individual purpose is the facilitation of the Oneness experiencing itself as the Vessel. You are a human manifestation that can experience mental, emotional, and physical juxtapositions. You can experience suffering and enlightenment.
You are the Oneness. The Oneness is you. Similar to how a wave is part of the ocean and you can’t identify where one ends and the other begins, you and the Oneness are the same.
As a human being you contain the essence of the mystery that created you—to love, to create, and to give. And you have the ability to resist. It’s purposely designed that way! You have choice. With awareness of Oneness, you discern how you will operate—embrace and express your unconditional giving nature, or resist. As you accept this and say yes to this guidance, you will know it because it will feel like nothing you’ve experienced before. Words will not be able to describe it. It will emanate through you and radiate out of you.
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Acceptance and self-love are about your relationship with you. Compassion is about how you relate to others. Oneness incorporates and transcends them both. It’s a recognition that even though you are an individual expression of Oneness, you are one of billions of Vessels and therefore connected to everything else that is.
If you choose to operate with Oneness in your life, it is characterized by trust. Trust is not hope. Trust is like the mortar between the bricks of your life experiences—it is your way of being connecting what you actually do. To be specific, trust is demonstrated directly by, and can be observed in your behavior. It reveals the difference between what you say you believe and what you believe. Trust is intimacy between you and Oneness. No matter what you call it or how you connect to it, trust connects Oneness, your Awareness, and your tangible participation in the world.
When you trust the dynamic nature of life, you are aware that more will be revealed to you in perfect timing. Instead of searching for external direction, you and Oneness, accessed through your Awareness begin a co-creative walk together. Metaphorically speaking, you take a step with your left foot and then Oneness takes a step with the right. You don’t get to control where the right foot goes but instead you trust, and you are shown more. Together, you move forward. The partnership builds, and you learn to easily step without seeing exactly where the next stone is each time, yet it is there as your foot comes down.
Many spiritual writing tells us the same thing like Matthew 7:7 in the New International Version of the Bible where it says “For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Power is available to you through your Awareness of Oneness, and the experiences of compassion and self-love. You don’t need to sacrifice anything except your old conditioned belief systems and any behavior that you discern to be resistance or unconsciousness. You don’t need to subscribe to any dogma or tradition or group, yet you are always welcome to use them if you receive value evidenced by how they work in your life and how you feel. Your initial glimpse probably already came to you through no effort of your own which is why you’re reading this book. You are already seeking. Your asking will happen through Awareness-based prayer, meditation, and contemplation including the personal and intimate direction you receive. Your knocking, and experience of the door opening, will be through the application (behavior) of that instruction in your life with Awareness.