Oneness

When the thought story of separation is no longer believed in then life is experienced as oneness.

In oneness, all dualities are seamlessly merged as that which knows them. This is already and always the case but gets overlooked in favor of fascination with concepts, selflessly and effortlessly arising in oneness.

What is already present

The thought of a future enlightenment keeps one distracted from what is already present.

While identified with a certain portion of the appearance that we call "me", we feel isolated, limited and afraid. This contraction doesn't feel good or right (it's a dis-ease), so we seek a way out of it. Some "spiritual teachers" might have some suggestions how we achieve awakening to escape this state of suffering. In the hoping and striving for that better future state, we miss what is already the case, here and now. 

The "me" is just a thought story. It is a conceptual bundling of certain perceptions into a nonexistent separate self. If that story is not believed in or pauses for a moment then it is seen that there is an open, sentient space in which thoughts and other forms appear. This openness knows no boundaries or limitations and has no problems. This is what we are, not the fleeting images. Please don't take my word for it though, look for yourself. Any believed in concept, including that of non-duality is detrimental to direct seeing. Being (shared by all) is not a concept.

"You are close to attainment!"

A young student of zen asked his wizened old master how to tell if he was near enlightenment.
His master replied: "When you can pee two streams at will, you are close to attainment."
The student knew what he had to do so, every time he urinated, he started trying to force his urine into two streams. He started drinking more water so he could piss more often and he struggled and pushed to make this happen.
After two years of trying day and night, he gave up.
He went to his master and said: "Master, I have tried for a very long time to piss in two streams and found that it can't be done. I have given up."
The master replied: "Now, you are close to attainment!"
The next time the student peed, without even trying, the miraculous happened.

Whatever works.

Whatever works is fine. There are a million different ways to say what is being said. There are an endless variety of words that the subject could be cloaked in. There are paths that appeal to heart, mind and body. Some explain it with concepts such as God and Goddess. Some use ideas such as Mind and no-mind, Self and no-self to attempt to point at "it". Some say it is the only thing we can know, others call it the ultimate Mystery. Some call it "emptiness" and some say "fullness". Some don't think about it at all and never will and that's perfectly appropriate too. All of these words represent the seeking of a transpersonal understanding--a perspective that isn't limited by narrow definitions of self, space and time.

My expression is no better than anyone else's. If you find it helpful, that's good. If not, that's fine too. All words come from and are known by the same source, regardless of if they seem to be clear or confused.

To me, it is important to be able to put aside the words, no matter how cherished they are. In this moment, without clinging to conceptual models, what IS? If we can briefly set aside our ideas about the nature of existence, what is left? What is our direct (non-conceptual) experience in this moment?

Love...

Love is God recognizing itself.

For folks for whom the word "God" has negative connotations: Love is the infinite recognizing itself.

While mistaking arising concepts for truth, we believe in a complex world of separate objects. When no longer confounded by the thought story, we recognize the entire universe as our Self. This is unconditional love.

Who am I?

I am not a "teacher". Teaching and learning are useful when learning functional knowledge but being/existence can't be taught. If being didn't exist, you wouldn't be reading these words that I am typing. Presence is already present and doesn't need to be learned. We all ALREADY share this common awareness. Beware of those who would sell it to you.

The personal is the perfect expression of the infinite

With the human species, it seems that the development of the ego obscures our unity with all things and their source. We can trace back all of our "problems" to this idea of separation. Why did such a concept arise? In the appearance, humans have a highly (some might say "over") developed brain and the capacity for abstract thought. This ability to think abstractly is useful in solving functional problems but we don't stop there, we try to understand ourselves and the universe we live in with it. This leads to a self image and then a concept of the universe, apart from oneself. This is the primary (first) dualistic notion from which all others arise. While living under this assumption of separation, life seems extremely complex and fearsome as one has become identified with a particular body/mind appearance and fears its destruction.

What has really happened, though? We're we ever apart? Of course not. Even from a purely materialistic standpoint, we are intimately connected to the universe from the moment of conception. The body is nothing other than the elements of the planet configured in a certain pattern and we would die in moments without air, water and food. Take a step further and you are in the unified field of physics where all matter is really just energy in motion and we know that energy cannot be created or destroyed.

So what is life? Why is all of this happening? Did God make a huge mistake by creating humanity, inviting evil into the world? No. Everything that appears, including the human race with all of it's ignorance and knowledge, beauty and ugliness is the perfect expression of the infinite. It is all the only way it can be. Humans have done what any species would do given our capabilities. It is leading to a mass-extinction event as have happened before in Earth's history. We ARE a mass-extinction event. At the same time, many people are waking up to the fact that we aren't separate from nature or eachother. Whatever happens, though, is the appearance of God. Every human with all of their particular quirks and traits is the expression of the divine. Even the sense of individuality, the ego, is a totally impersonal arising.

There is no way you can lose oneness. You can be ignorant of it but that doesn't mean you aren't part of it. Whatever you think you are, you are God playing a role. To harm another or to harm the planet is to harm yourself. There's no point in making an image of any of this. The awareness by which you know the world is the absolute. You are that without question.

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All categories are arbitrary intellectual constructs. There is no mind or body or any "thing" for that matter. There is only the living light of awareness that appears as the universe of form while still retaining its pristine, incorruptible essence. 

This is already the case and cannot be made "more so" by the efforts of an imaginary separate entity.