UNITY is the state of being united or joined as a whole. It is the ultimate spiritual goal to uncover Unity and to live from wholeness.
You cannot think your way to Unity. Thoughts are limited, and Unity, the omnipresent Reality, is beyond thought.
The truth is you cannot know and will never know Unity, because you are not able to in the traditional sense of ‘knowing’ – and yet, you can be it, because it is what we all fundamentally are. Unity is a quality of Being, and you are Being in the form of a human. Which means, the more you know yourself, the more you’ll recognise Unity.
We’ve been brainwashed into believing we need to accumulate things, to look a certain way, or to copy what everyone else does and says, to be accepted and valued by society.
But here’s the thing – human society is dysfunctional. Just look at the news. Mental health has spiralled out of control, we are abusing each other and the ecosystem of our planet, effectively self-harming on a global scale. We are attempting to plug feelings of deficiency, treating the symptoms and not the real cause.
When you are lost in the jungle of the head, it’s easy to get caught up in the spiralling lies and deception circulating on social media, and to believe happiness is an online purchase.
We have forgotten.
Freedom is in the heart, not the ‘head’.
Unity is within. Once found within, it is realised everywhere.
However you search, and whatever you believe you need, inevitably, everyone is seeking a sense of connection, wholeness and love …. or Unity.
Trying to grasp Unity through the intellect is an impossible task. Using the mind to ‘figure it out’ or ‘hold on tight’ inevitably results in failure. The way forward is to change how you think, to transform your consciousness.
You can do it. Anyone can, with perseverance and practice. Whichever system you follow; the journey is essentially the same and begins by dropping the tendency to follow the commentary of the everyday mind. To recognise your thoughts are not You.
When you are caught up in repetitive cycles of separative and fearful thinking, this is a clear indicator of ‘living in your head’. Caught up in thoughts and emotions, in old stories and memories, you continue to experience cycles of disconnection, division and disunity.
As you become increasingly aware of the negative and repetitive nature of everyday thought patterns, you separate your identity from your thoughts, and as you do, you become more aware of the Unity of Life.
In uncovering Unity, we are harmonising with the free-flowing universal field of consciousness that is present everywhere, simultaneously, in its entirety.
At a personal level, we can learn to uncover Unity and live from Presence.
The word Presence does not only imply the state of being aware beyond thought, but points to the existence of this universal field of pure consciousness. When you are attuned to its subtle energy field, the desire to follow the rambling everyday mind falls away, revealing a unified state – the intuitive knowing of your heart and soul – your essential self.
Trust in Life. Life is intelligent, the source of all intelligence even, so let it guide you, as it can do and it does, when your mind is still, and your heart is open.
Fret not where the road will take you.
Instead concentrate on the first step.
Thats the hardest part and that’s what you are responsible for.
Once you take that step, let everything do what it naturally does and the rest will follow.
Do not go with the flow.
Be the flow.
SHAMS OF TABRIZ
This ‘flow’ is beyond concepts, ideals and beliefs, and you can know it directly by being in harmony with Life, being the flow. Beyond the everyday mind and physical senses, you can be ‘in’, and act ‘from’ and ‘as’ this flow, consciously aware of the Unity of All things.
Being in Presence means harmonising with its field – but it’s not as if you have to go somewhere and find it, for you are already part of it, you always were and always will be. Do you remember?
It’s not so much as reaching but dropping back into the real You.
As you remember how to melt into Presence, to be whole, you become less ‘head’ directed and more ‘heart’ oriented. You begin to remember what it means to be in the Presence of Love, that the energy of unconditional Love permeates all existence.
The goal is to drop fear and embrace Love, for acting from Love, you reflect Essence beyond form.
The Presence of Love is changeless, anonymous, all-permeating, and all-embracing.
“One day the heart may reach such contact with its own source through merging directly with the Creative Power and knowing the One behind multiplicity, that it may make a home in Unity.
Human beings are destined to realize this possibility more and more. The result is, the complete human being, the drop that becomes the sea. It is not difficult to achieve this aim, because we are made for it.”
Kabir Edmund Helminski –
LIVING PRESENCE – A Sufi Way to Mindfulness & the Essential Self.
While in one dimension it’s clear we are physically separate and different, we are also infinitely interconnected, each one of us a unique expression of a greater whole. Appearing as many, Life is One. Unity is Reality.
Article by Jonathan Harrison
More to Life Elder
Author, Musician and Spiritual Teacher
Article published in More to Life – Edition 70
