Oneness

Can you feel the Oneness of life in your heart and mind?  Take a deep breath and be thankful for the trees, plants, algae, and bacteria that create oxygen. Place your hand on your chest and feel the rhythm of your heart and the blood cycling throughout your body and be thankful for water that also cycles from mountains to sea.  Feel the warmth of the sun on your face and know that you are literally made of star dust. The next time you sit down for a meal, take some time to reflect on how many beings, human and non-human, needed to cooperate in order for your food to show up at your table. The process also doesn't end at our stomach but continues its cycle and, as they say, the party never ends.

A belief poisoned the Western "civilized" mind which falsely believes that humans are somehow superior to non-human beings (sounding a bit like Avatar?) and that we are free to exploit the "not human" world as we fashion.  This great lie has brought much suffering to our world.  You might say that many have lost their souls in the modern world and no longer experience sacred connection to which I refer as "Oneness", the unknowable with many names.  I challenge you to share one thing you did without the assistance of another living being.   This is impossible because ALL is ONE.  I once made my daughter a bed for her room.  The lumber I used was once part of vibrant tree living in a forest.  Humans took the tree and shaped it with machines and then used fossil fuels to transport it across roads of rock and dirt to a store near me.  Can you see the full participation of all beings?  Even the knowledge we carry in our mind is just a byproduct of generations of collectively shared beliefs handed down from countless generations.  Can you feel the truth in your heart and mind.

So how might each of us live differently if we were more present to the Oneness that life is?  The ability to look deeply into this mysterious and complex web might change how you see yourself.  When you allow yourself to absorb this truth you may discover how precious life is and feel moved to love, celebrate, and protect it.  You may look into your heart and sense that the Oneness is always there for communion.  Or perhaps, you simply sit in silence with the Oneness.  The more we embrace this truth about who we are, the more clearly we  know how to live our lives.  If we could only hear the Oneness then, just possibly, we would know how to live our lives with balance, humility, gratitude, and love. The great news is that we have a birthright to Oneness and are intimately connected to every over living being- past, present, and future.  We can experience profound joy when connected to the Oneness where giving feels more like receiving because of the amazing gifts and blessings that life bestows upon us.

I have a prayer that all of humankind can someday go forth with peace in their hearts and care deeply for Pachumama. Namaste.