Individuality in Oneness
A spiritual paradox-mystery explored...and what it all means, for the world made of love
If you’ve ever hung out with anyone who is awake to the oneness of all that is, you’ve no doubt been puzzled by the…well…the obviously individual personality of this person, who is seemingly empty of separate personhood.
Because, (if aspiring to oneness is your thing), you’ll have no doubt been taught that the personal self disappears in the presence of oneness.
So what gives?
I don’t have all of the answers, because some of it is a proper flat-out mystery. But I do have a bit of a clue. So let’s see where that takes us, shall we?
Oneness, individuality and the personal self
First off, let’s talk for a second about the so-called personal self. The you that you think of as you. This self, by its very nature, scrambles the signal of truth—the constant oneness signal, emitted by all that is.
It can’t help it. Through the distorted lens supplied by this self, you can only see separation, even when the truth of oneness is staring you in the face.
And that’s because of its fundamental job description: It’s a personal self. It generates the illusion of a personal you, different from all other personal selves out there. Which is the dictionary definition of separation. Right?
In some ways, the personal you is the veil of forgetfulness. And although that veil is lying in tatters, in these high frequency times we find ourselves in…still. Actually letting go of this personal identity, and leaping off the cliff into the great unknown of unity consciousness? It just never seems convenient.
Maybe tomorrow. Because today I have that thing I need to go do.
But let’s say your personal self has somehow slipped away in the night. Leaving you in an odd sort of vacuum space. A no-self space.
Pretty weird. Pretty uncomfortable.
Because you can clearly remember, perhaps, all of that busyness, that highly important drama called ‘your life,’ that kept you occupied all of these years. Except now it’s not yours. It’s not anybody’s.
(That description probably sounds like crap—to the personal self.)
But here’s what starts to become visible as the veil, the fog of war, begins to clear: What’s revealed is the landscape of oneness.
You, in oneness…as oneness
Oneness is an unbroken frequency field. It’s everywhere, in everything, as everything. It is the truth of your existence.
You (like every other being, as well as the planet itself) are a being of electromagnetic frequency. So when you are dialed in to the frequency field of oneness, you vibrate accordingly. You are in co-resonance with it. You are it.
You know yourself as that field. Every cell of your body, along with your mind, spirit and energetic field, are now singing the song of oneness and truth. Each molecule of you, intimately knowing itself as one with all that is.
You are also acutely aware that everything and everyone else, is that same frequency field. Because that field of oneness and truth, is now your sole identity. So you recognize perfectly well, firsthand, everything else that is also part of that field.
It’s like looking at your hand, and knowing that the thumb and fingers are parts of your own self. Because you can feel it. Because you can see it. Because you just know.
You know beyond all knowing, that there is nothing and no one, that isn’t one with you.
So far so good, right? Now we get to the mystery part.
Where does the individuality come in?
Short answer: Dunno.
Something is there, remembering the past drama that is no longer you. And something of your former personal self (apparently) remains, even as the separate self, itself, is history.
Your very goofy—or very dry, or very irreverent—sense of humor; your preference for pickles instead of olives. That part of you that enjoys knitting, or hiking, or skiing, or whatever. That part that would rather read a book, than attend a party. Or vice versa.
Those character traits, those tastes and preferences, remain alive and well. And now, (minus the baggage generated by the veil of separation) they’re free to flower in ways that can potentially bring great joy and benefit to all.
Why does all of this matter so deeply to the world made of love, which is currently taking shape on this planet?
Because oneness does not mean sameness. It ain’t like we’re all going to be marching toward that beautiful new world in happy-clappy lockstep, all of us agreeing perfectly on how it all should unfold. Far from it.
I’ll illustrate that point with a story of my own…
What’s in your World Made of Love?
Several years ago, I attended a spiritual retreat/conference that was all about becoming a lighthouse, a wayshower, to help guide self and others through the strange and perilous passage we’re now in—the rocky transition from the fear-based world we’ve always known, to the wholly unknown, never before seen, and impossible to imagine world made of love, currently unfolding within and without us all.
I’d been feeling the strong pull to be exactly that, for quite some time: A bridge, a candle flame—or maybe that tourguide, who waves their glowstick high above the nighttime crowd, so that others may see it and find our way forward together.
So I travelled long distances to attend this thing. It sounded so very up my alley.
It would’ve made a decent weekend workshop. Unfortunately, the organizers padded it out to 4 long days. By the afternoon of Day 3, it was clear they were completely out of ideas.
