In this meditation we are going to experience the fundamental oneness of all things.
We are going to experience the oneness of our own consciousness with the consciousness of the universe itself and the oneness of our own consciousness with the consciousness of all other living beings.
Let's begin by relaxing for a moment.
Close your eyes.
Make sure that you are sitting in a comfortable but alert position with your feet flat on the ground and your back straight.
For a moment just bring your attention to your breathing.
Just be aware of the air as it enters and leaves your nose,
Brushing the inside of your nostrils as you breathe in and out.
Bring your attention down into your body.
Feel your feet against the ground in front of you.
Feel your body resting against the chair or against the floor.
And now that you are a little more relaxed let's bring our attention higher up to our mental space.
Bring your attention up to your brain,
Your head.
That's where most of us experience our mental space.
Let's be aware of any thoughts or associations which are passing through our minds right now.
Any thoughts about the future,
Memories of the past,
Fragments of daydreams or ideas of conversations.
And be aware for a moment that you are the observer of these associations.
You are watching them pass by.
Almost as if you are sitting on a riverbank watching a river flow by.
You are sitting within your mental space watching the stream of mental associations pass by.
If any of the associations carry you away just gently bring yourself back to the point of observation.
Back to the riverbank where you are watching the stream of thoughts pass by.
Perhaps you can also feel a dynamic,
Radiant energy within your mental space.
The dynamic energy of consciousness itself before it expresses itself in thoughts.
Feel the vibrant,
Dynamic quality of your mental energy.
Now I'd like you to imagine that the space around you is filled with a spiritual energy.
This spiritual energy pervades the air around you.
It pervades the space around you.
It fills the whole of the sky.
It fills the whole of the universe itself.
It stretches everywhere a dynamic,
Spiritual energy which is the source of all things.
Your own individual consciousness arises when your brain picks up this universal spiritual energy and transmits it into your own being.
So the brain is like a radio.
It picks up the waves of fundamental consciousness all around us and it transmits them into our own being.
Let's experience that now.
Perhaps you can feel how universal spiritual energy flows into you through the brain.
Perhaps you can feel your brain picking up the energy which is all around you and transmitting it into your own being.
Every second,
Every moment of the day,
Your brain is picking up this universal spiritual energy and channeling it,
Transmitting it into your being.
Maybe you can feel that right now.
The flow of spiritual energy into your being through the brain.
Feel that spiritual energy entering you through your brain and spreading through your body.
Down from your head into your shoulders,
Into your arms and hands.
Down into your chest and your lower back and stomach.
Down into your waist,
Into your legs.
Down towards your knees,
Towards your feet.
And the whole of your body is filled with this dynamic spiritual energy which is entering you through your brain.
And you can feel the essential oneness of your own consciousness and the energy of your own being with the spiritual energy of the universe itself.
You can feel that the energy is of the same nature.
It has the same dynamic quality.
The same quality of well-being.
The same quality of bliss.
Imagine for a moment that the solidity of your physical body is softening and fading away so that you are merging into the space around you and your own spiritual energy is merging with the spiritual energy around you.
You are feeling your oneness with the spiritual energy of the universe itself.
You are experiencing your identity as a wave on the ocean of being.
A wave that exists in oneness with the whole of the ocean.
In the same way the universal spirit enters into our own being and becomes our own consciousness,
It also enters into the being of every living creature on this planet.
It becomes the consciousness of every living being on this planet.
So that essentially we are one with all other human beings and all other living beings.
All of our inner beings consist of the same spiritual energy.
We are all channels of the same source.
So let's experience that now.
Picture all of the other human beings in your vicinity,
All of the other living beings in your vicinity and feel your oneness with them.
Feel that your being consists of the same essence as theirs.
You are channels of the same source as they are.
Therefore we are all one.
We are all deeply interconnected.
When other people feel pain or joy we can feel their pain or joy because we share the same being as them.
Because we are of the same nature as them.
So for a few more moments let's retain that sense of oneness with all other living beings.
The sense that we are all channels of the same source.
And let's retain that sense of oneness with the universe itself.
Let's retain the awareness that the energy of our own being is connected to the spiritual energy of the universe itself in oneness and in bliss.
Retaining that awareness bring your attention back to the room you're sitting in,
To the sounds within this room and outside it.
Bring your attention to your body,
Your feet against the floor,
Your body against the chair.
Bring your attention back to your breathing for a moment.
And when you're ready let's open our eyes and bring this meditation to a close.
Before we finish I'd like to read a poem called The Essence from my book The Calm Centre.
The Essence.
The essence of you is emptiness.
The essence of you is love.
The essence of you is energy.
The essence of you is bliss.
The essence of you flows like a fountain from a pool of pure consciousness at the heart of reality.
The essence of you surges with an eternal force that has borrowed you for this lifetime.
The essence of you is deathless.
This form will wither and dissolve away then the essence will return to its source to find a new expression.
The essence of you stretches inside and outside your body,
Inside and outside time,
Within and beyond the world,
At home,
In peace,
In every place.
All best wishes and blessings.
