There is a great intelligence in this universe that we are within, and that is within us.
The other day I saw a segment on the popular television program 60 Minutes that showed some of the amazing images of our universe recently taken by the Hubble telescope. They show billions of stars and galaxies, in numbers beyond our comprehension. But what really struck me was something said by one of the astrophysicists being interviewed. The statement was a confirmation of something great sages have been saying for centuries, if not millennia: We are made of the stuff of stars.
What that means is that over billions of years exploding stars have given off the matter that then formed into planets, and everything on them, including the Earth, and we ourselves. What that also means is that everything in the universe is connected. We are connected to the stars, to the galaxies. We are also connected to the flowers, the deer, and most importantly to one another on the planet we ourselves inhabit.
Human beings often feel alone and alienated from the world around us. That’s because we have forgotten the essential truths that sit in the very center of our being. There is a great intelligence in this universe that we are within, and that is within us. If we could remember this in dark hours, everything could change in a moment. So here are some quotations from the great sages about the connections across the universe and between human beings that can inspire you when you feel cut off:
Man does not know himself and does not know how to use the energies hidden in him, nor does he know that he carries the stars hidden in himself and that he is the microcosm, and thus carries within him the whole firmament with all its influence. — Paracelcus (1493)
Oh how the spell before my sight brings nature’s hidden ways to light. See! All things with each other blending, each to all its being lending, all on each in turn depending, heavenly ministers descending, and again to heaven ascending, floating, mingling, interweaving… Can heart of man embrace Illimitable Nature? — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749)
Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. — Chief Seattle, Duwamish-Suquamish (1788)
All the matter of the world that surrounds us, the food that we eat, the water that we drink, the air that we breathe, the stones that our houses are built of, our own bodies — everything is permeated by all the matters that exist in the universe. There is no need to study or investigate the sun in order to discover the matter of the solar world; this matter exists in ourselves and is the result of the division of our atoms. In the same way we have in us the matter of all other worlds. Man is, in the full sense of the term, a “miniature universe”; in him are all the matters of which the universe consists; the same forces, the same laws that govern the life of the universe, operate in him; therefore in studying man we can study the whole world, just as in studying the world we can study man. — P. D. Ouspensky (1878)
A human being is a part of the whole, called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest — a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. — Albert Einstein (1879)
The world is not a collection of separate objects but rather appears as a web of relations between the various parts of a unified whole. — Fritjof Capra (1939)
Can you see the beauty and encouragement in these sublime revelations? Can you sense the truth of what they say?
Do they stir some deep understanding hidden within you that was born in your heart?
Do spend some time pondering these quotations. Let their meaning wash over you. They will help you see your own life from a new perspective. And they will help you see everyone else differently as well. We are all soul mates, if only we could realize it. If even just a small group of people saw it at the start, there would come much needed changes in the world.
How Understanding the Universe Could Help Change the World
If we really understood the powerful connections between us, our relationships would change, and so would our world.
OneJourney founder Guy Finley has discussed our universal nature many times. In fact, it was why he created OneJourney in the first place — to bring this information to all who wished for it. Now here is an article he wrote that explains these ideas more deeply, and provides several practical ways to bring them to life in your daily interactions with others:
Within each of us resides a power that can change the whole world. It’s true; we each have a secret character hidden away in us that is created for just the alchemical purpose of transforming any dark influence into a beneficial force. And yet, as appealing as the idea of such a power may sound to us, to take conscious possession of its strength is not that simple.
Becoming an instrument of this higher power takes more than merely wishing for its entrance into our life. To realize such a viable wisdom requires action in the Now. So let us be clear: we are created with everything that we need to transform and transcend the shadows of fear, regrets, and resentments that prowl the corridors of our sleeping consciousness. And when these secret seeds of conflict have been revealed and released, we are as well, for then nothing negative remains within us to goad us into acting against ourselves. Multiply this possibility by billions of beings and gone are the mindless wars and all the selfish acts of socially accepted gluttony.
Perhaps you are wondering, what is this great power entrusted to us by which we may overcome all of our interior adversaries? Here is the answer: Each of us is created to be the Light of the world. Within each of us resides a nascent Light born into this world with us. We can think of this as being the Light of higher conscience by whose compassionate intelligence we are empowered to discern what is helpful from what is harmful, to intuitively know the difference between a genuine act of kindness and a kindness done for selfish reasons. By this Light we are able to tell what is true and what is false. When we do our part to live in the awareness of this Light so that its presence becomes an active power within us, then what is there that can remain with the power to hurt us? How can any unseen darkness prevail if its character is revealed before it begins its punishing action? Just think of such a power and the freedoms it must bear.
Yet, as encouraging as these words are meant to be, here also is a word of caution: We must take care neither to let our own doubts discount such a hope, nor must we assume possession of what we hope for as a foregone conclusion. Such assumptions always lead to defeat and heartache. We must understand this positive power remains but our potential, for if this Living Light were already actualized in us, no negative state could dominate us. Their evil effects would already be non-events, which would mean our world would not be the sorry place that it is.
So our first step in learning to be the light of the world must be to increase our awareness of these various forces at work within us, while being careful to neither judge ourselves for what we see, nor accept any of our findings as an inescapable limitation. In fact, rather than identifying with the usual sense of injury that comes with seeing something unwanted in us, and then mindlessly judging ourselves, we will do something totally new. We will use these same discomforts to remind us to direct our attention to that Living Light within us that has the power to make any darkness disappear. Even if all we possess is a faint suspicion that we are created to transcend these troubled thoughts and feelings that vex our soul, that’s a fine place to start. The important thing is to begin! We must learn to actualize this higher life now being visualized through our intuition. There is no other way to turn our own possibility into a real power.
So then, how do we illuminate our relationships at home, in our workplace, wherever we are? What must we do to enlighten this murky world of ours that staggers under the weight of its own shadows? The answer to this question is as surprising as it may be shocking: we must cease being an unconscious part of its darkness.
Instead of allowing what is dark to drag us into its conflicted state, we make a conscious choice to bring the whole of our present condition into the Light of Now. This one action transforms all that it encompasses in us, and everything changes. Our sense of gladness grows, as gradually the light of higher self-awareness does for us what we have not been able to do for ourselves. We are set free.
Just as turning our face toward the sun ensures that all shadows remain behind us, so is it true that when we welcome the Light into our lives, we give notice to all negative states. Darkness, your days are numbered! We are done with you!
Does your tradition also speak of these universal principles? If so, please share a quotation about it with the OneJourney community. When we can see these great truths expressed so many ways from so many different times and places, it strengthens our understanding of the connections we have. So, please click here to submit your quotation to the OneJourney Living Book.
Best wishes,
Dr. Ellen Dickstein
The OneJourney Project