So they broke us up into groups, to brainstorm what we think the world made of love will look like (seriously?) and then discuss what each of us would like to see in it.
Sigh. Ok fine. Whatever.
The first woman in my group told us she wants a world in which she can have a dragon as a companion animal.
Okaaay, we all nodded, none of us entirely sure where to go with that, but willing to at least entertain the world she wished to see.
I was next. I told the group I wanted to see a world full of beautiful handcrafted things, made with love and built to last; houses made of natural materials, at one with the landscape.
The man across from me exploded with rage.
‘How dare you decide for everybody else what kind of houses they’re going to live in? He glared at me, his face now a deep shade of red leaning perilously toward purple. ‘MY house will be made entirely of glass, in a modern, high-tech landscape.’
I stared back at him, dumbfounded. ‘Dude.’ I replied finally, ‘Nobody says you have to live with me.’
(I did not attend Day 4.)
Stupid retreat exercises aside, it’s actually an incredibly important point to address, as we all inch forward uncertainly, into a love-based future.
Because everybody is different. Everybody will continue to be different. Yes, even as we all come to know ourselves in oneness. And those differences will have to be factored in.
For a taste of just how different our differences might be, let’s take a brief but relevant side-trip:
Dragons, unicorns and other mythical beasties
Yes, really. Bear with me.
Last time (and let’s be honest, this time too) I made a slightly cheap joke at the expense of those who dance with unicorns, and the like.
But here’s the deal: I know people who hang out with unicorns. For them, those animals are real, but existing on a frequency that’s a half-step out of sync for most of us (including me). Perhaps those folks’ radio antennas pick up on some very subtle radio stations, that mine and most other peoples’ do not.
I reckon that their radios (although undeniably tuned a bit differently from mine), are nevertheless still worthy of respect. Or at least, the benefit of the doubt.
As for dragons, we might be on somewhat firmer ground there: Most regions of the world have ancient traditions about them. In China, dragons are bringers of deep wisdom and immense good fortune.
In England, some guy went around killing them, and ended up as the patron saint of the nation for his efforts.
Not to be outdone, neighboring Wales puts a dragon front and center on their national flag.
So who knows. Maybe dragons once existed on this planet. Maybe, (like unicorns?) they still exist, but at a somewhat different frequency setting on your radio dial.
To be clear, it has not been my own experience that dragons or unicorns exist. I can, however, leave room for the not knowing, and the possibility.
My point remains this: Within the frequency field of radiant oneness, there is truly endless diversity in humanity, and in our choices of what we wish to know and experience.
So, in a funny way, that purple-faced guy was right. It’s definitely not for me to decide what anybody else’s world made of love is going to look like.
Fly with dragons if you want to. Live like The Jetsons, if that’s what floats your high-tech space boat.
Like I said before, tastes, preferences, talents and creative inspirations—it’s what makes each of us uniquely human, and (even as we come to know ourselves in no-self oneness) that aspect of us is not going away anytime soon. If anything, our beautifully divine diversity is likely to become even more pronounced.
Bathed in the golden glow of a love-based world, our radiant hearts emitting and receiving the oneness broadcast, we are free to celebrate—and sometimes, yes, merely tolerate—the vast array of possibilities on offer in this rich banquet hall we call the world of human experience.
We’re not necessarily going to like it all. Some of it, jostling against our own glass house, may turn out to be downright annoying. And you can bet that thing we don’t enjoy, will be somebody else’s absolute ideal way of being.
But the good news is, regardless of what is liked or not liked, your own divinity and theirs will always be the permanent top priority for you both; the no-brainer baseline from which all interpersonal negotiations flow.
Which means differences of opinion will not resemble the kind we currently recognize. Not even a little bit.
Knowing ourselves and all others in love, we will quite naturally behave toward one another in ways that reflect wholeness and holiness. Because that’s what your frequency field is. And so that’s what you are.
And no matter how your negotiations turn out…the song of you will continue to be sung in zillion-part harmony, on earth as it is in heaven.
Thanks Carrie.
Something for me to ponder on my drive up to Aberdeen later tonight.
An individual (also containing divide/dual), unique expression of Oneness…?
‘the song of you will continue to be sung in zillion-part harmony, on earth as it is in heaven’
Wow! zillion-part harmony. What would that sound like through my Beyer Dynamic DT 770 Pro headphones? : )