The Universe

What seems to be happening here on planet Earth is that one body (the planet) is appearing as many bodies (animals, humans etc.).Imagine that planet Earth is one being. Within that one being there seem to be billions of beings, all made up of the body or substance of that one being, Earth. There are beings and non-beings, formations such as rocks, lakes, rivers, air, cars, buildings etc. The beings are the insects, fish, animals, humans etc. We could class plants as beings too, in that they seem to have their own existence or life force. There is air and water that seems to separate the solid forms of these beings and objects. All this is planet Earth.

What we have here is one being playing at being many beings. Within the form of this one being it divides itself with itself to create many beings. Through the use of density of form there can appear a separation of form. So some forms appear solid, some appear fluid and separate the solid forms. The seemingly solid forms of animals are separated by air and water. This juxtaposition of solidity and fluidity creates the appearance of separate beings within the one being. For example, the human body is mostly fluid but appears reasonably solid, and air, which is less dense than the human body, seems to separate these solid forms, creating the appearance of separate beings. Though it should be said that air and water flow through these seemingly solid forms.

So what seems to be happening here on planet Earth is that one body (the planet) is appearing as many bodies (animals, humans etc.). These bodies seem to be separated, but it is just another substance of the planet body that seems to create a separation. The play and flow of solid, liquid and gas in the planet body create the appearance of many bodies. But truly there is just the one body, planet Earth. Earth's solid forms, liquid forms and gas forms are all planet Earth. So there only appears to be a division in the planet's forms based on the contrast of density of form within the planet. The division of the planet is illusory.

We imagined that Earth is a being, albeit a somewhat spherical being. And why not? Ultimately even planet Earth is an appearance of separation in the universe. Planet Earth is one appearing as many. The universe is one appearing as many. The universe and planet Earth are expressions of one appearing as many. This is the play of the universe. The universe can't really be separated from something else. There can only seem to be a separation by means of appearances.

The universe is the appearance of One Being expressed as many separate forms, though never truly separated. This expression of 'one to many' is scattered and multiplied throughout the One Being. Or so it seems.

The stillness of your room is illusory. Even the walls of the room are moving. It's only a relative stillness.The world appears as a World of Variety and Change. There seem to be so many different things - different elements, different combinations of elements, different densities of form - solid, liquid and gas, different formations of these forms - inert substances, plant-life, animal-life and human life. And it all swirls around, interacting, producing new forms and developments. The world is continually changing.

Sometimes the world may seem to be quite still, maybe when you're sat in a quiet room reading a book or relaxing. But the stillness of your room is illusory. Even the walls of the room are moving. It's only a relative stillness. The molecules that make up the walls, the air, and the different forms in a room are vibrating energy. In addition to this, the room is part of a spinning planet. Planet Earth spins on its own axis whilst rotating around the sun. The sun and this solar system in turn flows in the arms of a spiral galaxy, swirling through the universe.

Where was I? Right here. Ah, everything in the world is moving and changing, and any unchanging stillness we perceive is illusory. That's how it appears. You look at a table and it appears solid and still. You feel the ground beneath your feet and it seems solid and unmoving. But it's not quite the way it really is. We know it's not completely solid. It's permeable. That is, frequencies of energy can pass through it. Light can pass through glass windows. WiFi radio waves can pass through walls. Ground Penetrating Radar sends high frequency radio waves through the ground to detect buried objects. Nothing is ever truly impermeable.

There's some magic at play here. Really this moving and changing is illusory, and stillness is the reality. What is perceived is a reflection of reality. What is perceived is a play of opposites, whilst reality remains purely One.

Space and time are not natural to Reality. Reality is an Infinite Singularity without division, unchanging and unmoving. It cannot move or change because there is no space or time in the Singularity. Space and time only seem to appear within it. Distance and change seem to be created through the appearance of opposites. When the Infinite Singularity seems to split into opposing characteristics then a sense of separation, distance and change appears. Space and time appear to be instantly created, but they don't appear from the Singularity. They appear within the Singularity. The Singularity remains as it is. The separation never really happens. Space and time don't really happen. There is no real beginning or end to space and time, because they are illusory.

So this world of variety and change is illusory. That's not to say it isn't real. There is nothing other than the Real. That's the Singularity. What's unreal is separation and change. It doesn't really happen. So space and time isn't real, yet what this is is Real.

Tree drops seeds in soil. Seeds grow to become great trees. Seeds splash, ripples flow.The term cause and effect is often used when referring to how things happen in the world. The assumption is that something causes something else to happen. But is that really how it is?

