beyond theories
Jim April 3rd, 2008
do we have to override the sensory data fed to us through our physical senses to process spiritual truth as we go about life? for example, sensory data is continuously telling me that all people are separate and independent beings. i am separate from you. Jesus used metaphors like a tree and a human body to emphasize our connectedness. the same divine life is the sap of the tree running through all the branches. there are many different body parts, but it’s all one body. you and i both share in the same divine image. you and i are drawing life from the same and one and only life support system. we derive true love and peace from the same source.
whether you think of this oneness as only existing among certain people, or you feel it applies to all people, i have a question.
what would be different if you stopped seeing others as separate from you, and began seeing others as part of you? again, maybe your field of application would be other Christians you go to church with, fine. maybe your field of application is everyone you come in contact with, fine. i’m not interested on this post of debating who we may or may not be one with. i am purely interested in the following:
if you saw yourself and others as one, rather than two totally separate beings what would be different. if this is where you are, describe what is the difference you experience. if you’re not quite there in practice, what do you imagine might be different. how would that awareness of your oneness with others manifest in your life?
(photo by JSDavis82)
- Kingdom of God , Life , Love , Nobodies , Pondering , Wide Open Spaces , freedom , questions , religious detox
- Comments(15)
Hi Jim,
Maybe it’s not a sensory data thing here, maybe it’s a paradigm issue. There have been many studies done recently that show that there is a dramatic difference between how eastern and western cultures view the world. A couple of examples are here and here. Eastern people more easily recognize our interconnectedness, while westerners focus on the details but often miss the bigger picture.
If I think about it, we are in reality more connected and interdependent that we westerners like to admit. If I were alone in the world, survival would be exponentially more difficult. But as it is, it’s easy to go to the local grocery story to get food because of all the other people involved in the process of putting the food on the shelf.
[...] Last night I was in a discussion with some friends, and we got to talking about reality. [...]
Jim, what exactly do you mean by “one”?
Everything would be different. First, I am a neophyte in this respect, but I strive each day to grow more in oneness. We are spiritual beings, created in God’s image. The spirit of God lives within each person; therefore, all people are inherently good. We are created of the same stuff. We come from the same place and will return to wince we came.
Because I believe the above things are true, I am finding that more than ever before, we others hurt, I hurt. I also see the world as one large family, with no national boundaries separating us, all sharing the same joys, sorrows, needs, etc; What affects one affects the whole. Here are some quotes suggesting “oneness” which I find particularly valuable:
“God hath made of one blood all nations of men.”
Christianity
Acts 17:26
“All are the sons and daughters of God, good people
all, Brothers and Sisters, since created by One Father.
No rooted difference is there between them.”
Hinduism
Bhavishya Purana LLL, IV, Ch.23
“Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us?
Why do we deal treacherously every man against his
brother?”
Judaism
Malachi 2:10
“All creatures are the family of God; and he is the
most beloved of God who does most good to His
family.”
Islam
Hadith
“Do not forget that the world is one great family … Regard Heaven
as your father, Earth as your mother, and all things as your brothers and sisters.”
Shintoism
Oracle of Deity of Atsuta
“God is the Father, Earth the Mother. With all things
and in all things, we are relatives.”
Sioux
Native American
This is very good stuff. It sends tingles up my back! This is real! It’s like a homecoming!
You know, when we “turn” our minds and go deeper we can all sense that interactiveness oneness between us and I guess it does not take a brains trust to figure out what that onenes is? Us Christians have been taught about it for long enough but we just haven’t known how we should apply it. It couldn’t be easier!
“And the glory that you have given to Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one” John 17:22
This is exciting. It’s the recognition of the emergence of the coming Messiah. The return (presence) of Jesus through his spirit, through us, as parts of his “body”.
What could be simpler?
Brian from NZ. I see it happening down here!
I should have added this does not apply just to Christians – this is for everybody and has little to do with what one has been taught to believe. We go beyond that – true “metanoia” repentance.
This word “metanoia” usually translated as “repent” really means we must change they way we have been taught to use our minds. Just as Jim is implying. Jesus told us that too!
