Oneness

[YmirGF]

Oneness is a subject we hear about from time to time on RF but I was hoping to get some "bird's eye" views of what Oneness means to the members of RF. I am not particularly interested in what the old books have to say on the matter and am far more interested in hearing about this "concept" from a first hand perspective. So, please, do NOT cut and paste your answers as I would consider that to be akin to "cheating" or riding the coattails of another.

Have you personally felt a state of being that can only be described as a state of Oneness?
How did that experience change your perspective of yourself, God and Reality?
Did you emerge from the experience unchanged or unaffected by it?
Have you managed to duplicate the experience?
Have you managed to "hold" the experience?
How long did it/they last?

If you wish and are not embarrassed you are welcome to describe your own appointment(s) with "Oneness".

I will let this thread go for a few days before giving my answers. If no one replies I will just let it die and say nothing.

*Release the hounds*
uppy: uppy: uppy:

:rudolph:

 

[Buttercup]

I suppose I look at "Oneness" more in a practical and not mystical manner. Hope that's alright.

Oneness for me means feeling at peace with my place in the world.
Feeling content with my life in every way...good or bad.
Living with as little guilt as possible...THAT is peace which equals oneness to me.
As I've gotten older I've enjoyed "wanting" less. From material objects to attention.
I feel oneness when I make someone feel good about themselves...I feel "one" with them.

 

[Sunstone]

To me, a sense or perception of oneness is very, very closely related to a sense or perception that all things a connected, and that sense or perception that all things are connected is basically the threshold of the spiritual.

 

[standing_alone]

Have you personally felt a state of being that can only be described as a state of Oneness?
How did that experience change your perspective of yourself, God and Reality?
Did you emerge from the experience unchanged or unaffected by it?
Have you managed to duplicate the experience?
Have you managed to "hold" the experience?
How long did it/they last?

Any state I've ever experienced that I'd feel comfortable applying the term "oneness" to is any time I have felt a strong connection to my environment. It didn't really change my perspective on myself, God, or reality, per se, but my perspective on my relation to my environment may have been a little different between when I was a theist and now as an atheist.

 

[Sunstone]

Any state I've ever experienced that I'd feel comfortable applying the term "oneness" to is any time I have felt a strong connection to my environment. It didn't really change my perspective on myself, God, or reality, per se, but my perspective on my relation to my environment may have been a little different between when I was a theist and now as an atheist.

By "environment" do you mean the environment, or your surroundings?

 

[standing_alone]

By "environment" do you mean the environment, or your surroundings?

Well, most often the environment where I feel such a strong connection is "nature," typically the woods ("the environment"), but I have felt a similar feeling when interacting with others under certain circumstances as well ("surroundings"). So maybe both? I suppose the nature of the experience differs with each environment. When I experience such a connection when in the woods, it's a connection with my place in the world, amongst all living and non-living things, the true state of nature in which humans were meant to live (not the urban mess we've created), whereas when I feel a connection when interacting with others, it's more of as a strong unity with my fellow human beings. I really don't know how to explain... But maybe you understand what I'm trying to say?

 

[Random]

So, please, do NOT cut and paste your answers as I would consider that to be akin to "cheating" or riding the coattails of another.

For shame, Paul, I have never done this on RF and never will: if I were to cut/copy/paste anything on here, it would be from my own essays and treatsies on mysticism, not anyone else's unless I disagreed and wanted a third party opinion.

Have you personally felt a state of being that can only be described as a state of Oneness?

I Am, right now.

How did that experience change your perspective of yourself, God and Reality?

That's too big a question to be neatly summed up in a paragraph for me: some things are not so easily described in words. Language is dualistic: what language describes adequately the things of the Self and the Cosmos that I percieve subjectively? There is none.

Did you emerge from the experience unchanged or unaffected by it?

It changed me profoundly in that I stopped trying to change myself "for the better" when I realized I was pretty much made the way I am and this is how I am supposed to be. That was very important to me personally. Note that I avoided using the word "perfect"...

Have you managed to duplicate the experience?

