We Are NOT One
Not long ago I had a conversation with someone who identified as super-enlightened, and who firmly asserted, with unwarranted confidence, that all the problems in the world would be instantly solved if only everyone would accept the fact that We Are One.
My response was yes, we are indeed One ‘somewhere up there’. But also no, because we are very much separate and not-One ‘down here’ on the material plane. As expected, my words were greeted with scorn.
I have had this kind of exchange, on and off, for many years. Each time it is a different person, yet each time it is somehow the same person, always someone self-identifying as super-advanced, who believes that their weekend course on meditation and 3-day induction into light chanting is somehow better than lifetimes of study and research. I am soooo familiar with this, yet I still feel sad for them. It remains too easy for naïve seekers to cut themselves off from real learning and growth by failing to question superficial dogmas, such as We Are One.
Of course, on one level my friend was quite correct. We Are One, and we can gain the experience of this One-ness during meditation, prayer or ritual, and even in times of crisis and pressure. But no-one can operate 24/7 in that state and must, sooner or later, return to the separateness of their individual existence. Because of this it is clear to see why balance is so important. Individualists easily become selfish and grasping, but the We Are One crowd are often devoid of purpose and are easily fooled or coerced by stronger forces.
Most people know that rampant individualism is dangerous because it does not care about other people. But few seem to be aware that collectivism gone wild is no better. The Chinese Communist Party imposes a system of We Are One on a billion people, as does North Korea on its population, and as did the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. In such societies there is only room for one true individual, and that is the one at the top.
Separation is real. Individuality is real. And both are valuable, even necessary, so that we can each experience different paths and learn different lessons. But our chances for growth are shut off whenever the collective is prioritised. Those who constantly proclaim We Are One are usually involved in an active denial of themselves, their talents, skills, blessings and agency in the world.
This matters because the language of We Are One is now being used, precisely as it has been before in history, to coerce and control people. Fans of We Are One might claim that this is a distortion of the purity of the real message. But I say it is an inevitable consequence of the language. We Are One is true only in higher dimensions, and we can never contact those planes for more than brief periods. Contrary to the beliefs of the We Are One crowd, you cannot build Paradise on Earth. Not because we are not strong enough, or wise enough, or kind enough, or evolved enough, but because we are not meant to. That is not what Life on Earth is for.
Life on Earth is all about difference, variety and uniqueness. Every time ‘We Are One’ is spoken our uniqueness is denied, and every time someone says ‘We are all in it together’ you know you are dealing with someone who has no idea (or does not care) that everyone is different. The global governmental response to the Rona is a good example of how this We Are One thinking has infected our society. The Rona does not affect everyone equally, yet all are equally made to suffer the consequences of the policies. Though the Rona is a big problem, the policy responses – all informed by the We Are One delusion - will be proven, in time, to have been catastrophic.
This tension between individual uniqueness and the collective is as old as the hills and the woes of our present world are, in some ways, just the latest episode of an ancient story. But our current problems are made worse by the toxicity and hypocrisy of many who preach the We Are One mantra. For these are the people who often advocate for a ‘common purpose’ while simultaneously engaging in the most vicious forms of division, often under the guise of slogans like equity and social justice. The pathology of these folk is interesting, the gaping chasm between their actions and their words revealing a deep intolerance of others, and a fear of their own unique individuality.
The solution to our problems is simple, just as my friend suggested, though not in the way she imagined. The solution, or at least a solution, is to lovingly embrace our separation, to glory in our differences and joyously accept that I am not you, and you are not me, that we do not think or feel the same things and to use this as a GLUE, not a barrier. This is the core teaching of the Age of Aquarius, individual uniqueness.
I need you. You need me. If we are one, then we are the same, and then we do not need each other. We Are One is therefore, at its core, both selfish and lazy. We need each other because everyone has a unique contribution to make. We should therefore value each other because everyone has something valuable to say, including, especially, those whose words challenge us.
Assertions of the primacy of the collective are always denials of the individual, and when the individual is denied then their unique contribution to the world is discarded, its benefit to others lost, and the progress that might come from it slips through all our fingers.
All I was trying to say to my friend was that separation and difference are there for a reason and can deliver positive benefits into the life of everyone. But like so many who have swallowed the New Age whole I was accused of ‘projecting my unhealed trauma’. This adherence to dogma, possessed by many so-called spiritual and woke people, is of course pure ego, a way to feel superior, whereby such folk can anoint themselves better than others. But the professed goals of such people – things like equality and justice – are, by their own actions, pushed further and further away, because human progress only moves through individuals shining their own light. Collectivists don’t just think individuality is bad, they fear it, and as we see again in these times, they will condemn, coerce, and cancel the individual wherever they can. This may be done in the name of kindness or fairness, but it fastens a chain around the neck of those who might actually be able to offer something constructive to the world.
Of course, none of this makes sense until you know what it is, precisely, that makes you different, what your unique talents and abilities are and what it is, precisely, that you can do which others cannot. And if you do not know this, then of course you are going to prefer the safety of the collective over the big bad world of individual struggle and expression. But the opportunities to discover who you really are, and what you are here for are abundant. Palmistry enables this. Astrology (with a proper astrologer!) enables this, as does my preferred method, numerology. Many other methods are also available. And if you aren’t feeling any of those then the crucible of life will show you who you really are, if you enter into it.
Once you attain even the slightest glimpse of what your uniqueness looks like then you will realise that We Are Not One. Sure, we are definitely part of something bigger than us and connected to something greater than us. We also affect each other and need each other. But We Are Not One. We are individuals with our own thoughts and feelings, which differ, in some cases wildly, from others. The world has rarely been improved by those who prioritise the collective. It is mostly improved by those who think their own thoughts, make up their own minds, make their own mistakes, learn their own lessons, resolve their own issues, do their own thing and live their uniqueness. Such people, rather than being selfish, are the ones best placed to help others. Such people are the cogs and wheels which drive a functional society. Everyone can do this. And anyone on this path will, if they are sincere, be more than happy to help others who are trying to do the same. They will willingly give up time for others because they know that every single human life is valuable, and that even the strangest among us have something worthwhile to contribute. In times like these many people prefer the security and protection of the crowd. But people go mad in crowds, and only later, after the dust has settled, do they come to their senses, individually. In the words of the great spiritual teachers Fleetwood Mac, you can, in fact you must, go your own way.
Photo by Randy Fath on Unsplash