All the best,
Brian NZ
when i depend on the data fed to me through my physical senses, i seem to over-identify with my physical body as ‘me’ and your physical body as ‘you’ – two totally separate and independent beings. lately, i’ve been becoming more conscious of my being a spiritual being. what does that mean? what is a “spiritual” being? is it strictly the absence of a physical body, thus an invisible/immaterial being? is that it? seems to me that it must be more. what about the qualities of that invisible/immaterial/spiritual stuff that we are?
for example, love, peace, freedom, joy, fulfillment, etc…
when i say i am a “spiritual being,” maybe that means i am love, i am peace, i am freedom, i am joy, i am fulfillment. and maybe you share in and are a manifestation of those same qualities or energies or whatever one calls it. so we learn to live out of that higher Self, which Christ awakens.
what if i saw myself and every person as a manifestation of the same quality/energy of love, peace, etc…i feel like it would be more than simply “treating each other differently” as two separate and independent beings, but has something to do with moving beyond thinking in terms of that separation altogether.
as you can tell, i’m in the midst of the discovery myself, and have not even yet found very good words to talk about it.
Im curious why it seems that we are so quick to dismiss our physical being as not who we really are. The fact of the matter is that at this moment in time our connection to our world is predominantly in a physical or material(solid) way. Isnt it the truth that we are ok the way we are right now? Why is there such a bend toward finding our spiritual self, almost implying that is better than who we are now. Its almost like waiting to get to heaven for everything to be alright. Rather than seeing what we are now, which in the eyes of Jesus is divine.
john, you have a good point, and it makes sense. i hear you sort of saying that we make the physical/material world/reality/self the bad guy. maybe that’s just another dualism all it’s own. maybe, like Jesus, we can perceive spiritual reality either way…like perceiving our oneness despite the sensory view of separation. also, seems like so much time and energy gets poured into transitory reality like the survival and enhancement of the human body and an over-identification with material reality. it also seems like the ego grabs a hold of this especially. do you think so?
maybe it’s not so much immaterial verses material/solid reality. i don’t know, i’ll ponder that. thanks.
Hi Jim
Doesnt Luke 17:21 say it all……..right here, right now…..We just gotta open up our EYES.
John T,
Luke 17:21? Isn’t this is what Jim is trying to say? That we access the “kingdom” world through the new re-born us. Physically we remain but our way of thinking changes and we see each other and ourselves quite differently and we can relate in a wonderful truthful way. We see “through the eyes of our hearts”. It’s not a learnt “taught” thing – that nature is already within us.
“Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” That is limited to a time/space world but as we go deeper we can enter into a multi-dimensional world of love and joy and miracles etc.
I said before we change the way we use our minds – repent – and begin to live from this deeper source within – the “bread of life”. Goodness only knows what will begin the happen to our physical bodies when we do? Resurrection life!!!
I agree we do have to open our eyes.
Brian NZ
Brian NZ
Actually what I think Jesus was trying to say is that at this moment in time even flesh and blood are in the Kingdom. Eternity isnt some time and place we get to. Its happening right now whether you repent or not. Maybe all that repenting does is wake you from your slumber
Jim:
Interesting prompting of though processor my Brother In Christ. God is One. He is In All Things, though all things, about all things. Simply He stated “I Am.” Therefore if He is In us, And He is in us then we are also in all of others and in reality despite differences of opinion are one being. This is why God is so big. Thanks for thought prompt Brother. And. it does change everything the way we look at the world.
LOVE LIKE HIM,
G.B.U.,
Michael.
I think the point is that if we began to see ourselves in a spiritual sense as connected to one another… it would change our physical reality. I think that is what Jesus was talking about so many times. The kingdom is HERE and NOW. The spiritual and physical are not to be separated. It’s not an either/or but a both/and!
When I see myself as truly one with my brothers and sisters in the world, then it physically MATTERS to me when they are oppressed or treated unjustly. It means that I CARE when they hurt and when they suffer. It means that I can’t really be fully who I was made to be without being in community with each of them.
I was recently in India for a few weeks. They have a beautiful greeting in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. They bow to one another and say, “Vannakum.” (Similar to Namaste in the north). It means, “The God in me greets the God in you.”
What a beautiful way of acknowledging the one that connects us all. Indians also do not refer to each other by first name very often. Instead, they call one another sister, brother, mother, uncle, etc. Another acknowledgement of our interconnectedness. We have much to learn from our eastern brothers and sisters about what it means to be in community.
Great Post Jim! Hope all is well!
Well said, April. Often times we try to “over” spiritualize. I am a total man – I am not divided. Maybe our perception is not so much the distiction ; spirituality vs. carnality – as much as it is choosing to see others through the eyes of Jesus. If seen from His perspective, all men would see the futility of cutting one’s own arm off. But then again, such a perspective comes with a price – doesn’t it?
Your article was well stated, Jim, Thank you. ty