Have you ever wondered why each of us is unique? I mean, there are so many of us, with different appearance, background, each with unique way of thinking, feeling, and acting. Why do we need such a wide diversity, or is this some kind of error by God?

There are two levels of existence. One is the realm of absolute and the other is the realm of relativity. I think it’s helpful to be very clear about this and not to confuse the two. Yes, you exist in each of the two realms, whether you have noticed or not.

The realm of absolute

Nondualism often discusses this realm of absolute. In the realm of absolute, we are all One. There is only one existence ever, often called the Self. Some other ways to call this single existence include: the one Life, God, All That Is.

I am the Self. You are the Self. We are not just related or connected, we are essentially One.

In the realm of absolute, everything is just is. What is not doesn’t exist. Not even time and space. I mean, can you possibly imagine time when there is only one being there, containing everything in it? How do you define space in such a realm?

The realm of relativity

The realm of relativity is the world we are familiar with. Here, things and people appear to be separate. As separate beings, we assume individual uniqueness. It’s a dynamic world where things appear to change (therefore the recognition of time) and be separate (recognition of space).

Some “spiritual” people condemn this realm of relativity, saying things like, “Oh, this is only an illusion.” If I ever sounded this way, too, I apologize. The realm of relativity is wonderful. Yes, it is indeed a type of illusion, or a virtual reality simulation game or a dream or an experiment, but it exists for a good purpose.

Without individual differences, how can you possibly realize who you are? Let me illustrate this with an example. I guess I am petite as an adult human. But this realization is possible only when I compare myself with other humans. Well, perhaps the realization of my size is not that important, but how about the realization of love? How do I know if I am a loving being or not without other beings? How do I know the qualities or aspects of my love without actually loving another person or thing?

So the realm of relativity exists for a very good reason. We are meant to explore this dynamic, vivid realm.

Dualism in the realm of relativity

The problem of the realm of relativity is that we have many false beliefs about it. The biggest misbelief is dualism.

Yes, there is a wide range of various diversities in this realm of relativity. Let’s get back to the issue of size. There are people of various heights. The difference is continuous, forming a spectrum. But we tend to categorize people into two groups, tall and short, by setting up an arbitrary point of standard.

Now this is okay if we know what we are doing, like for a practical purpose of manufacturing clothes. But this way of seeing a continual spectrum of a feature in dualistic manner is now so ingrained in our mindset that many of us think there are actually tall people and short people (or, maybe the middle range people, too).

Even worse, we have extended this dualistic way of seeing this world to things we cannot measure. So now we think there are beauty vs ugliness, love vs hate, light vs darkness, truth vs untruth — essentially, what is vs what is not.

Surprise! Whereas there is only what is in the realm of absolute, we think there is also what is not in the realm of relativity.

The rise of judgment and fear

This dualistic view, that “what is not” can actually exist, have caused us to be judgmental and fearful. Of course, right? If you believe one choice can make you a success while another choice can make you a loser, why wouldn’t you use all your wits to figure out which choice is the better choice? And how can you not be afraid in such a cruel worldview?

This rise of judgment and fear, however, is so ironical because the very reason we have manifested this dynamic realm of relativity was to explore love.

The One being in the realm of absolute is love itself. It knows nothing but love. Everything is within itself, so how can it know anything but love? The awareness of the One Self is love.

But the Self wishes to learn love in a more tangible way. So it has split into many pieces, forming this realm of relativity — also called the field of experience or the field of expression.

And by doing so, it has also created the perception of non-love.

Self-inquiry and Self-exploration

I intuitively knew these two levels of existence, and before I wrote articles describing how the Source had formed Higher Selves and souls. But it wasn’t until I worked on my Self-inquiry I got really clear about these two realms.

Because we exist in these two realms, the Self-realization process is also a two-step process. The first is the Self-inquiry, as I wrote in the linked article. Keep asking yourself, “Who am I?” If you don’t settle with the easy answers (like your name, role, personality, etc) nor the nice-sounding answers that the mind creates, eventually, you will arrive at the point of “I don’t know.” I mean, do it for yourself rather than just reading my words.

