Our Luminous Legacy
“The Master lives in the center of the universe, which turns out to be the center of herself. When things seem to be in discord return to the center.”
Stephen Mitchell, Second Book of Tao, 24
What does it mean to live in the center of the Universe? How do you do that? I went exploring.
Where is the Center of the Universe?
There are several metaphors for the concept of universe. It begins with words like Great Mystery and All-That-Is. One metaphor is a web of life in which we are each – what? A strand? A knot? The web of life sees us all as connected strands in a web that encompasses everything.
That includes humans, animals, plants, oceans, mountains, all one energy – not just on this planet but in the galaxy, stars, black holes – whatever is out there. All one web of life. All one whatever-we-are.
Even though I feel my connection with others, the metaphor of a web makes me feel like a separate strand or worse, as a separate knot. I understand that my actions affect others. I also understand that the actions of others affect me. Because we’re all one energy.
But I still feel separate. I don’t want to feel like a knot, or a strand, I want to feel like ONE!
Then there’s the metaphor of Cosmic Soup
I feel a bit more connected with the metaphor of Cosmic Soup because I’m not a separate strand. I also know that if I put too much of a particular seasoning into it, that will affect the whole. And what happens to the cosmic soup if I’m not drawn to the flavor the other person adds? It makes me feel helpless. I guess I’d like to feel the universal energy has a higher calling and can absorb and transmute negative energy.
It can, of course; but again, I feel connected, yet separate.
Find an image that makes you feel one
Through my shamanic meditative journeying, I’ve connected with the heartbeat of nature. I can feel my heartbeat connect with the heartbeat of the earth. I can feel my heartbeat meld with all of nature. I can feel it blending, harmonizing into an all-encompassing heartbeat. One rhythm. For everything. It makes me feel very connected to the heights and widths and depth of our planet. It’s an inclusive, connective experience. I can feel my heartbeat as one with the heartbeat of nature, and I feel connected and an integral part of nature – that we are all one heartbeat.
Then I began to think of the universe, of a Cosmic Heart. One, pulsating, in-rhythm, all-inclusive heart. I feel the rhythm. I feel the connection. The oneness of the heartbeat resonates with me.
Light is another metaphor that helps me feel part of the whole. When I feel myself as light. See others as light. Join our light together, become one light. One’s individuality disappears in light. That is what we’re looking for, to lose our separateness and experience our one-ness.
Cosmic consciousness is another metaphor. I like to join my consciousness with the like-minded consciousness of fellow transformational thinkers.
But feeling separate is common for me in my body suit. I have to elevate my awareness to – what? Nothing with a human form, nothing with human limitations and yet I am human, so…
Find a metaphor that helps you lose your individual humans in the experience of Oneness.
How to experience your soul
A soul is etheric. It is vast; it is core. What if I felt myself as soul? And that soul simply blends into and is part of an oversoul of All That Is? Blending, melding, becoming one with an over-arching soul. That would help me feel oneness.
Sometimes in deep meditation, I disappear from my body and feel I’m simply an awareness in the void.
How do you access a feeling of being one with and in the center of the universe?
“The Master lives in the center of the universe, which turns out to be the center of herself.”
“When things seem to be in discord return to the center.”
How do you return to the center?
How do you move back into the center or the universe? To the center of you – your oneness with All That Is?
Meditation will quickly move you from the chaotic physical plane into the stillness of your inner world. When I go deep enough in meditation, my body disappears, and I am flowing in nothingness.
I can move to an awareness of oneness by consciously feeling and expanding the light within me.
A light meditation
Find a quiet environment. Move into an inner place of stillness and begin to let your body disappear from your awareness. In the center of your being, feel a radiant light. Notice its color, its consistency, its movement. Notice as that light within begins to radiate. Let it fill every part of your body until you become simply light, not a human in a body suit with thoughts and beliefs, but a radiant pulsating light.
Feel that light expand beyond your body and out into the vastness where you become aware of other lights. You know you belong with them. You are all part of the One Light.
Merge your light with the others and watch the light expand and become one all-encompassing, pulsating, energy. A heartbeat of the universe that includes and encompasses and absorbs you into its welcoming presence.
Feel the power of that collective light.
Feel that ever-deepening connection.
Absorb that.
Is that how it feels to be within and absorbed into the All That Is? Is that the center of your being? Is that the center of the universe?
Explore that feeling for a moment.
“The Master lives in the center of the universe, which turns out to be the center of herself. When things seem to be in discord return to the center.”
Stephen Mitchell, 2nd Book of Tao, 24
Live at the center of your being. Now.
Our Luminous Legacy Series:
Unleash the Power of Your Inner Garden
How Modern Mysticism Will Save the World
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