To Be One With All

The internal voyage truly concludes when we zealously strive to liberate our trapped attention from the very regions where we have compromised ourselves. Sins of omission — impurities of our own moral character hidden beneath mundane everyday acts — can stifle our highest development much as conscious transgressions may.

Peculiarly enough, while many believe ourselves to be possessed of consciousness, there remains a marked difference 'twixt' believing oneself conscious and developing, through practice and intuition, an honest awareness of this consciousness — that unyielding observer basking in a quiet corner of our depths.

In such wise, I say: it is all well and good to believe ourselves conscious yet not fully conscious of our own consciousness; this, intruth, is a profound state of unconsciousness! These flights of errant attention render us susceptible victims trapped within the constraints of time and space: prisoners bound to fleeting desires, and reactive habits that reek of fear, guilt and ignorance. Truly, most of us remain strangers to our greatest capacity - 'untapped awareness'.

Is it any wonder, then, that as naught more than wanderers within our own realms, one could lose precious gems amidst the sandbags piled high within mental strata teeming with secrets? Moreover, our thoughts frequently assume positions of power, shielding themselves behind parapets hewn out of resentment and misunderstanding: How often have you begun to denigrate another but soon after recognize the hurt concealed within your own psyche? Just an illustration.

Unshackling this captive attention is paramount, no doubt, in our quest for self-awareness and transcendence. Cultivating empathy is a tried method by which one's perception becomes crystalline, and compassion begins to stream through our veins: only a compassionate state of awareness enables us to extend love throughout the spectrum of our existence thus nurturing growth both inwardly and externally.

For instance, by extending our reach of awareness outwards and immersing in a web of planetary kinship compassionately cultivated thoughts effortlessly flow into compassionate actions; actions born from awareness can alleviate personal guilt, thereby broadening the field of happiness, just as water gently, subtly transforming soil and seed, helps create the best soil for thriving plant life. Similarly, extending thoughtful intentions far away from home – feeling deeply for every animate and inanimate being that has been needlessly destroyed throughout the course of history — forgets that same distance we strive to hide within — the self that has to let go.

Conquer we must the lingering doubts about where this awareness draws its boundaries. Empathy breeds within us a compassionate disposition towards the interconnected web we are entwined with and which fundamentally relies on us as its vital thread. Awareness allows one to envision all beings — the plants that exhale oxygen, the toads whose demise ushers in epidemics, or the arduous sacrifices animals endure — to comprehend their inherent dignity (as well as any inherent misery we perhaps share) — and treat life with respect, tenderness, and wise stewardship.

Some may find it challenging to extend the spectrum of compassion — their 'aha' eureka moment arrives when they acquaint themselves with works penned by spiritual savant M. N. Vinayakudu, The Call Of Silence. Like Peter Wohlleben I take no great umbrage (apart from the fact all my closest friends think me slightly mad) calling trees sentient and hence, deserving of all kinds of respect and reverence just as if they spoke as it were:

Are we so certain? Can we point a righteous finger?! Take it from a chronic stutterer – a man who lived with uncertainty — 'You are you, and only you can be fully you. Make sense to nobody else, but let it all make total sense to you, my friend.’

To be one with all is undoubtedly difficult to accept and is, regrettably, as elusive now as when humanity collectively forgot the deeper teachings.

As for the self — disembodied and scattered amidst a farrago of fragmented and furtive awareness — the unbroken stream of non-local insight awaits you by simply noticing your next breath which arises uninvited — unbidden.