Waking Up

I’ve come to believe… we already know our oneness with each other, so the process of coming to consciousness… is a process of recollecting. When we awake… We will understand that we  have never been alone. 

Rob Spiegel

How long will we slumber, convinced of our independence and self sufficiency? What will bring such dreams to an end? The pragmatic side of me would like an outline of how to recollect oneness in five easy steps. My intuitive side knows this is heart work, not head work.

Humans are born into this world as completely dependent creatures. We can do nothing to ensure our survival. Our independence is a gradual process of watching, growing and  developing. We learn to manipulate the physical world around us and eventually define ourselves as individuals, separate from our parents, our siblings, our peers.

That all seems fairly straight forward, but this awakening to interdependence is another process altogether. Spiegel calls it a “process of recollecting,” indicating we have a prior knowledge of this mysterious oneness we share with others. Just how deep is this knowledge buried within us, I wonder. And if we carry this sense of oneness into this world, might we also possess a oneness with those who preceded us and those who will follow us?

Imagine how differently we might behave if we awoke to climate destruction, war, social injustice, wealth inequality, hunger, poverty, exploitation occurring not outside but within ourselves. Is this the belief we need to peacefully cohabitate, the recollection that to do otherwise is to practice self harm? While our sense of oneness should inspire us to care not just for others, but also for our planet, the unaware or unconcerned among us have done great harm, and so, we have done great harm. We need to wake up.

~Lisa Kiel