Portals to Oneness

INTRODUCTION

 

I will use this essay as a canvas on which I explore the role of Human-to-Human Non-Separate Communication in my relationship to oneness. I feel that through this exploration, insights to the modern human’s relationship to oneness will inevitably surface. The content which I discuss will come from my own life experience— including experiences which I have lived myself that were guided by non-separate communication, and the books ‘Infinite Circle: Teachings in Zen” by Bernie Glassman and “Nonviolent Communication: a language of life’ by Marshall B Rosenberg. The term ‘Non-Separate Communication’ is my attempt at combining two philosophies into one - which are derived through my experiences and a combination of the two books- mindfulness and communication. Therefore, the definition of it will only surface and unravel as the essay progresses. 

 

Although words often do little justice to the themes I will discuss in this work, in order to write with a sense of substance, it is necessary to give definition to the following central terms based on my interpretations: 

 

‘Oneness’ - or ‘Non-Separate’ - is the state of non-duality, where everything and everyone are connected, creating a sense of wholeness even when appearing separate. A ‘portal to oneness’ is an opening or unveiling of this interconnected state, experienced through various mediums such as meditation, dancing, spending time in nature, or in this essay: we will focus on the medium of communication. ‘Human-to-human communication’ transcends autopilot small talk and violent communication which disregard the feelings and needs of others and ourselves. Instead, it involves genuine interaction through verbal or nonverbal language, or a blend of both, which I call ‘Non-Separate Communication’. ‘Insight’ into the human experience of oneness involves gaining awareness and understanding through observation and experience. ‘To surface’ means to become apparent or manifest in the physical realm. ‘Intuition’ is the ability to know with your heart rather than relying solely on your brain or logic. And lastly, ‘Intention’ is the presence of the heart, even when words or actions are absent.

 

This leads me to the central focus of this work:

Human-to-Human Non-Separate Communication has served as a direct portal to oneness in my life experience— through exploring the role of this portal in my individual relationship to oneness, can insights to the general relationship between oneness and the modern individual come to the surface? 

 

 

 

 

BODY

 

Connecting the dots starts with communication

 

Our stomachs are our first brains they say – that’s where intuition comes from: your gut. Sometimes we can mistranslate the intuitive knowing of the portal of oneness opening as anxiety of a catastrophe to occur.  I stood looking up at a store in the centre of Athens where the building was shaped like an elephant. It was one of those ‘hippie’ stores with cheap imports from India to sell for a higher price. Infront of me was a collection of more than 600 pairs of earrings in which I chose three: a feather, a Chinese symbol, and a turtle. The next day, after a long night of an anxiety attack out of nowhere for thinking I was going to die on the plane that next morning, I sat by a Dutch man in the exit row. The flight attendant came by asking what language we spoke, and the man joked back saying “Chinese”. I noticed her necklace because it looked familiar – a feather – and as I looked at the man to laugh, I saw his turtle ring. I compliment him on his ring, and he proceeded to tell me that it was his daughters – 2 years ago before she died in a plane crash.  The connections of events in this situation gave me insight to the bigger purpose of why I had an unexplainable anxiety attack the night before, and why I ‘randomly’ chose these three symbols out of millions of variations I could have chosen – it was the divine showing me that everything is one, everything is connected. It was like God gave me a hug, knowing that I have suffered from thanaphobia all my life, and telling me not to worry. This led me to a great amount of unravelling fear within me by directing me towards a path that is meant for me to heal from anxiety attached to a fear of not existing after death. To me, this is no longer true as I believe that we transform into something new rather than disappear. I would not have had this insight, however, if I hadn’t spoken to the man. The communication part was my bridge to understanding, to connecting the dots that God left for me to discover on my own. 

 

Connecting with the heart brings intuitive awareness that guides you to follow it

 

There is no specific order for what comes first between the communication with a person or the intuition and intention that guides you to experience a manifestation of oneness that surfaces in physical reality. When the heart is connected in a conversation that is real and in touch with the soul, the universe has ways to affirm this for you. I was one time having a deep conversation with my partner at the bookstore about something that I had been worried about but too scared to share it. I spoke to him about how I fear that when I leave for my internships, he will not want to be with me anymore. He assured me that he is committed to me, and we had a connecting conversation filled with love that was genuine and true to both of our emotions. As we were leaving the bookstore after this conversation, I had a feeling that I was being pulled towards a specific shelf, and what I saw first was a book called ‘Hanna’ by Magali Jegger. I got super excited and thought “oh wow a book about me!” but then my heart flew out of my chest when I looked at the book summary and it was about Hanna, who is married to a man with the same name of my partner, and they have a baby girl and live in Amsterdam. This was unbelievable to us both, as we stared at the back of the book after having a conversation that was so specific to us being in each other’s life for a long time and hoping to have a family together one day. It was reassurance that when the heart is connected to ourselves and we intentionally choose each other, we are also connected to the entire universe around us. When we choose not to be, then we lose that connection and support. 

