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What is Oneness? By Jackie Lanum, PhD.
Immediate Past President
Unity West Board of Directors
Sometimes being one with God and God being in all
things seems a bit abstract and has little impact on our daily living. If we could all feel this, we would know what unity
and peace meant and would view the impact of everything we do in a different way. Distraction from this central tenant of
unity, allows destruction. We are endowed with a special appreciation of life so that we might be stewards.
In order to live our lives with the enriched consciousness that allows us to enrich all life, it helps to see ourselves in
the context of oneness, and there is no better time than now! As the days lengthen and Spring approaches, I feel my steps
lighten, feel increased optimism and an increased urge to get out and do things. Outside I notice all nature seems to be celebrating.
Plants bud and burst into flower, birds display and sing. People seem more cheerful, love and weddings abound. And it is all
connected! We are being locked in an Earthly rhythm. The hormones, the neurotransmitters, the sap rising
are all in response to the longer days. Contrary to an advertisement that I saw recently, the “D” in “DNA”
does not stand for “difference.” Diversity, perhaps, but we all are a part of the “descendents
‘n ancestors.” Having trained our attention to make distinctions and emphasize our unique individuality,
we can fail to notice that we are variations on a theme. The emphasis on competition is another distracter.
Born out of the same cultural context, capitalism and evolution are thought to work such that one’s survival
is at the expense of another. But ultimately, the survivors aren’t the meanest but the ones that work best with each
other. The web of life works by reciprocity. The balance between plants and animals, the composting and recycling of water
and other elements, the influence of sunlight and the tilt of the Earth’s axis, provide the atmosphere and the changing
climate of the seasons. As long as these cycles are in balance, death and regeneration occur over and over. This is the operation
of God as Earth Mother or Gaia, a metaphor that acts as a pretty good scientific description of creation at work. Everything
is continually emerging as unique God expressions yet is continually immersed in the oneness simultaneously. It
makes an ethical difference whether we emphasize our uniqueness or our oneness. The dominion given us in the Hebrew Bible
is a dangerous position as well as a responsible one. Human technology, consumerism and human population
increase without a concomitant awareness of our role, and Mother can’t take care of it all. Climate change is the symptom
that shows mother being shifted into the role of child, unruly at times, but needing our care. We can do our part by realizing
we are a part of the whole. There is also a common psychological unity that we share. We all want to live, and
be happy. How can we want happiness and wellness, if we do not want it for all beings, when we are all one? Jeremy
Rifkin in The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis quotes
Goethe as thinking about life “…only mankind together is the true man, and that the single individual can be
joyful and happy only when it has the courage to feel itself as a part of one.” Centuries later, brain research shows
we have mirror neurons that generate the same feeling state. A smile elicits a smile but it is not reciprocity by mimicry
but a naturally generated, directly inducted response. Our life and happiness is interconnected with the life and happiness
of others directly as well as indirectly. Each of us can seek to find and experience oneness in our own way whether it
is in a nature walk, by turning inward, or by wishing someone else the best. We practice oneness when we wish for others what
we wish for ourselves whether it be happiness, health, love, or simply a good meal. Every spiritual tradition has a way of
expressing a variation of the golden rule. In the Buddhist meditation tradition, compassion is the outcome of true mindfulness.
First, the wish is for oneself. May I be filled with love. May I be filled with happiness. May I be filled with peace. Second,
the wish is for other humans. May you be filled with love. May you be filled with happiness. May you be filled with peace.
Last, the wish is for all. May all beings be filled with love. May all beings be filled with happiness. May all beings be
filled with peace. As we assert whatever wishes are most potent for us and send them out for all beings, we participate in
oneness.
In whichever form or tradition, may each of us feel our congruence with this wonderful cycle of rebirth we call Spring.
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