http://www.thepassiontest.com/TPT/Home/ChrisBlog/index.cfm Chris Attwood on What It Means to Live in Unity en-us Thu, 01 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0600 Full Partner http://www.thepassiontest.com/passion-and-purpose/unity-in-the-midst-of-contraction/ http://www.thepassiontest.com/passion-and-purpose/unity-in-the-midst-of-contraction/ webmaster@enlightenedalliances.com (by Chris Attwood) Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:00:00 CST When people ask me questions about living in unity, the questions are most often framed as: "How do I live in unity when . . . " and they go on to describe some challenging situation or circumstance. The real question is: How do I live in unity when I feel shut down, contracted, resentful, angry, etc. The only thing that ever causes me to step out of unity and into separation is the thought, "This should be different than the way it is." Contraction or all the feelings and experiences most people call "bad" is a natural and inevitable part of life. It is these things that make life interesting, that open me up to the deeper parts of my own nature. It is these things that require me to find the reserves of energy, power, intelligence and love that I never knew I had. To live in unity in the midst of feeling crappy, of feeling resentful, of feeling angry, of feeling like everything valuable has been taken away, is to relax into the experience that is coming up. Love is what creates unity ... http://www.thepassiontest.com/passion-and-purpose/the-source-of-separation/ http://www.thepassiontest.com/passion-and-purpose/the-source-of-separation/ webmaster@enlightenedalliances.com (by Chris Attwood) Thu, 12 Feb 2009 12:00:00 CST Clearly, it is the concept of separation which causes me whatever unhappiness, suffering, or misery I have experienced in life. Anger, hate, jealousy, irritation, frustration, depression, worry, anxiety, fear, confusion, and every other emotion I have labeled as "bad" or "undesirable" arise from the idea that "I" am somehow separate from the people, situations and circumstances of my life. Yet, how did I come to consider myself as separate in the first place? If my nature is, in reality, unified, and all aspects of my experience are expressions of myself, how did I come to think anything was different in the first place? The Emergence of Separation As Chris has watched his little daughter move from birth to a year old, the answer has become clear. When I enter this apparent world, I have removed all memory of my real nature. I emerge into the world as pure consciousness, without the awareness of anything except that "I am." As the physical structure of this body I have taken on devel ... http://www.thepassiontest.com/passion-and-purpose/living-in-awe/ http://www.thepassiontest.com/passion-and-purpose/living-in-awe/ webmaster@enlightenedalliances.com (by Chris Attwood) Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:00:00 CST Language reenforces duality and as such, makes the experience of unity elusive when the mind believes the words it speaks. In order to speak sound must become dual. There must be sound and no sound, words and the gaps between the words, in order for language to exist. However, language also provides me with words to describe what I conceive of as "I" and that which I conceive of as "you." In other words, it provides reenforcement of the illusion of duality. Even as I read this page, I interpret the "I" referred to on the page in the context of my belief about what "I" is. If my mind is still in the grip of duality, then it will tend to interpret this "I" as meaning someone other than myself. There is a writer, who has written on the page and that writer is "someone else." In unity, the writer, the process of writing and that which is written are one. The reader, the process of reading and that which is read are one. And the writer, the reader and the writing are one. In the ancient Ved ... http://www.thepassiontest.com/passion-and-purpose/infinte-play/ http://www.thepassiontest.com/passion-and-purpose/infinte-play/ webmaster@enlightenedalliances.com (by Chris Attwood) Sat, 22 Nov 2008 12:00:00 CST Amit asked about the interaction between the physical body and the cosmic body. In order for there to be an interaction there has to be two. From the perspective of unity, the interaction is an illusion. However, I can examine any apparent interaction and learn more about my own nature. This apparent interaction is here for my play, my delight. This is not only true of the interaction between the physical body and the cosmic body, it is true of all interactions. Chemistry examines the interactions of molecules and atoms. There is a whole world there which fascinates chemists. Every new discovery allows the chemist to do new things, to create new compounds, stimulate new reactions. Each new discovery provides a deeper experience of the Self, of who I am. Mathematics examines the interactions of numbers. In this world there is an infinite play and an infinite number of interactions which can be examined, an infinite number of discoveries to be made. What great fun for the mathematician! ... http://www.thepassiontest.com/passion-and-purpose/learning-from-the-microcosm/ http://www.thepassiontest.com/passion-and-purpose/learning-from-the-microcosm/ webmaster@enlightenedalliances.com (by Chris Attwood) Sun, 16 Nov 2008 12:00:00 CST My teacher, His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, was known to have said: "When we investigate the invisible mechanics of nature, we find that everything in the universe is directly connected with everything else. Everything is constantly being influenced by everything else. No wave of the ocean is independent of any other." And in the texts of Ayur-Veda, the ancient system of natural medicine, it is said: As is the atom, so is the universe As is the human body, so is the cosmic body As is the human mind, so is the cosmic mind As is the microcosm, so is the macrocosm Thus, when I look at my apparently physical body, I see that most of its activities go on without my conscious involvement. Yet, in spite of this, there is an intelligence at work which insures that every part is perfectly coordinated with every other part. I also see that there never seems to be an accident or a mistake within this body. Thanks to the investigations