Unnecessary: it only need be realized once. Having woken from that residual slumber of the womb, ones eyes are permanently open. No further effort to reproduce the effect is required, and actually is counter-productive and possibly for some very dangerous (in terms of mental health).

Have you managed to "hold" the experience?

it doesn't pass @ all if you don't cling to it: that's the secret. It never truly leaves you but in attaching to aspects of the experience your mind can convince you it has.

How long did it/they last?

Permanent: believe it, know it.

 

[YmirGF]

Some outstanding answers folks.

THAT is peace which equals oneness to me.
As I've gotten older I've enjoyed "wanting" less. From material objects to attention.
I feel oneness when I make someone feel good about themselves...I feel "one" with them.

I think that is quite a beautiful explanation Lady Buddercup At first I do admit, that I sort of tossed it off but upon thinking about it this response is still very good. My feeling is that people experience this inherent aspect of our internal nature to lesser and greater degrees, but in this odd situation, even the "lesser" degrees can be pretty profound. Thanks for your thoughts.

To me, a sense or perception of oneness is very, very closely related to a sense or perception that all things a connected, and that sense or perception that all things are connected is basically the threshold of the spiritual.

You are so right Phil. I remember the first time this happened to me I ended up writing a short essay called "The inter-relation of all events". I looked at it a few months back and was delighted to see how well my 18 year old self had described this "sensation" or "perception" or whatever one wants to call it.

Any state I've ever experienced that I'd feel comfortable applying the term "oneness" to is any time I have felt a strong connection to my environment. It didn't really change my perspective on myself, God, or reality, per se, but my perspective on my relation to my environment may have been a little different between when I was a theist and now as an atheist.

I think this is a wonderful example of what I am "after" here. I guess part of my reason for asking is that I believe almost everyone experiences this innate sense of "oneness" or being a part of their environment -- connected to their environment, that may be suspected. The thing is, I think many are just bowled over and at a loss to describe what "happened/happens" to them.

 

[Valjean]

I have experienced a Samadhic Oneness and this, of course, led to my Hindu persuasion.

From a philosophical/metaphysical Hindu perspective, there is only Unity. There is only one Conscious Entity in existence.
Diversity, and individuality are illusions.

 

[YmirGF]

For shame, Paul, I have never done this on RF and never will: if I were to cut/copy/paste anything on here, it would be from my own essays and treatsies on mysticism, not anyone else's unless I disagreed and wanted a third party opinion.

Now, now, Conor... I wasn't meaning you, lol. I just didn't want googled responses. I can do that myself, hehe.

I Am, right now.

Sweet. I have little doubt.

That's too big a question to be neatly summed up in a paragraph for me: some things are not so easily described in words. Language is dualistic: what language describes adequately the things of the Self and the Cosmos that I percieve subjectively? There is none.

An interesting resonse Conor. I would tend to agree, although I am thinking there are pretty massive grades to the "Oneness" experience itself. I know my first time was a bit of an "eye-popper" in that it virtually turned my viewpoint of the world and pretty much everything on its head. "Mr. Spock" was a bit rattled, lol, and I mean that in a good or healthy way.

It changed me profoundly in that I stopped trying to change myself "for the better" when I realized I was pretty much made the way I am and this is how I am supposed to be. That was very important to me personally. Note that I avoided using the word "perfect"...

Oh, I hear ya. Perfection is for those who are still convinced of their own inadequacies. Once you are "complete" as it were, perfection loses any and all meaning. For example, I always get a good laugh out of "Purification of the Soul" ideas... Um.... how to you purify a diamond for example? I'm sure you (and others) understand.

Unnecessary: it only need be realized once. Having woken from that residual slumber of the womb, ones eyes are permanently open. No further effort to reproduce the effect is required, and actually is counter-productive and possibly for some very dangerous (in terms of mental health).

Interesting. The reason I asked was because I have had many such experiences that have seemed to get "deeper" as the years go by. I dunno, "I am you and what I see is me" only partially expresses the deeper aspects of this "phenomena".

it doesn't pass @ all if you don't cling to it: that's the secret. It never truly leaves you but in attaching to aspects of the experience your mind can convince you it has.

