Living Oneness
The three main activities of the separate Self are avoidance, excessiveness, and suppression. These lead to behaviours that seek life-affirming qualities somewhere other than the present moment, which is where it truly is. They arise because the separate Self is illusory, defined as a separate mind and body, and equates life-affirming qualities with bodily sensations and specific thoughts. Therefore, if these are uncomfortable, then there are no life-affirming qualities. Resolving these to become positive is the only answer. Hence endless seeking of simple positivity and rejection of negativity results. However, in living like this, the true Self, which is neither the body nor the mind, is forgotten. The true Self is recognised by the ever-present Loving Awareness that we essentially are and the life-affirming qualities this recognition gives rise to. These embrace all aspects of life. It’s so simple; it’s almost too simple for most people who are used to complicated solutions for happiness and believe they must do things to achieve it. The difficulty most have is that, with a mind so focused on mental and physical phenomena, the experience of being the life-affirming qualities of Loving Awareness is lost. Because this is not an objectifiable experience, it cannot be touched or sensed with the body and mind, yet it has both physical and mental effects once recognised.
If it is not objectifiable, then how can we experience it? We can experience it because we are it in essence, and being aware of our own awareness is the first knowledge we all have, but with our absorption with the World, we overlook it. Only when we consciously stop and turn our awareness onto itself and away, for a moment, from the World do we recognise it. Furthermore, when, through investigation, we come to the conclusion that we cannot know this awareness is personal and limited, we instantly open to the possibility of it being Universal and, at that moment, experience the life-affirming qualities of the Loving Aware Self.
We discover what the mystics of all ages have been telling us. We find the Self the most beautiful source of intelligent Love we could ever imagine. We experience its reality or existence. We discover it is ever-present and instantaneous nature. We discover it is non-locatable in time and space nature and without discernible boundaries. We discover that it is never affected by anything and always remains peaceful and rejuvenating.
As these thoughts and realisation of the Self-open into an actual awe-inspiring and sacred experience of Universal Love, we realise we have been overlooking our true nature. When we return our attention to the objects that absorbed our attention before, of thinking, bodily sensations and external perceptions, we now perceive these as arising from this experience of Awareness. We intuit this instantly because the Self we are is unlimited; these experiences cannot be separate from us but are “made” from us - the Aware Self. We experience the Oneness of Self and Universe.
We realise the Universe, which previously looked separate from us, is the perceived manifestation of the one Universal Self we are. It is the Universal Self manifested in phenomena perceived by the perceiving mind that see contrasts that our mind interprets as a movement in time and space. This time, looking out from our true Self, we see the illusion of the movement in the stillness of the Self. The Universe we perceive is born of our presence, and all fear subsides as we realise everything at this moment is perfect. Nothing is missing. To further confirm our experience, we search for the illusory separate Self that we previously believed firmly we were and instantly realise the illusion of this belief, for it is nowhere to be found. All we experience is our Aware Self, thoughts, bodily sensation and external sense perceptions. That is all there is to experience.
We realise that the Self we are is the One indivisible "space" of existence, and all activities at this moment flow from it. As we experience this Oneness, we experience Universal Love, understanding and perceiving the true beauty of the Universe. Then, divested of the anxiety and seeking behaviours of the separate Self, our thoughts and desires are not for personal gain as there is no person to gain, but for a much deeper current of activity that surrenders to what is happening at this moment and follows the natural serendipity of this moment in total trust of this Oneness of Self and Universe. Instead of controlling, it flows with the moment. Thoughts that occur are thoughts that express the constructive nurturing of the mind and body and those of others and the creative flow of inspired, curious interest and visions of wholeness. But there are no thoughts of self-criticism or self-judgement. If we fall back, out of habit, into these, having had the experience of Oneness, we can remind ourselves of it and return to it, letting go of these old habits of control. Eventually, they go completely. We can test, at this moment, the veracity of living like this to further confirm its validity. We can show to our satisfaction that though our internal defensive mind and society at large may have told us that if we let go of control, our lives will collapse, the opposite is true.
