The Difference Between Self Realization & Oneness
Written by Kip Mazuy
Self realization is the realization of the Self, or Atman. The Self can be related to the experience of impersonal being, or the sense that you are pure consciousness, or that you are silence itself or awareness itself. Self realization is also the freedom from the sense of being a personal “me.” You transcend your ego identity and realize that you always were and always will be consciousness itself.
Stress is created out of this sense of being a personal “me.” This personal me arises out of identifying with your thoughts. You believe you are the thinker of your thoughts. The thought arises “I don’t like potato chips” and you are the “I” in that sentence. And so every desire, fear, worry and thought that arises, you are the subject that is in fear, that desires, that worries. So it is a feeling of being bound, of being trapped in a separate sense of “I” that is in opposition to the rest of the world. It is the source of all conflict.
But once you start turning your attention to this “me” that claims to be and have all of these thoughts, you find there is no “me” there. And this happens through meditation. Beyond the thought that “I am this,” there is no sense of personal “me” here. There is only impersonal being. And this being is aware, it is awareness itself. It exists beyond all thoughts. In fact, all thoughts arise out of it.
So through this inquiry or other meditation techniques you begin to rest your attention on what is prior to this sense of being a personal me. And after a while there will be a shift, that attachment to being a separate “me” gets broken and you realize the Self, you realize you are consciousness.
The feeling of this is very freeing, very peaceful and blissful. It can be a feeling of being silence or being love. But although you realize that consciousness is all that there is, there is still a very subtle sense of separation that is still there. It is not a concrete separation, but it is still there.
The experience of Oneness is when you go even beyond The Self, and you feel you are everything. So self realization is you are consciousness and in oneness you are everything.
Understanding this from the mind may seem like a small distinction, but it is quite a big difference. In self realization, as you remain identified with The Self, it is an inward experience, not an outward experience and there is that separation between inward and outward. You often here self realized teachers saying there is no world, it is all illusion.
But in oneness, there is no separation between inward and outward. There is no denying the world. You are everything. There is a great release in this, an intense feeling of unconditional love. You feel yourself moving through everyone and everything. Everything is alive and radiating love just as you are alive and radiating love and there is no separation in that. You are the universe. You are the world. You are love itself.
To experience either Self Realization or Oneness, spiritual practice especially meditation is needed, a healthy diet and lifestyle is also quite important and other spiritual disciplines beyond that will probably be practiced.
But the most important part of attaining self realization or oneness is to receive the grace or spiritual energy from an Enlightened Meditation Master. When you receive this enlightened energy, the process of self realization and oneness begin to happen automatically deep within you. You begin to experience a spiritual energy within you, vibrating and moving through your body, awakening you to deep states of meditation and unconditional peace.
Regular sitting with a fully enlightened master is the main way to receive this grace. But you can also receive this grace through a unique CD which has recorded this spiritual energy through special sound equipment and turned it into sound.
So by listening to the CD, you awaken to deep states of meditation, Self Realization and Oneness. It means wherever you are, in your home, at work or traveling, you can receive this enlightened energy and be in incredible bliss just by listening to music.
You can have a listen to this “Enlightened Energy CD” by visiting the “Enlightened Meditation CD” link below. Just by listening to the samples you will experience a blissful state of meditation.
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