I agree, especially with the deeper, non-physically specific experiences that are almost entirely "internal events". There is little possibility that an individual could ever forget the whole thing. I find the best thing to do is simply feel... and let your feeling take you where it will.

Permanent: believe it, know it.

Hehe. Indeed Godlike. It certainly is permanent. After thirty years, I suppose it is a bit late for me to expect to ever be "cured". Thanks for the input. :yes:

 

[YmirGF]

I have experienced a Samadhic Oneness and this, of course, led to my Hindu persuasion.

From a philosophical/metaphysical Hindu perspective, there is only Unity. There is only one Conscious Entity in existence.
Diversity, and individuality are illusions.

Awesome Seyorni! I agree, in the Samadhic sense. I have always referred to my first experience as "the grand awakening" and "the day the light went on".

 

[jacquie4000]

My thoughts are pretty much the same as Buttercup's. I used to worry so much about
what other people thought or did. Now that I am older, I keep more to myself and I am at peace with myself. I do not worry or concern myself with other people's belief system. I am happy within myself and what I believe. I have joy in helping others feel at peace with themself. Whatever I have done in my life that I feel needs to be forgiven I have ask for forgivness and feel at peace with that. So I feel Oneness inside myself. But It is something I work at everyday.

 

[AllMantra]

I also like to get the original perspectives of my contemporaries as opposed to what the accepted views on a subject are, so here goes! Oneness to me simply means unity, preferably the goal of global unity, no matter how far-fetched it may appear. I can see that you are speaking of the term on a much more personal level. I suppose I would take the mystical view of oneness meaning unity with the divine, so I must admit that I have no inner realization of that ideal. Sorry.

 

[9harmony]

Oneness to me means that everything in the universe is interconnected. Every action we take affects someone or something else, and has a ripple affect throughout all of creation. This seems to be true on every level.

There is a commercial i just love which shows an example of this on a human level. (I think it's an insurance commercial). But it shows how a person witnesses another person doing a good deed, and it affects them so much so, that they do a good deed for someone else, and someone witnesses them and continues to pass it forward. It makes me smile every time i see it.

But i also think it goes much deeper....biological, microscopic, even spiritual levels etc.

It seems to me that the realm of Quantum physics/mechanics is just beginning to understand how this works.

Very exciting stuff. imho

 

[Cynic]

Oneness is a subject we hear about from time to time on RF but I was hoping to get some "bird's eye" views of what Oneness means to the members of RF. I am not particularly interested in what the old books have to say on the matter and am far more interested in hearing about this "concept" from a first hand perspective. So, please, do NOT cut and paste your answers as I would consider that to be akin to "cheating" or riding the coattails of another.

Have you personally felt a state of being that can only be described as a state of Oneness?

Yes, or I mostly refer to it as "atone-ment" or "at-one-ment". From my experience it is a state of utter compassion or unconditional love, a feeling of being at-one with everything, and a process of reconcilation; which surfaced during (I don't know what to call it, an ego-death experience?).

How did that experience change your perspective of yourself, God and Reality?

Well from a mystical aspect, basically my perspective is that on a higher level, we are all originate from a one-ness state of being, comparable to that of a singularity in astrophysics. From my interpretation, the God consciousness could not be aware without temporal expression. Thus “unintentionally” this resulted in the onset of the illusion, (i.e. all that is, material reality, etc), and then our "fall" into denser and fragmented "selfish" or ego states of being... At the same time, it resulted in birth of consciousness or the self.

"According to God Speaks, before the Soul has any consciousness of anything or itself, there is an infinite, impressionless unconscious tranquil state. Meher Baba calls this state the Eternal Beyond-Beyond State of God (or Paratpar Paramatma), which has no experience of Self, nor of any of its Infinite latent attributes."
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_Speaks#The_Birth_of_Consciousness

Letting go of the material world, of desire, giving sacraficial love by turning the cheek, serving others, are important aspects of Jesus that when emulated had resulted in my experience, because it involved letting go of the ego. IMO, naturally you become more "at-one" with things, because upon letting go of self, your true being hidden by the illusion begins to emerge, depending on how much of the self you let go. the Self and consciousness are synonymous, and both an illusion. The more you let go of self, the more you identify with one-ness. IMO, every soul's journey eventually involves reverting back into the one-ness state, (i.e. ascension, or returning to the Monad or God-head, infinity/eternity).
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]

Did you emerge from the experience unchanged or unaffected by it?