 

Communicating silently with the world from your heart opens a channel for the Divine to communicate silently with you

 

Paradoxically to the previous idea of having real and genuine conversations with people being a portal to oneness, communication or contact with another person does not necessarily need to be spoken for the intention of that encounter to surface. There was a time where I needed a miracle to remember that I was not alone in the suffering I was going through at a tough time in my life and so I prayed to God to guide me to him. I pushed myself to get out of my comfort zone and I went out for a walk to clear my mind. As I was walking in the streets of Cairo, I saw the usual of a mother and her child begging on the side of the street. I went over and I gave her 100 egp, smiled and walked away. In my heart, I prayed that someone treats my mother the same and brings abundance to her when she works eight hours a day to support my family. I saw another mother and her child and repeated the process once more, full of intention and love - a hope without an expectation. God's glory is on speed dial, I found. As for when I arrived home after my walk, my mother called me and in a very happy mood and announced to me that she just got finished giving a client a facial and she had tipped her 100 dollars.  I instantly started to cry, as I felt God had come down to Earth in that moment and embraced me in His arms to remind me that he is always with me - that there is nothing to fear, for his miracles are much greater than any anxieties or worries that my troubled head can sometimes bring for me.  So, when I outwardly expressed myself in the form of Non-Separate Communication, God communicated back with me the same way. 

 

CONCLUSION:

 

Now that the essay has progressed to give insight on the term ‘Non-Separate Communication’ through examples, I will now dive deeper into the meaning. This work is subjective to my own experience, therefore a more complete understanding of this concept can only be experienced by you in your own way. 

In the book “Infinite Circle: Teachings in Zen”, the author speaks about “The Wisdom literature [that is written in Sanskrit and claims that when reading it, some people say you can receive the same benefits of it without having to translate it into the language you understand]”. I interpret this message as it being about the chanting, the intention of the doing – to be. Being one, one with the moment and the vibrations that you direct towards a certain purpose is what really matters. The communication, it is verbal, yet also nonverbal. Because if its only verbal, then it must be that there is a translation of this information that is processed in the psyche of the one saying it or chanting it. If it is solely nonverbal, there would not be vibration that comes out verbally through the mouth of the chanter. Therefore, it cannot be only verbal, neither can it be only nonverbal. So, what is it? It is neither, both and in-between. In that moment, when fully immersed, there is no separation between the physical and the spiritual realm, the words and the intentions behind the vibrations of them, it is in that moment, Non-Separate Communication. That is the idea of the practice of Zen, which is to be in the present moment, in the physical and the spiritual: rooting from the heart.

            Once presence in the moment is established through means of any portal - communication, meditation, yoga, art, dance, music, movement, intimacy, love, ect – it becomes a space of practice to integrate this state of being and the realization of truth into your life. This truth can be called many different things, a few names for it include: enlightenment, awakening, consciousness, zen, higher self, non duality, nothingness, emptiness, everything, and more. So whatever the chosen portal is, it becomes a space for one to develop and connect with the infinite source of wisdom and energy that is all around us and accessible to any human being to immerse themselves in when there is awareness and mindfulness integrated into the portals. As my examples have shown, once you surrender to the unknown and set your heart in place, avoid resisting the flow by listening to the world: life will become a combined experience of you and the divine as one. To start, lets mind our words. Mindful communication: its not only the verbal communication itself that is emphasized, but it’s also the mindfulness of knowing who you are: what your needs, feelings and requests are (Rosenberg, 2003), and in turn this allows a genuine flow of connection with others around you because you come to understand the depth of a human being through knowing about yourself. So when one practices communicating with verbal words that hold a nonverbal intention of connecting (Non-Separate Communication), rather than violent communication, a new path to a portal of oneness emerges and guides us to not only have a connection with ourselves, the world around us and others – but with the divine source, our God. 

So in conclusion, despite the experience of oneness being unique to each individual & hence hard to define concretely, we can unite with the nature of this experience by letting our intuition and intention guide us to the portals to oneness through having insight to communication and integrating it with mindfulness.