Waking Up To Unity

It is my extreme pleasure to introduce to you Lee and Steven Hager!

Waking Up To Unity


"Waking up" is a term that's regularly used in spiritual circles, but there are many questions surrounding this concept. The term implies that we're sleeping, but how did we fall asleep? Why are we sleeping? What are we supposed to wake up to? These questions are easier to answer when we understand something about the differences between the visible and invisible portions of the universe. That probable sounds very odd, but spiritual sages throughout the ages have referred to this very important difference.

In our visible, material world, everything appears as a separate form. On the invisible, quantum level of the universe there is no separation. If you had special vision that would allow you to look at the quantum world, you would discover and infinite, formless sea of constantly moving energy. But even with special vision, you would be unable to see the most important element that permeates this sea: consciousness. Since scientists accepted Darwin's theory of evolution, we have been told that consciousness is another form of matter that evolved from matter. But quantum research has demonstrated that even subatomic particles are conscious. In fact, they've discovered that when consciousness interacts with the quantum sea of energy, it is this combination that brings the material universe into existence.

About now you're probably wondering what all this has to do with spirituality and waking up. You may recall a story told about the Taoist sage Chuang Tzu. After waking from a dream about a butterfly, he wondered whether he was a man dreaming he was a butterfly, or a butterfly learning he was a man. We can all relate to the story since we all experience different states of consciousness. At first it sounds like Chuang Tzu was talking about the difference between being physically asleep and awake, but he actually told the story to get us to think about other rates of consciousness that we may not be aware of.

Quantum physicists are beginning to realize that the foundation of reality is the quantum level of the universe, not the material. This is something spiritual sages have always been aware of, but now science is inadvertently backing up their wisdom. As we said earlier, consciousness at the quantum level interacts with energy to project the material portion of the universe. This means that our world is the result of that interaction, a virtual reality rather than reality itself. Chuang Tzu wanted us to realize that we have two layers of consciousness that remain unaware of each other unless we 'wake up.' We believe we are these bodies that think with the brain, but our reality, our true Self, is based in formless quantum consciousness. The sage who wrote the ancient Katha Upanishad put it this way, "There are two selves, the apparent self and real self. Of these it is the real Self...who must be felt as truly existing."

Spiritual masters are awake; in fact they are masters because they are awake and live as their true Self. They have realized that they are not the body. They understand that the bit of consciousness the brain accesses is only a minute part of the whole. This is the difference in consciousness that Chuang Tzu was referring to. Since that's the case, sages tell us that when we limit our thoughts to the brain and see only the separate forms of this world, we're asleep. We wake up when we tune into our reality as infinite, formless, eternal consciousness. Only then are we truly awake to the Oneness of All That Is. The trick then becomes integrating our vision of oneness with the material world of separation.

The sage Shankara reminds us, "Buried treasure is not uncovered by uttering the words, "come forth." You must dig, remove the stones..and make it your own." Waking up to the Oneness of All That Is and living that truth each day takes time, but it is within the reach of each of us. Humanity has been asleep to Reality for far too long. Once we understand who and what we actually are, we're able to look past what separate bodies do and see the unity and oneness that is actually our reality.

Your task? Escape...the fires of madness, illusion, and confusion that are, and always well be, the world.-Rumi