Talk as much philosophy as you like,
worship as many gods as you please,
observe ceremonies and sing devotional hymns,
but liberation will never come, even after a hundred
aeons, without realizing the Oneness.–Sankara
What a mystery this Oneness is. My limited intellect only grasps snippets of it. I think that “realizing the Oneness” is not accomplished quickly, and perhaps not entirely while we exist in these bodies, this dimension. I glimpse Oneness when I learn about quantum physics, astronomy, molecular biology, neurophysiology, and mathematics. I also encounter the Oneness when I experience love, awe, and delight. I am with the Oneness not only in my peace, but also in my anger — in my aliveness. I realize Oneness when I consider human civilizations over the millenia, the expanse of geologic time, the insensible grandeur of nature. The Oneness can be thought, felt, tasted, heard. But to apprehend all of this entirely? I haven’t “arrived” at that level of ability. If I did get it all, I think my head might explode!
i get the same beliefnet quotes. i know what you mean about feeling like your head would explode. just glimpses of it tend to overwhelm me.
Oneness. It’s just a word. But it seems to me we DO separate ourselves from the things we don’t want to be separate from, simply by defining them, usually with the explanations we received along the way of life. If only we could set that aside, and apprehend the thing we care about without any “internal dialogue,” perceive purely and directly, that, I think, would be the ultimate “oneness.”