Nature is a Macrocosm, man is a microcosm. That is to say, man is separate from nature precisely because he is the same as nature. Man is aware of himself, therefore he is aware of nature. Congruently, nature is aware of man.
This was a refreshing read, to say the least. Your words are crystal clear.
Everything IS connected. But the sense and belief in "oneness" is systematically hijacked by our rigid belief in separation, and a byproduct of that are feelings of lack, and a byproduct of that are actions taken out of desperation, and so on and so on until we choose to explore and integrate the wisdom within "the darkness," as you described.
I like your dark woods analogy. I was thinking about my own practice of experiencing connection. Getting out in nature to experience that darkness is an effective way to not only conquer your fear of darkness (bred from a separation-focused perspective), but it also stages an automatic meditative experience. When I meditate, I bring the darkness in. I feel fear there sometimes. Like I'm in some deep woods in the pitch black night. But then my awareness illuminates my sense and understanding of connection -- there's no such thing as darkness, it's just a more subtle (and powerful in many ways) form of light. It's there for us to bask in it and integrate its wisdom into the reality we see with our eyes.
I'm glad I read your post. This is my first Hue-Man experience. It looks like I need to catch up!
Thanks for stopping by to read a piece, Cody. I really appreciate your thoughtful feedback and the ideas you shared here.
What you said about "bringing the darkness in" reminds me of Tonglen Meditation as described by Pema Chodron in her book, "The Wisdom of No Escape". Many people are still afraid of the dark at this time, so when you actively welcome it you are doing a great service for all by lighting up the room for yourself and the rest of us.
It seems that we exist in a world ruled by polarity. A world where understanding is split down the middle.
There is dark vs light, up vs down, hot vs cold, good vs evil, and the list goes on. Each polar opposite is necessary in order to create the whole. So in that way it makes sense that feelings of separation oppose feelings of oneness.
Each one of those feelings needs the other to exist in order for it to exist. And the observer, aka consciousness, lives through embodied experience after experience to gain further understanding of the whole by first understanding how it feels to experience each side separately.
I believe it all comes down to you, and me, and what action we choose to take after we make each observation.
Thanks again for your comment. I hope you'll stick around and read more with us. It's a pleasure to have you here.
Never heard of Pema Chodron and "The Wisdom of No Escape." I Freudian-slip typed "The Wisdom of Escape" just now. The pole of separation seeks escape. Maybe that was another attempt by my system to hijack my awareness of oneness, HA! Not today, my separate self!
Experience IS the true offering of this reality. The wordless and wordful dialogues of so much information happening between "within" and "without." All of our choices matter, but more fundamentally our experiences of mere moments gives us wings to explore polarity, and so maybe that's all we really need to do in this reality/awareness: Experience, feel, reflect, choose, experience, and so on. With "choice" being bottom on the priority list of our mental focus.
Thanks for the recommendation, I'll check it out. I'm pleased to be here.
Nature is a Macrocosm, man is a microcosm. That is to say, man is separate from nature precisely because he is the same as nature. Man is aware of himself, therefore he is aware of nature. Congruently, nature is aware of man.
"HERE IS MY SECRET" quote is from
the book "The Little Prince"
Thank you for letting me know! I will check that book out. I love the quote.
This was a refreshing read, to say the least. Your words are crystal clear.
Everything IS connected. But the sense and belief in "oneness" is systematically hijacked by our rigid belief in separation, and a byproduct of that are feelings of lack, and a byproduct of that are actions taken out of desperation, and so on and so on until we choose to explore and integrate the wisdom within "the darkness," as you described.
I like your dark woods analogy. I was thinking about my own practice of experiencing connection. Getting out in nature to experience that darkness is an effective way to not only conquer your fear of darkness (bred from a separation-focused perspective), but it also stages an automatic meditative experience. When I meditate, I bring the darkness in. I feel fear there sometimes. Like I'm in some deep woods in the pitch black night. But then my awareness illuminates my sense and understanding of connection -- there's no such thing as darkness, it's just a more subtle (and powerful in many ways) form of light. It's there for us to bask in it and integrate its wisdom into the reality we see with our eyes.
I'm glad I read your post. This is my first Hue-Man experience. It looks like I need to catch up!
Thanks for stopping by to read a piece, Cody. I really appreciate your thoughtful feedback and the ideas you shared here.
What you said about "bringing the darkness in" reminds me of Tonglen Meditation as described by Pema Chodron in her book, "The Wisdom of No Escape". Many people are still afraid of the dark at this time, so when you actively welcome it you are doing a great service for all by lighting up the room for yourself and the rest of us.
It seems that we exist in a world ruled by polarity. A world where understanding is split down the middle.
There is dark vs light, up vs down, hot vs cold, good vs evil, and the list goes on. Each polar opposite is necessary in order to create the whole. So in that way it makes sense that feelings of separation oppose feelings of oneness.
Each one of those feelings needs the other to exist in order for it to exist. And the observer, aka consciousness, lives through embodied experience after experience to gain further understanding of the whole by first understanding how it feels to experience each side separately.
I believe it all comes down to you, and me, and what action we choose to take after we make each observation.
Thanks again for your comment. I hope you'll stick around and read more with us. It's a pleasure to have you here.
Never heard of Pema Chodron and "The Wisdom of No Escape." I Freudian-slip typed "The Wisdom of Escape" just now. The pole of separation seeks escape. Maybe that was another attempt by my system to hijack my awareness of oneness, HA! Not today, my separate self!
Experience IS the true offering of this reality. The wordless and wordful dialogues of so much information happening between "within" and "without." All of our choices matter, but more fundamentally our experiences of mere moments gives us wings to explore polarity, and so maybe that's all we really need to do in this reality/awareness: Experience, feel, reflect, choose, experience, and so on. With "choice" being bottom on the priority list of our mental focus.
Thanks for the recommendation, I'll check it out. I'm pleased to be here.
Such a good article, all I can say is " I AM ". Thanks Sean.
Thanks Wayne! Hearing you say I AM makes me smile with understanding.
We sure are, brother. 👁️