AWAKENING TO THE ONENESS WITHIN

“The moment this love comes to rest in me, 

many beings in one being.

In one wheat grain a thousand sheaf stacks.

Inside the needle’s eye a turning night of stars.”  Rumi

Do you often take the time to go within? Or do you stay stuck on the personality level serving ego’s needs? Who are you really?

I have always loved the cool quiet of evening. Perhaps it partly comes from growing up in a hot, humid climate trying to sleep without air conditioning. Snuggling into the coolness takes me to a peaceful place within, and, there, something deep within opens up. My muse may show up wandering through my mind with a new poem, or an insight about the day’s events may appear.  And at some point, a loving energy joins my reflections and I am One with All, just as Rumi describes in his quote.

Going Beyond Personality to Oneness

This place within is beyond personality; it is at the soul level. When we are at the soul level we are one with Spirit and we are one with all beings, “many beings in one being.” But how do we get there? In a world so focused on materialism and valuing what is external, how do we move into the deeper level?

In some ways, it just seems easier to not change. Change is scary.  If we change, we may lose what we perceive as the security of friends, family, or work. But this security is an illusion if we only live from the level of the personality, for “The truth of who you are is there within you.  Right now….It is not a state that you can ‘buy’ with obedience to any of the countless religious dogmas….” It is “through the vehicle of the original vision of some of those avenues, or through a path one blazes through the uncharted jungles of one’s own consciousness, that Oneness is experienced.” (Oneness, Rasha, page 321)

Releasing Our Attachments to External Definitions

At an earlier stage in my life, I defined myself mainly as a dancer. When I decided to move into another phase of my life, I realized I had become extremely attached to this definition.  I had to release it and look deeper for my real self. Many things helped: meditation, learning that controlling my thoughts would control my emotions, choosing to focus on the positive in life, learning to release my fear, and learning to let go of my attachment to daily drama.  I also explored psychology, especially Jungian psychology, trying to learn more about the way my mind and ego functioned.

Little by little, I stripped away the assumptions I had made and the ones others had made about me.  I began to ask the question: Who do I want to be? Eventually, I understood that I wanted to be a person empowered from within, so that the externals in my life could change without affecting who I really was. I think it helped that my life had always been pretty simple because I had never made enough money to spend excessively, and I grew up in a family where things were not the priority, people were.

 Clearing Out What No Longer Serves You

In order to go inward and follow the soul’s journey, we must carve out that alone time for our lives. We must learn to love that time. At first it may seem lonely not to be with people as much, especially for extroverts who gain energy from being with others, but quiet time is essential.  In that quiet, be honest with yourself. What comes up? If you don’t like what you see about yourself at the personality level, clean it up. Just like cleaning the closet, sort out what no longer serves your highest good. Throw away the masks and disguises. Gradually, expose who you really are to the world. Praise yourself every time you overcome your fear and take another step toward living from a deeper level. Find new friends and spiritual groups that are searchers like you.

Don’t expect everyone to like it, but know that having the integrity to be who you really are will eventually take you to that place of Oneness where the Universe is your home and all beings a part of you. The journey may not be easy, but through it, you will discover a love you never dreamed possible. How will you begin today?

If you would like to learn more about my spiritual journey, you may purchase my spiritual memoir, Awakening to the Dance: A Journey to Wholeness, as an EBook at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. You may also read sample pages for free at these sites. It will be available in paperback in a couple of weeks. I’ll post on the blog when it’s ready.

© 2012 Georganne Spruce

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