Integrating Oneness

There is something in the air.
Let’s call it is a paradigm shift in the collective consciousness of humanity.
The waves of this frequency are an energy which can be felt vibrating throughout our shared experience as a race, and they are only increasing in intensity.

With the dramatic advancement of communication and technology in this Information Age, behind the scenes, there is a parallel advance taking place in spiritual circles which is serving as a catalyst to increase receptivity and promote evolving concepts about God. The ideas being birthed in this 'crucible of controversy' are radical, inclusive, progressive, emergent and integral.

From transdenominationalism to metacostalism, we will ultimately come to discover that any new terminology is simply not enough to encompass, or adequately convey, the magnitude of this shift. As with science, we are taking a quantum leap into new dimensions.

"The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It will have to transcend a personal God and avoid dogma and theology. Encompassing both the natural and the spiritual, it will have to be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, considered as a meaningful unity." - Albert Einstein
"There is an evolution of the consciousness behind the evolution of the species and this spiritual evolution must end in a realization, individual and collective, on the earth." – Sri Aurobindo

One New Thought leader at the forefront of this global transformation related mankind’s evolution in consciousness to a Biblical analogy by saying, "It is like trying to put new wine into old wineskins."
Our definitions and concepts of God are evolving to such an extent that ideas which may have been considered mutually exclusive, or diametrically opposed to each other at one time, are coalescing within the collective consciousness into a cohesive Whole which can NO LONGER BE CONTAINED in any static theology. Eastern and Western beliefs about God are merging and simultaneously removing all fragmentation and division which would cause anyone to view God as a dysfunctional schizophrenic. There is a nascent consciousness emerging, wherein, the Divine is seen as both transcendent and immanent, impersonal and personal, absolute and relative, and yet beyond any restrictive definition which would limit an Infinite God to a finite human understanding.
In essence, our thoughts concerning God are being recontextualized to embrace the Unlimited. For as we recognize the Oneness of God, we must ultimately SEE the Oneness of ‘GOD WITH US’ and/or WITHIN US, and by extension, the Oneness we share with everyone else.

“It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one destiny, affects all indirectly.”― Martin Luther King Jr.
“Man can no longer live for himself alone. We must realize that all life is valuable and that we are united to all life. From this knowledge comes our spiritual relationship with the universe.” ― Albert Schweitzer

Humanity is moving TOGETHER into a shared Identity of their Infinite Potential. For, “In Him, WE LIVE and MOVE and HAVE OUR BEING…..WE ARE HIS OFFSPRING.”
Jesus proclaimed that, "I and my Father ARE ONE", but he also said “that THEY (US) may be ONE EVEN AS WE ARE ONE.” Furthermore, the New Testament states that, “He who is joined to the Lord is One Spirit with Him” and that “there is ONE GOD and Father who is ABOVE ALL and IN ALL and THROUGH ALL.”

“The highest and widest seeing is the wisest; for then all knowledge is unified in its one comprehensive meaning. All religions are seen as approaches to a single Truth, all philosophies as divergent view-points looking at different sides of a single Reality, all Sciences meet together in a supreme Science. For that which all our mind-knowledge and sense-knowledge and suprasensuous vision is seeking, is found most integrally in the unity of God and man and Nature and all that is in Nature.” - Sri Aurobindo

As this profound awareness rises like the dawn of a new day in our hearts, and we begin to experience this ONENESS, we are simultaneously able to SEE that “God IS IN ALL THINGS”. We are becoming more aware of that “extraordinary ordinariness” referred to by Adyashanti. We are beginning to realize the miraculous in the mundane, the holy in the midst of the profane, the sacred within the secular, and the Infinite being revealed through the finite.

'To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,
And Eternity in an hour.' – William Blake

An essential component on the cutting edge of this movement is the message of Ultimate Reconciliation and Universal Salvation. The faith which was "once delivered unto the saints" is arising from numerous ministers who are not afraid to challenge the outmoded ‘orthodoxy’ prevalent in mainstream fundamentalism: That which has become stagnant and lifeless for having lost step with God because of its unwillingness to ask the hard questions and remain relevant.

