Friday, December 4, 2009

Everything is One










There is a secret to the heart of existence: everything is one.


Statements like this can easily degenerate into cliches and simple parables. Too much talk or writing about it runs the risk of making it too prosaic and dull.


But what is meant here is actually quite simple. The supposed space and distance we see between things in this world do not exist. Everything is actually connected. And this connectedness continues to infinity. And we can call this total interpenetration of everything with everything God.


In the Jewish mystical tradition it is often called eyn sof: infinity or without-end. This is an elitist position in Judaism, one that has only been held by a minority of people. But it is a growing supposition today. Eyn od milvado, there is none beside him/it is a common refrain among Hasidim. What are the practical implications of this view of the universe and God?


Taken as a credo and a lens to view the world, it is a humbling mechanism. You are connected to that person you feel a secret derision toward on the bus. That college slum down the road is a part of you. The haughty sense of separation between you and your enemy is not ontologically true. Everything you see is not as you see it. The you of you is not true, or not true in the sense that you thing it is.


Everything should be reevaluated from the viewpoint of God. And this is a big project.



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