No.

Have you managed to duplicate the experience?

No, but I haven't tried. I don't think I'm ready at this time.

Have you managed to "hold" the experience?

No.

How long did it/they last?

Several months, but I'm sure what I experienced was just the tip of the iceberg.

If you wish and are not embarrassed you are welcome to describe your own appointment(s) with "Oneness".

Well, I'm not often prone to sharing these things, usually ony to those who have experienced the same.

[edit: I went back and rewrote parts of my post, as I was being too vague]

 

[Buttercup]

My feeling is that people experience this inherent aspect of our internal nature to lesser and greater degrees, but in this odd situation, even the "lesser" degrees can be pretty profound.

I'm curious as to what you quantify as "greater" or "lesser" degrees of Oneness? Wouldn't your definition be subjective to your experiences?

For me personally.....Oneness has no meaning unless it involves others. Ironic I know but unless I can give something of myself, I'm not interested in it. It has no value.

 

[doppelganger]

I won't cut-and-paste, but I will link, since I wrote a post about this a couple of months ago:

http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40461

and an article about the significance of mystical awareness

http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40011

 

[michel]

I think I have achieved the feeling oif "oneness" on quite a few occasions; the trouble is that it is the sort of state (I find) - that if you beging to think about it while "there" - you come straight out of it...

Oneness to me means -prefferably- being miles away from concrete, bricks or macadam. I can feel completely attuned to 'nature' - I almost feel as if I could understand everything that surrounds me....even the trees.

 

[Willamena]

Have you personally felt a state of being that can only be described as a state of Oneness?
How did that experience change your perspective of yourself, God and Reality?
Did you emerge from the experience unchanged or unaffected by it?
Have you managed to duplicate the experience?
Have you managed to "hold" the experience?
How long did it/they last?

I have felt a love that transcended anything I've felt before, a love for the whole universe. I never thought of it as a "Oneness."

It didn't change my perspective of god, no, as I didn't associate the feeling with god at the time. Reality was, as it always had been, the experience (so unchanged).

I was greatly affected by it in my sense of wonder of it, and wishing I could feel it again. I have not have a duplicate of that experience.

 

[YmirGF]

Wow, awesome responses folks. Special thanks to Cynic!!! Awesome, dude.
I had hoped that Robert/autonomous1one1 would have offered his thoughts.

I'm curious as to what you quantify as "greater" or "lesser" degrees of Oneness? Wouldn't your definition be subjective to your experiences?

For me personally.....Oneness has no meaning unless it involves others. Ironic I know but unless I can give something of myself, I'm not interested in it. It has no value.

Well, of course Oneness involes others, hehe. Here I think Godlike/Conor and Robert/autonomous1one1 might understand what I am getting at, as might Cynic and perhaps a few others... Seynori etc...) What I am getting at is that for some of us the experience never really went away. For most it would seem to be a "passing" thing, a cherished memory and in no way in fact "lesser", but simply not a permanent alteration of viewpoint. To this day, when I close my eyes, I see a Light and that Light is the radiance of Oneness. It has never left me in over three decades. I am sorry if my words imply my experience is somehow "greater" than that of others. Clearly it is not, although it is perhaps different. Otoh, it could simply be that my brain was overexposed during illumination and that the image is simply "burned in".

So please... accept that "lesser" and "greater" do not really exist and it is a bit of my own fault in not explaining myself clearly. For example, the barest instant of sensing Oneness may result in profound outward changes in the individual. For those of us who enjoy a somewhat permanent experience of this phenomena there is the possibility of becoming complacent... and taking things for granted. :beach: :sorry1: :run: