Oneness
As we move from a more thinking-mind oriented way of living into a more open - heart orientation, there's a shift that occurs slowly, over time, that simply changes everything! In one word, that shift is discovering a sense of "Oneness". What is Oneness? Oneness is that deeply felt sense of connection, originating in the heart center, with every living being - from your fellow human beings, to animals including the tiniest of insects, to plants and trees, water and air, to the very earth herself. It’s like a social consciousness that springs from the heart rather than the head. It’s an instinct to do the right thing not because you think you "should", but because it just intuitively feels right. An inner knowing begins to guide your actions quite organically.
Before I say more about Oneness and it’s rather miraculous presence of connection that is indeed life changing, we need to back up one step to talk about shifting from a thinking orientation to an orientation of open heartedness, or heart-centered living. How do we make that shift? The answer is threefold - meditation and mindfulness, along with a little magic known as "following your heart’s desire"!
Let’s start with meditation, as this is the cornerstone for these other practices - mindfulness and intention. Creating and nurturing a daily meditation practice is fundamental to shifting out of the thinking-mind lifestyle. Because in our Western world, we have had no emphasis on how to slow down our brains, how to stop thinking, how to calm ourselves, and to become more body-centered or heart-centered. However, in recent decades we’ve begun to realize there may be a need for this knowledge, as we’ve recognized our apparent addiction to doing, and the lack of balance that exists in this thinking-doing model alone. We’ve begun to look to and learn from the East, with their ancient and varied meditation and mindfulness practices
It is in meditation practice that we notice the shift from being one with our thoughts to instead being able to observe our thoughts. We do this by training our brain to notice when our awareness has wandered off to merge with thoughts, unhook from the thoughts, and return to the breath, the guide, or the other intended focus of the meditation. In this way we sharpen the focus of our mind, and we also learn to shift our awareness to our intended focus. This helps to create a spaciousness of mind in which we begin to see that we are indeed not our thoughts, and similarly not our feelings. In this way we begin to release our tendency of allowing the mind to remain focused on thoughts in every waking and even dreaming hour. As we release this habituated tendency, it frees our awareness to instead stay focused in the present moment. This leads us to mindfulness.
Mindfulness is the act of being present in the moment, with our whole self, utilizing all of our senses, being in the experience rather than thinking about the experience. It is this very being mode, of living life through our senses, that our heart energy awakens. In mindful awareness we become more keenly observant of all of life around us, the beauty begins to just jump out at us, we begin to pick up more on the subtleties of this life around us, and the inter-connectedness of all things, and to feel a genuine love for this life we are discovering in what feels like new ways.
Now for the magic ingredient - living from your heart’s desire. When you practice living mindfully, your awareness as to what opens your heart grows, because you are living more through all of your faculties, and your senses link directly with your heart. Inspired action arises based on your heart filling with its pure essence, which is love without conditions, and allowing love to guide your actions. We call this the magic ingredient because this is the FUN part! Mindfulness and meditation both require practice and practice necessitates discipline. Therefore, although meditation and mindfulness have lovely results and increases one’s sense of joy, the discipline required up front can sometimes seem a bit intimidating. Not so with following one’s heart’s desire, this part is all delight! **
These three ingredients lead to a heightened sense of Oneness, which is truly one of the most beautiful gifts you can give to yourself. Yet truly the benefits go beyond one’s self, extending to all sentient beings in your conscious awareness. It’s the closest thing imaginable to creating heaven on earth. And as we noted earlier, it’s a process that grows itself out of your heart-felt presence as you walk the daily path of your life. The trajectory is somewhat different for everyone, but includes such developments as new awareness of or increased sensitivity to issues of social injustice, environmental concerns, spiritual development and gifts of spirit, and a profound deepening of one’s connection to the natural world. This sense of Oneness could manifest as a sudden impulse to begin using organic gardening methods rather than the pesticides and herbicides you’ve been using for years, a desire to consume less or volunteer more, an inkling to explore a new spiritual path, or a yearning to foster a bit of quiet time into one’s day … it could look like almost anything that germinates in one’s heart, wells up as an inspiration, and speaks to you with the voice of higher consciousness.
When we see ourselves as an integral part of the great web of life, and feel a true passion for this life, we respond with caring and kindness to all of life.
May you feel the inspiration of this sense of Oneness inside yourself, today & always!
Love & Blessings,
Lynn & Cheryl
** Note: We wrote a blog on this topic, Living from Your Heart’s Desire, previously. Check out this link to read more on this topic, Your Heart's Desire.