Among the more publicly well-known individuals who is asking these pertinent questions is Rob Bell, author of the controversial book "Love Wins", and the newly released, “What We Talk About When We Talk About God,” which was recently featured on Oprah. Borrowing from the Integral Philosophy of Ken Wilber, Rob's probing questions are challenging the very foundation of long held belief systems. Many of these doctrines are based on inconsistent archaic and mythic ideologies which portray a God limited to primarily anthropomorphic qualities. And while some of these possess a form of truth, they have denied the power thereof by rejecting the Essence of Truth which is present and continually being revealed in new forms and expressions.

Another dynamic leader making significant strides toward promoting interfaith awareness and the reconciliation of various spiritual traditions is Bishop Carlton Pearson with his “Gospel Of Inclusion”. In his newly released book, “God Is Not A Christian, Nor A Jew, Muslim, Hindu…” he continues to expose chinks in the armor of organized religion by exploring new ideas about God and faith, ultimately revealing that no particular religion has a corner on the Presence of God.
Among many others, these men are beginning to probe the depths of the perceptions, preconceptions, suppositions and outright fallacies which have been accepted by religion and perpetuated as representative of the nature and character of God. As much as their iconoclastic questions do to polarize some, they are opening the way to the integration of all spiritual traditions through the realization of a more comprehensive Perennial Philosophy.

Until now, many have rejected Christianity as a viable spiritual path, or even as an integral part of the whole, because the gospel message has been distorted into an exclusive salvation club only available to members instead of an all-inclusive work being progressively revealed in all of mankind.
For so long ecumenism has been vilified by mainstream religion as something to be feared because, according to an erroneous doctrine, it is ultimately paving the way for the Antichrist. One must ask themselves, "How is 'living at peace with everyone inasmuch as it is possible' or 'endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace' a bad thing?"

How can a view which separates and divides be valid if we are ever to truly “Love Our Neighbor AS OURSELF?” (A precept, by the way, which virtually every spiritual tradition shares in common)

"If we live in our oneness-heart, we will feel the essence of all religions, which is love of God. But if we live in the mind, we will only try to separate one religion from another and see how their ideologies differ. It is the heart that can have a true intuitive understanding of the height and breadth of all religions. It is the heart that sees and feels the inner harmony and oneness of all religions." - Sri Chinmoy

There is a new breed of Integral Spirituality which sees no walls of separation to divide based on differing beliefs, because the language of Spirit IS Universal, All-Encompassing, All-Inclusive and Unconditional. We must eventually come to recognize that variety and Oneness are not mutually exclusive, but merely complementary to the Whole. Our diversity of expression is the radiance of the Divine shining through the prism of our humanity. We are but an extravagantly beautiful rainbow emanating from That Single Light.

“It is a fact of human history that paradigm shifts do occur—new worlds do open up—and whenever they do it is because some group of individuals found the courage to leave one paradigm behind and embrace a new one. It is nothing less than a shift from one reality to another. It is a journey into a new world. Those who are first to venture forward on this journey must do so without agreement from the majority because they are seeing a possibility that others do not yet see.” – From "Mutual Awakening" by Patricia Albere & Jeff Carreira founders of The Evolutionary Collective

Many wholeheartedly embrace the changes that are taking place. There is a growing realization that a diversity of religious perspectives has no bearing on the Oneness of God, and that Unconditional LOVE for ALL of mankind can only be demonstrated when we cease comparing ourselves with the intention of making our religion better, more important, or mutually exclusive to all other beliefs. The Presence of God is not limited to a specific geography, some secret formula or a prescribed set of doctrines. It is as we willingly lay down our preconceptions, opinions and religious dogma that we actually behold "the glory of the Lord covering the earth as the waters cover the sea," and "No longer will anyone teach their neighbor, or say to one another, 'Know the Lord,' because they will ALL KNOW ME, from the least of them to the greatest."

"You may say that I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, And the world will live AS ONE." - John Lennon

*Full article by JSM (Joe Murawski) as it originally appeared on Columbus Spirituality Examiner