of modern physiology I see that activities within this app ... http://www.thepassiontest.com/passion-and-purpose/both-and---beyond-the-intellect/ http://www.thepassiontest.com/passion-and-purpose/both-and---beyond-the-intellect/ webmaster@enlightenedalliances.com (by Chris Attwood) Sat, 25 Oct 2008 12:00:00 CST Either-or is the nature of duality. Both-and is the nature of unity. Circumstances are either good or bad in duality. They are both good and bad in unity. In unity, even just the bad can be found to be good, hence the phrase, "it's all good." Life is both determined, and I have compete freedom of choice. How can that possible be? Unity is beyond the intellect. Life is determined by the structure of intelligence embedded in every particle of creation that ensures life is always moving toward greater and greater joy. I have complete freedom to choose in this moment what I give attention to. Life is nothing but my story about it. My experience of life is what I tell myself life is. If this is true, why not tell myself a happy story? Like this: There are three fundamental forces in this apparent life: creation, maintenance and destruction. In order for the new to be created, the old must be destroyed. Destruction of something I think I like is generally what I call "bad." Anytime I see des ... http://www.thepassiontest.com/passion-and-purpose/from-responsibility-to-opportunity/ http://www.thepassiontest.com/passion-and-purpose/from-responsibility-to-opportunity/ webmaster@enlightenedalliances.com (by Chris Attwood) Sat, 11 Oct 2008 12:00:00 CST As I view this apparent world, which is all my Self, there is nothing left to be done. All that needs to be done is being done. The planets circle around the sun, the stars move through the galaxies, and all the apparent diversity of life is perfectly orchestrated and guided in every moment. There is nothing that "I" need to do. It's all taken care of. What freedom! I have no responsibility to make sure everything is OK. Making sure that everything is OK is automatically built into my nature. It is built into every particle of every aspect of every moment of life. If I have no responsibility for the maintenance and management of this apparent world, then what is left for me? What is there to motivate action? Joy. To experience more joy is the only reason to act. When I am lost in the illusion of separation, I create a mental entanglement that convinces me my happiness depends on getting more for "me." But because this mental illusion is rooted in the unreal, my pursuit of more brings m ... http://www.thepassiontest.com/passion-and-purpose/unity-is-experienced-through-connection/ http://www.thepassiontest.com/passion-and-purpose/unity-is-experienced-through-connection/ webmaster@enlightenedalliances.com (by Chris Attwood) Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:00:00 CST Unity realized is bliss realized. Bliss arises from my connection with my Self. Connection is fun, delightful, exciting, inspiring, and interesting. Separation is boring, depressing, and ultimately intolerable. It is through connection that I discover myself. This doesn't mean I always want to be with people. Sometimes more people means more sense of separation. Connection is the connection to myself. The power of meditation is in allowing myself to dive within myself to connect with the unbounded, infinite, eternal, limitless magic of myself. When that magic predominates my experience, then the connections with the apparent people in my world become magical. This is the magnetic attraction of Facebook. Through the simple sharing of what I'm doing right now, Facebook allows me to connect with the daily lives of hundreds or even thousands of other people. In doing that I'm connecting with hundreds or thousands of expressions of myself, and what can be more fun than that? The more deeply ... http://www.thepassiontest.com/passion-and-purpose/the-magnificence-of-unity/ http://www.thepassiontest.com/passion-and-purpose/the-magnificence-of-unity/ webmaster@enlightenedalliances.com (by Chris Attwood) Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:00:00 CST It is miraculous that every part of this apparent creation is able to observe it from its own perspective. As humans we each have the ability to experience the whole in the context of our own needs to grow into the realization of unity. There is a Sanskrit saying, "Anoraniyan mahatomaniyan." The whole exists from smaller than the smallest to bigger than the biggest. And in each part of creation, the whole is contained. So as an apparently individual personality, the whole of creation revolves around "me." Wow! Every interaction, friendship, experience, is a perfect reflection of what is "inside" of me and is exactly what I require to move from the illusion of separation to the joy of unity. This is why each of us experiences increasing joy as we give priority to the things we love. And why we get increasingly miserable as we deny the loves of our life, the passions in our life, to do what we "think" we "should" do. The saying from The Passion Test, "What you love and God's will for you ... http://www.thepassiontest.com/passion-and-purpose/unity-is-not-sameness/ http://www.thepassiontest.com/passion-and-purpose/unity-is-not-sameness/ webmaster@enlightenedalliances.com (by Chris Attwood) Sun, 21 Sep 2008 12:00:00 CST We live in a world of apparent differences which in reality is unified, but that does not mean that everything we experience is the same. It's as if the totality of I has chosen to enter into a portion of me and experience myself from the perspective of that part. As if my conscious awareness entered into a cell in the body and experienced the body from the perspective of that cell. From the perspective of the cell, I interact with my surrounding cells, I eat and eliminate, I perform a function which impacts the functions of other cells around me and if I fail to perform my assigned function then imbalance and perhaps disease is created in the body. From this cell's perspective, I am unaware of the whole functioning of the body and all the diiferent activities in the body appear to be out of my control. I may even feel like a victim of those activities. But with the ability of self-awareness, the cell may come to expand its experience of its own nature. By diving deep within its own co ...