That “I don’t know — I am aware I am here, but I cannot describe who I am” is the realization of oneself in the realm of absolute. You notice this realm that underlies the world we have known.

However, Self-realization doesn’t stop there. The second step is to consciously explore yourself in this realm of relativity. In a sense, that is what you have been doing all your life, but now you are doing it consciously.

I am essentially the One Life. And now, I am aware I am incarnated as me — Akemi. From this specific perspective, with this incarnation’s unique path and features, how do I experience myself?

And the answers to this question can be realized only through experiences, through experiencing other people and things. So I need to get out of my meditation room and interact with the world.

Nondualism

It’s really good to know I am One and One with all others, that appear to be separate from me. But life doesn’t end there.

I am very glad I have come to this realization. Now life, with all its interesting twists, is so much more meaningful. I am inspired to “do” so much more.

What the ancient sages said about these two realms

The idea that there are two levels of existence is not my original. About 2600 years ago in ancient China, Lao-tsu wrote Tao Te Ching. Here is the first chapter:

The tao that can be told
is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named
is not the eternal Name.

The unnamable is the eternally real.
Naming is the origin
of all particular things.

Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.

Yet mystery and manifestations
arise from the same source.
This source is called darkness.

Darkness within darkness.
The gateway to all understanding.

(Note: Here, the word “darkness” is not used with negative connotation. It indicates the condition before the manifestations. There are many English translations of Tao Te Ching, but I think this one by Stephen Mitchell is the best.)

And here is a quote by Rumi, which is perfect to conclude this article:

“If a spiritual explanation alone were sufficient, the creation of the world would have been vain and pointless.” ~ Rumi

(Photo credit)

Related posts:

1. Review: Be As You Are, The Teachings Of Sri Ramana Maharshi

So we are grateful when we receive “good” things like loving relationships, friends and family, foods on the table and the roof over the head, the money that gets these good things, the job — the income source, health, long life, and so on.

And we don’t like “bad” things like loneliness, relationship problems, hunger, poverty, job loss, obesity, illness, disability, aging, and death. We don’t even like thinking about them, and when it happens, we are upset, confused, resentful, and wish they go away ASAP.

This is just natural, right?

The challenge of the hypothesis

My spirit guides challenged me a few weeks ago (the week before my moving, to be exact) with the question, “What if everything that happens to you is good?” I immediately knew this is right, but it took me a while to put it into reason.

“Like EVERYTHING?” You may be thinking. “What is good about a psycho boyfriend / girlfriend, or hopeless poverty, or painful disease?”

Well, yes. They are good because they are great learning opportunities. You didn’t bring it up to reality if they were no good. (Remember you are creating your own life and the world?)

Now when I say “learning opportunities”, there are mainly two things we can learn. One is the life lessons and associated lessons. We don’t have to learn them the hard way, but many of us do choose so. We have discussed this into detail already on this Yes to Me blog.

Another is the crooked thinking patterns we have. These “bad” things are like an alarm going off, “There is something kinked up in you, please take a look!” Alarm is annoying but not bad.

Let me put it this way. God sends us love, love, and more love. Unconditionally. They are all good. But some gifts are a bit different. God may be sending you a bit of herbal medicine or a gift card to chiropractor because God noticed there is something about you that needs care, even if you may not have noticed. And you complain that the medicine tastes bad or you are too busy to go to the chiropractor.

Now I got tested about this hypothesis right away. . .

What is a traffic ticket trying to say?

On my first moving day (I spent two days moving, first doing the move in, then doing the move out with movers carrying my furniture), I was driving on a freeway and just casually tried to change my lane. I guess I wasn’t looking well enough. The car on the fast lane horned, I got back to my lane, and . . . well, the police car was right behind me.

Few things are more embarrassing and annoying than getting a traffic ticket. And seeing an angry cop’s face in the rear-view mirror.

So what is good about this? I need to learn how to drive safe? Well, maybe that’s included, but that’s not all.

