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Everything is Consciousness--everything. When you ask what is Consciousness, there is no valid answer. When someone asks me to write a book... I could have written one page. And in the middle of that page I would say: 'Everything is Consciousness,' and the rest would be blank.
Robert Adams from Silence of the Heart
Everything is Consciousness. If this is so, then everything is one thing. Everything is Consciousness. There is only one thing. I must be that one thing as you must be that one thing. This is the Vedic world view.
When we take as valid and true the above statements, the implications are far-reaching and profound, and they explain so much. For example:
Whenever I react to someone's seeming 'attack' on me, I always feel worse. No matter how justified I may be or feel in my reaction, no matter how 'right' I may be in feeling attacked. When I respond with attack of my own, I always feel worse.
By accepting the validity of the Vedic world view, we easily may see why. If there is only one thing, I cannot attack you without attacking myself. In fact, it is a truism that all attack is self attack. If there is only one thing, this is an unavoidable conclusion. All attack is self attack. All love is self love. I used to think this was just a New Age idea to help me learn to be nicer in the world and to stop fighting; but in fact, it's a truth. All attack is self attack. If I feel attacked by you and respond in kind, it is akin to my getting a headache, then punching myself in the head for the ache. This may sound like an absurd example, but if there's only one thing, my attack on you must be an attack on myself.
So what do we do instead? First, we put aside anything that looks/feels/behaves like a weapon. Sarcasm, gossip, silent scorn, negative judgment for starters. Impossible, you may say. No. Not impossible. But perhaps difficult. And perhaps today what we can hope for is to begin to notice when we are involved in one of these behaviors. Even if we find ourselves unable to stop, at least we're beginning to notice. Which means also we can begin to notice how the behavior makes us feel. If it makes us uncomfortable (no matter how 'right' we may feel along with that discomfort), then maybe tomorrow it will be easier to stop ourselves in the middle of a sentence and change the subject, or say something nice about the person rather than something negative. Or ask a friend how they're doing and really listen to what they have to say.
Everything is one thing. If I want love, I must find the way to love that one thing in all its various forms. If I want peace, I must find my way to peace with all the manifestations the one thing. Whatever I wish to receive, I first must learn to give.
Today I will notice if I fall into negativity; and even if I can't turn it around in the moment, I will be sure to notice how it makes me feel.
View from Lighthouse, Cape Lookout, N. Carolina
Copyright © 2011 Jeff Kober
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