Go ahead and hate your neighbor
Go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of heaven
You can justify it in the end.
—One Tin Soldier
Why has acknowledging our universal connectivity and oneness been downplayed for so long?
The answer has two parts. First, only recently has scientific understanding advanced far enough to provide a glimpse at the underlying connectivity that binds everything in the universe through quantum physics and the study of matter in its smallest parts. Second, and today’s focus, is the fact that the existence of oneness challenges virtually all the propaganda deployed for centuries by emperors, executives, pious leaders, and politicians—call them the empire builders who consolidate power by emphasizing division and separateness.
Since the days of the Roman Empire, political, economic, religious, racial, and regional clusters of humans have banded together behind leaders who spin a narrative that says their group is special (and that other groups are dangerous). That imaginary “special” status is then used to justify taking dominion over others.
“Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.”
—Martin Luther King Jr.
To see oneness is to recognize that everything that exists in the universe (both known and unknown) is related and interconnected—including yourself. The Sioux tribes of the northern plains call this understanding Mitakuye Oyasin,which translates as “All things are one thing.” Separateness as we experience it does not actually exist. It’s an illusion.
The presence of an ultimate creator source of the universe has long been identified by virtually all religious and spiritual disciplines as sacred and powerful. Too often, however, that “source” has also been described as separate, detached, and superior. But if it turns out that the source of this energy is present in all things, well, that means all things are also equally sacred and powerful. This would include all humans—regardless of sex, race, religion, or place of origin. If one human is sacred, then all humans are sacred. Conversely, if one human isn’t sacred, then none are. It’s all or nothing because everything is connected.
But that’s not the story you’ve most likely been told. It’s not the tale you’ve been spun. This natural truth of oneness is why it takes so much propaganda, rule-making, weapons, and fences for any small group to lead by virtue of their claim to a special status. That claim, it turns out, runs against the very fabric of the universe, to which we all belong.
“We have men sold to build churches, women sold to support the gospel, and babes sold to purchase Bibles for the poor heathen, all for the glory of God and the good of souls.”
—Frederick Douglass
Oneness shines light on the infamy of slavery.
Oneness exploits all rationale for genocide.
Oneness then pivots and defeats the cries for revenge.
Oneness melts any justification for centralized control and bureaucratic rule by a few over the many.
Oneness calls for dispersed power, shared leadership, and respect for all voices.
***
What change is required for the awareness of our shared connectivity to emerge as our primary organizing principle?
The answer is shared leadership and respect for all voices.
For the age of oneness to fully blossom, existing “leaders” must lower their own profiles and voluntarily distribute power. Everyone is sacred, powerful, and capable of leading.
In return, those who may feel destined to be followers must change as well. When the truth is revealed—that everyone is powerful—no one can sit on the sidelines and abdicate control.
Oneness demands engagement from everyone.
There won’t be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day
On the bloody morning after
One tin soldier rides away.
—One Tin Soldier
__________
Thank you for considering my thoughts. In return I honor yours.
Every voice matters. Nestled between our differences lies our future.