We may think, "I'm going out for a walk." That seems like we are the cause, and the effect is the body going for a walk. Or maybe a seed drops from a tree into a pond and ripples appear on the pond, spreading outwards across the pond. In that case we may consider that the seed falling is the cause and the ripples on the water are the effect. But when you look into it closely you it's difficult to really identify the cause. For example, although I may vaguely accept that I made the decision to go for a walk, there is likely something that caused this decision. It may be that I haven't been outdoors for a few days, I need to stretch my legs or get some exercise, or some other reason that prompted the thought and intention to go for a walk.

In this example the decision can itself be understood as an effect rather than a cause. If you continue chasing the cause you find that there really is only a flowing of effect. We could say that each cause is also an effect, but it is more like a flowing of change. In the example of the seed dropping into the pond, causing ripples, the seed dropping is part of the nature of the tree. When the seed drops we can call it a cause or an effect, but really it is neither. There is only the flow of life. The tree grows from a seed that fell from a tree before; the tree grows seeds that eventually fall; one of the seeds falls into the pond; ripples flow. I'm sure there's a haiku there:

Tree drops seeds in soil
Seeds grow to become great trees
Seeds splash, ripples flow

Even here we are breaking apart this continual flow of life into segments. The human mind likes to do this to explain the world in finite terms. But really the world is infinite. There is no cause then effect or even cause-effect followed by cause-effect. There is only the continual flow of apparent change.

This leads to the non-dual understanding of choice. It's not that we choose what we do, where we go or what happens. The world just seems to happen. Thoughts seem to appear. Decisions seem to be made. Actions seem to take place. This is all the appearance of the flowing world. But it all appears right here and now. It is from the still point of Unchanging Awareness that this flow of change is experienced.

One may wonder what caused the world to appear, but this same understanding applies: there is no cause. Cause and effect are one and none. There is no beginning or end. The world only seems to appear. Space and time only seem to happen. Separation of the Singular nature of Reality only seems to happen. The Singular nature of Reality is never broken.

We don't need to be concerned with this seeming cause and effect. We are not part of this apparent flow. We remain as we are. Unchanging perceiving change, though truly nothing changes.

Consciousness is Life itself. It allows the appearance of opposites within its indivisible infinite oneness.The world appears as a division/reflection of the Infinite Indivisible One. There appears to be the opposites 'alive' and 'not alive', 'conscious' and 'not conscious'. It is as though the Primordial Pure Conscious Being split in two, to show what it is and what it isn't. This is a play of separation, of reflection and contrast, an expression of the inexpressible Infinite One by means of its opposites.

The world doesn't have a beginning or an end, only an appearance of beginnings and ends. The truth is Infinity, and limitations can only be illusory or imaginary. It's much like a dream. In a dream there is you, other people or animals, and the world in which the dream happens. But it is all the dreamer. The dream seems to split into you and a world. But really there is no splitting, and the division is imagined.

Back to the real world. Well, it's not really real. It's an expression of the Real. Nevertheless, there is a realness about this world. The realness is the Consciousness in which it appears. The world appears to have a contrast of conscious beings and non-conscious objects, alive beings and not-alive objects. This all appears within Consciousness. Consciousness is Life itself. It allows the appearance of opposites within its indivisible infinite oneness.

In this planet apparently non-living forms (elements etc.) have combined and interacted. They've been called the building blocks of life. It seems that these buildings blocks have combined and interacted to an extent that living conscious beings have been formed, namely animals and humans. There is a path of evolution from barely animate, to animated, to intelligently animated, or as we call them, alive and conscious beings. This sense of difference of what is alive and not-alive seems quite obvious to us, but if you look closely it's difficult to find the divide. The reason for this is that there is no divide between alive and not-alive. There is only Life.

This seeming dichotomy of Life into alive and not-alive cannot be perceived without the permanent Life that you are. This flow of alive and not-alive appears within the absolute life of Consciousness. It is by Consciousness that it is perceived, and it is in Consciousness, made of Consciousness.

It's worth mentioning here that it's not that the elements and forms come to life and become conscious beings. Really, life and consciousness is timelessly here. The life that the human body has is Consciousness. The consciousness that the human body seems to have is this Consciousness that is the background to the appearance of the world. Imagine Consciousness like a perfect sheet of paper, then different creatures are drawn on the paper. The real substance of the creatures is the underlying paper. The drawn beings don't come to life, yet at the heart of their being there is pure Life. This pure Life is expressed in the world of opposites as a coming and going, a rising and falling, what we call 'coming to life' and 'losing life'. It is all Pure Life expressed through a world of opposites.

It is the same Consciousness that is the heart and life of all beings. The beings/creatures/humans/animals are like pockets of perception in the world. These pockets of perception are the means by which Infinite Consciousness perceives the expression of itself. Like the dream analogy, the world is Infinite Consciousness perceiving itself through the illusory separation of the subject perceiving objects. For example, your human self perceiving the world around it is really Infinite Consciousness appearing to separate into the human and the world it perceives. It's all One. There is no beginning or end to the world. It is Infinite Consciousness.