As I fell asleep each night, Papa Ji would sing the Mool
Mantr, the foundational verse that opens the Guru Granth Sahib, our sacred
canon of musical wisdom. It begins with the utterance “Ik Onkar,” which means
Oneness, ever-unfolding. “All of Sikh wisdom flows from here,” Papa Ji would
say. All of us are part of the One. Separateness is an illusion: There is no
essential separateness between you and me, you and other people, you and other
species, or you and the trees. You can look at anyone or anything and say: You
are a part of me I do not yet know.
Valerie Kaur
(Sage Warrior)
“ALL IS ONE”
While we cannot understand an infinite universe, we can
remember we are part of something infinitely larger than ourselves. When our
own lives seem small and pointless, it can be helpful to remember that our
lives are just pinpricks in a much vaster story. For us to live a self-centered
lives would be like the internal organs deciding to become free agents.
Sometimes our lives only make sense if we give them on behalf of a larger
context.
Jim Rigby
___________________________________
my incapsulate self
has shattered
there are pieces of me scattered
everywhere
they have assaulted me
and occupy my head, my heart, and my soul
those people who are not me
are not like me
those whose thoughts, values, priorities
perceptions
differ from mine
I have given them so much power!
like demons they torment me
they make me sick
physically and spiritually
I do not understand them
they do not understand me
we are alienated one from another
any yet, the great teachers remind us
Jesus, Buddha, Nanak
we are all one
and our oneness should be ever-unfolding
be of one mind
live in peace!
as if
but that is the problem isn’t it
“they” or so I believe
do not see the beauty and value of people who are
queer, immigrant, poor, old, mentally ill
“not white”
they are focused on money and power
they live in a world they have created and does not exist
they are without compassion
retributive by nature
and cruel
the list could go on
they on the other hand
see me, and those like me
as clueless, arrogant, weak,
faithless
as people with the wrong values,
priorities, thoughts
and perceptions
they are other to me
I am other to them
we are divided
and we will stay that way
in this abnormal and toxic place
until
until I can see
that we are all part of a Sacred unity
we all participate in and share the same Sacred reality
we all, originally come from Love
until I can understand
separateness is an illusion
and that person over there
who I have decided to hate, or fear
dehumanize or deride
whom I have chosen to ignore and neglect
or oppress and manipulate
is part of me
that each person
is “a part of me I do not yet know”
I can lament what is happening
but it is happening to all of us
even if another does not understand
in the same way, I do what is happening
it is still happening
not just to me
but to them
we share the same planet
the same nation
the same future
staying divided will not solve our problems
seeing the other as other
will not get us where we need to go
I am not Jesus, Buddha, Nanak.
(painfully obvious)
but perhaps I can learn
maybe as I stop, and breathe
reflect and open my soul
to allow Sacred Presence
to soften my hard edges
change how I see
calm the demons
so that I can see them as a part of me
I do not yet know
and live accordingly
Will they see me that way?
at some level, it does not matter
I must do
what I am called to do
love Sacred
love myself
and love the other
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