Happy "At-One-Ment" - Happy Easter!

The consciousness in you and the consciousness in me, apparently two, is really one, seek unity and that is love.

Nisargadatta Maharaj

All the talk of religion and spirituality is wasted in the end if we can't experience ONENESS ourselves. In the olden days, before the Fall, we experienced ONENESS every step of the WAY. There was only one VOICE in our head, and only one FEELING in our heart, and that was of GOD. When we ate from the Tree of Knowledge, a second voice popped into our head, and new feelings arose that deviated from the world GOD had created for us. We experienced this world as a new-comer; an external spectator of the Universe whose mission it was to find back that ONENESS that was once our own.

You may ask how exactly we can we embrace this ONENESS. The WAY of the East is observation: Lao-Tzu's Tao Te Ching observes the TIMELESS, the INFINITE, the DIVINE in people and in all daily events. Along the WAY, you experience ONENESS, and like a scientist, Lao-Tzu invites you to discover this ONENESS for yourself. Buddhists famously claim, "If you see the Buddha, kill him." That's the scientific mindset at work, no path is accepted unless the traveler makes it her own. 

Christianity - the Western road to GOD - wants to initiate ONENESS. Compared to the scientific mindset of the East, Christianity is a religion instead. The seeker appeals to the Son of Man, to the Holy Spirit, and to GOD to show her the WAY. The process of "At-One-Ment" is a blessing of HEAVEN. It is the alchemy that takes place when two or more people of the right intention come together; it is the divine symbol that GOD places next to us, ready to be discovered with a loving heart and a right-minded perspective. It is a blessing always at our disposal as long as we do our job to remove all the distractions and the debris in our WAY.

They say many roads lead to Rome. I consider myself part scientist, part believer and am ready to take any turn - the well-traveled journey as well as the virgin path - to return HOME. The Tao Te Ching can be observed and studied like a scientist, but the symbols you find there - and religiously hold on to - are the messages of GOD. I love the quote from the Hindu Nisargadatta Maharaj who neatly sums up the message of the Christ: Love is the uniting principle. Happy "At-One-Ment" - Happy Easter!

The Three Paths Towards Liberation

I am currently writing a book that reflects on my spiritual journey over the last 3 years. Initially it was a confusing soul-searching process, but by now I have figured out what my path is all about: it is about work and acquiring wisdom. By completely merging with the Tao, the 'I' gets lost  in the challenging day-to-day activities, which are entirely devoted to the Way. At night I fall into bed, completely spent, only to start the next morning with an infinite new resource of energy.

This polar opposite path is the Buddhist approach of meditation and mindful living. The whole idea is to channel all the energy within and bring it to rest, rather than spending it externally. People keep asking me why don't you meditate and I reply that I tend to reach my meditation state during my peak performances. It is then when I experience the transition into the state of oneness when the 'I' ceases to exist, very much like what the Buddhist enjoys when she brings her system to a standstill.

Lastly there is yoga path, the attempt to channel the prana that rise up your spine until it reaches the last chakra located in your forehead. These yoga disciplines manage to stimulate this energy flow. But it turns out that rising energy is a side effect of all other approaches as well. As the 'I' recedes, the prana expands. In the end all paths merge when your wholeness is complete, but in the beginning of your journey you should experiment which of the different paths is best suited for you.