After I was released, I was talking to myself. I actually talked aloud in my car because I wanted to see how this worked:

Akemi 1: So what is good about this traffic ticket? This just sucks.

Akemi 2: Well, let’s see. Why do you think it’s bad?

Akemi 1: Because I hate cops.

Akemi 2: He wasn’t too bad. I’d say he treated me quite fairly — he didn’t yell or do something intimidating. He was just doing his job, and even if you don’t like him, so what? It’s not like you have to marry him.

Akemi 1: This is going to be on my driving record. (And on my Akashic Records, too!) And I have to pay the fine.

Akemi 2: Yes, it will take up some of my time, depending on what you want to do with it. We can go to the court or we can just pay it.

Akemi 1: I hate paying the fine! And it’s not just the fine, the auto insurance premium will go up, too, you know.

Akemi 2: Yes, but we can pay.

Akemi 1: I . . . I’m afraid. It will cost a lot. Insurance is expensive.

At this point, I stopped and thought. So aside from the emotional unpleasantness (which is only temporary), what’s really bothering me is the financial concern? Really?

Our hidden fear and why we hold onto it

Now I know that, when we have fear, it’s because we are holding onto it. Most fears are temporary — like, you may get serious fear if another car comes too close to you, but that goes away pretty quickly. And we are holding onto the fear because we are afraid of something else that may come if we let go of the first fear. So in this crooked logic, holding onto the first fear feels safer.

Akemi 2: Are you afraid of becoming poor? But it’s not likely we become poor with one traffic ticket. What is the real issue? Am I getting something by holding onto this fear of poverty?

Akemi 1: . . .

Akemi 2: Does being concerned about money make you feel safe? What’s going to happen if I release this fear of poverty?

The answer that came out of my own mouth surprised me.

Akemi 1: . . . I might become wildly rich.

Gee. Really. But it seems true. Fear of wealth is far bigger than fear of poverty. I wasn’t aware of this before.

Opportunity to examine your fear

Fear of wealth or fear of success is a tricky one. We use lack of money or opportunity as an excuse of not living a great life. I think many of us are secretly afraid of living a full happy life even when we say the complete opposite. It involves a huge responsibility to oneself (to God) to live that way.

Are you doing something similar to what I was doing? Are you afraid of releasing your crazy partner (or afraid of getting out of the pattern of having relationship with crazy partners, therefore switching from one crazy one to another) because without them, you are faced with yourself, and you have no distraction nor excuse not to express your great self and live your life purposefully?

Are you holding onto your health problem and your fear of recovering to great health because, without the health problem, you have little to complain and commiserate, and you are afraid of losing people’s attention? And because you are afraid you may have a miraculous healing power science hasn’t uncovered yet? And again, without the disease, you have no excuse not to live a great life?

I guess I may be upsetting some people especially with the last one. I’m not a doctor and I don’t claim to know your health condition nor your possibility to recover. I do have a feeling many people cling to their condition as an excuse. One of my Spirit Guides Coaching client was this way. Her spirit guides was urging to let go of certain things, but she was absolutely against it. Just to be sure, I asked her about her medical diagnosis, and all she could say was something that happened more than 20 years ago. She was taking full advantage of her (past) health problem and was nowhere near releasing it, even though she insisted the opposite.

So what really happens if everything that happens to you is good?

Then you just have to accept this universe is absolutely benevolent and loving. There is just no way you don’t live as an empowered free soul, expressing your gifts and strengths, and living a full life of love and joy. No point about complaining, fighting, accusing, or even “working on the problem” — we can just go straight to the point and live our life fully.

My feeling is that, in the past, our awareness was not clear enough to see this so we perceived certain things as “bad” based on superficial consequences. However, we are growing up to see the bigger picture.

When our awareness really grows, everything starts to look really good, even without thinking, “Okay, this may be a learning opportunity. . .” We get to be grateful for everything there is. We get to see everything as the divine gifts that they are. That, my friends, is the entrance to the heaven on Earth. (Photo credit)

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