# 84 We Are One Meditation
Leaving aside concern for one’s own body, one should continuously believe that the same consciousness is present in oneself and also in other bodies.Verse 107, Vigyan Bhairava Tantra
In a few days, one will be all pervading. Yoga and tantra say that all matter is nothing but energy. And energy comes from consciousness. Therefore, all matter is consciousness. If you look deeply at matter, you will find energy. If you look deeply at energy, you will find consciousness. There are some verses in this text that say our body is nothing but energy. There are others that say that we are in essence nothing but consciousness. They mean the same thing. It depends how you look at something. Leaving aside concern for ones own body, one should continuously believe that the same consciousness is present in oneself and also in other bodies.
To practice this meditation, the first thing to do is to detach ourselves from our gross body. Set our body aside, and stop believing we are the body. Instead, we are to believe we are consciousness. The same consciousness that is present in us is also present in other bodies. We are part of an infinite body of consciousness that exists everywhere. Everything is made from this consciousness. You may find it easier to understand this verse, if instead of consciousness, you use the word God. One should continuously believe that the same God is present in oneself and also in other bodies. This is the basic theory of non-dualism. That only God exists. Everything is made of God, everything is a part of God. God is in everyone and everything. One of the modern messengers of God, Neale Donald Walsch, in his With God series of books, explains non-dualism in a simple and beautiful phrase We are all One. That is all that this verse is saying. We are all One. The same consciousness or God is present in us and in other bodies. We are not separate from each other and we are not separate from God. Only God (or consciousness) exists. We are all part of the Whole. We are all a part of God. We are all One. This is a message that God has been sending us for centuries.
“He who sees all beings in his own Self, and his own Self in all beings, loses all fear.”THE LSA UPANISHAD
“The Wise know himself in all things and all things in himself.”THE ASHTAVAKRA GITA
“When he sees me in all, and he sees all in me, then I never leave him and he never leaves me.”BHAGAVAD GITA
How to do this method
To practice this meditation, continuously believe that we are all One. The emphasis in the verse is on continuously. A belief must be continuously maintained throughout the day. When you do this, it becomes strongly ingrained in you. The stronger the belief becomes, the faster it turns into reality. This is a belief that has to be practiced. Treat others as if they were part of you. Treat others as if we are all one. Your behavior towards everyone else will change dramatically. You would not hurt or abuse yourself, or be angry with yourself. Now you will stop doing these things to others. You will no longer see others as “others”, but as a part of you. You will then stop treating other people with violence, fear, hatred, jealousy, or any other negative emotion. Instead, you will treat them with kindness, love, compassion, forgiveness and understanding. You would do this because this is how you would treat yourself. And now you would see everyone as a part of yourself, and you as a part of them. Sometimes people are unkind to us, or create problems or difficulties in our life. Our normal reaction is to dislike that person, or get angry with that person. The next time this happens in your life, say to yourself, “I am that person.” (the same consciousness is present in oneself and also in other bodies). Immediately, all your anger and hatred will disappear. You will treat that person with respect and love, and often receive a similar reaction from them.
The Ashtavakra Gita explains this beautifully: You are in whatever you see. You alone. Just as bracelets and bangles And dancing anklets Are all of the same gold. There is no one, Not even God, Separate from yourself. You are pure awareness. Vigyan Bhairava Tantra
THE MEDITATIONS
There is a very significant difference between religion and tantra, or religion and the philosophy of non-dualism. Religion seeks to change you through a system of reward and punishment. If you are good, you go to heaven. If not, you go to hell. This gives rise to expectation. And expectation in our daily lives can cause frustration and suffering. If we are nice to people, we expect them to be nice to us. If they are not nice to us, then we get upset. We think, after all we have done, this is how we are treated. Tantra, on the other hand, is very different from religion. It does not seek to change your behavior through a system of reward and punishment. Tantra seeks to change you completely. To change you from the core of your being. To make you a nice, or kind human being. When you are a kind person, you automatically do what kind people do. Kind people do kind things not for any reward, but because that is who they are. If someone is not kind to you, you do not care. You continue to be kind, because that is a reflection of who you are.
Law of Karma
When you understand and practice this belief of unity – we are all one, you will understand the deeper meaning of the wonderful statement of Jesus Christ Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. You would do to others, what you would like others to do for you, for the simple reason that you and the other are one. What you do to others, you actually do for yourself. What you do to others, you will one day experience. If you are angry with someone, someone in the future will be angry with you. If you cheat someone, someone in the future will cheat you. On the other hand, if you give love, you will receive love. This in a nutshell, is also the Law of Karma. This law works for a simple reason – there is no other, there is only One. Whatever you think you are doing to others, you are actually doing to yourself. Whatever you give or send out, comes back to you,. because there is no one else. If you want to receive love, then give love, be love. An abundance of love will then be received by you. People sometimes are unhappy with their jobs or their relationships. The relationship could be with their parents, spouse, children, or anyone else. What they do not realize is that the true source of happiness is not something external, it is something internal. We only get back what we give.
We cannot expect to receive any happiness from our jobs or our relationships, if we do not put any in. Take the example of a mirror. A mirror reflects our image. It shows us how we are. If we have put on weight, it will show that, and if we have lost weight, it will show that too. The world is something like that. It simply reflects to us, or gives back to us, what we put in. To experience more happiness in our jobs or our relationships, we have to give more happiness. The true source of happiness or joy, is internal. It is when we are being happy: and giving happiness, that we receive it. The external world merely reflects our inner state, and returns to us what we give. This is also the reason why masters say, you don’t end hatred with hatred, you end it with love. Whatever energy you give out comes back to you. If you are receiving hatred, you should give back love. Then you will receive love. This is a principle that is applied to all of life. A fire cannot be doused with fire, it is put out with water. Hatred is not ended with hatred, it is ended with love. And violence is not ended with violence, it is ended with non-violence.