The Illusion of Separation Dissovles In The Present Moment

Usually the present is a pretty good moment.  It's our thoughts from the past and our concerns from the future that create so much trouble in our minds.  If we stay with right now, everything is pretty fine.  For instance, how are you in this moment?  Probably pretty good.  Even in those times when things get a little tricky -- some minor emergency occurs -- we can usually jump into high gear and handle the situation with clarity and competency. 

However, there are those occasional times when we do feel really challenged in the present moment.  I'm so grateful to my parents for having taught me manners, because most of the time, those are what I fall back on. This always helps to diffuse a bad situation and keep things a little cleaner.  It's never a good idea to add fuel to anyone's fire.  We all slip up of course, myself included from time to time, but when we do we can notice it, forgive ourselves, and use our intention to do better next time.  

Sometimes our buttons really do get pushed and we start to lose it a little. Then the question becomes, how can we find and practice Big Love, that sense of oneness, in the face of those stinky moments.  We do have to love ourselves enough to stand up for ourselves.  But, if we can find our presence of mind, we can look at ourselves and the other as two actors on a stage.  We can notice the role we've each taken on: victim, authority, innocent, saboteur, whatever it might be. Then we can let a part of our self stand back and watch the dance between the two.  This lets the interaction become more like a board game -- win some, lose some -- rather than a matter of pride, position, or influence.  

Our sense of separation is an illusion.  When we realize this it leads us right back into love.  We know this is an illusion because if someone is drowning, or about to jump off a bridge, or our cat is in the house that has caught fire, we forget about our own lives and do everything we can to save them.  This is because deep in our beings we know that we and the other are one.  We don't run from danger, we charge into it to save the other.  

Guru Pathik said, "The greatest illusion of this world is the illusion of separation. Things you think are separate and different are actually the same. We are all one people, but we live as if divided." We need to stop focusing on our individuation. Our sense of separation is nothing short of a social pathology. It is the source of war. Them vs. us, superiority, and inferiority complexes all come from this illusion. Every cell is needed in the body of humanity.  

Kabir said, "Ignorance has locked the gate. The only thing that can open it is love."  When we are in the present moment we are in our right brains, the source of oneness, and this unites us with the true heart of our expansive and interconnected love for ourselves and all our journey mates here on the path of life.  

© Josephine Laing, 2014