Onenessence - How to Shape, Surf and Share the Sacred by Michael Rice
(still being written!)
About 8 or 9 years ago, in an outburst of inspiration and enthusiasm, I 'wrote' a book. Scribbled with an increasingly blunt pencil over a few days I generated the structure and outline content of this book - and then proceeded to forget about it. It surfaced again as something I feel i should invest some more time, energy and attention into. A personal goal for 2013.
I wrote a brief introduction to the book about four years ago, and stumbled across it just a few minutes ago. I read through it and saw that I mentioned the upcoming Winter Solstice - and I thought, 'hmmm.. interesting timing...' . so I read on.
I am going to offer this brief introduction to you now - pasted below, and ask you to witness my first step in the process of manifesting this book in 2013. Don't worry - there is nothing you have to do, or answer, or remember; rather this is my just putting my intention 'out there' so that I can take a little more responsibility for it.
so here goes... drum role please... (there is one in my head now.. so that's ok)...
Onenessence
There is an old Chinese saying - "may you be cursed with living in interesting times". It seems to many that we are living in times of great turmoil and discord - with chaos and upheaval being a primary and continuous experience. There appears no longer any construct of stability to which we can anchor our lives, to derive meaning and purpose in what appears an increasingly unstable world. Traditional perceptions, beliefs and collective societal agreements appear to be crumbling. Institutions are crumbling at their core, and the future has never appeared so uncertain. We are bombarded on a daily basis with prophecies of doom, with a plethora of deathly scenarios ranging from asteroid collisions, runaway global warming, war and poverty to alien invasion and incurable pandemics. The list is as long as peoples imagination and is flavoring the current zeitgeist of the world.
There is also an entire belief system which has emerged, evolved and involves the concept of the 'end of days' - specifically the upcoming Dec 21st 2012 - the winter solstice - date being the calculated end point of this cycle of the Mayan Calendar. This time portents to an astronomical alignment where the Sun and her planets 'phase lock' with Galactic centre. Much is being conceived and discussed about what this so called 'zero point' may mean to life on Earth, and as with everything else we experience, the answer is directly related to our collective beliefs, perceptions and projections.
Every one of us continuously creates unique personal realities based on our world views - which is a product of our thoughts, emotions, beliefs, prejudices, suppositions and perceptions. This awareness of how life creates reality can no longer be ignored or dismissed as being some wishy-washy 'new age' concept or belief - it is an emergent understanding of the fundamental workings of the living Universe. The cutting edge of science (and other forms of exploration) are revealing, at an accelerated rate, the knowledge and wisdom about how we might begin to create a truly sustainable world - a world based on pure principle applications of the role of awareness and consciousness in the creation of reality. A world based on love and interconnection, rather than one based on the illusion of separateness and fear.
This information is yet again becoming available to those who have ears to listen, and eyes to see. Our history offers a tantalising glimpse of how our ancestors may have incorporated this natural and harmonious approach to life and living into their structures, societies and civilisations. Indeed there still exist today some indigenous and aboriginal societies which are based on harmony with their environments. And of course there are more and more ‘new’ communities forming and developing who not only learn from the past, but dare to dream up new ways to live, explore and express their fullest potential. As our growing awareness extends into new realms of potential in the creation of a brighter future, we may begin to see these people and how they lived with new eyes, and appreciate the timeless wisdom of their ways.
Fundamental to this integrated world view is the basic premise that we are not the helpless victims of an uncaring world we sometimes believe ourselves to be - or have been told we are. Rather the premise that we are surrounded by and immersed in an infinite and absolutely living (and loving) field of implicit potentiality, with limitless opportunities for conscious creativity, emergence and expression. In truth and with greater clarity, we are not 'in' this field - we 'are' this field. We are not merely connected to this field, the field is us. Every place and every moment is filled with all we need and indeed all we could ever dream of and desire. To perceive the beauty and the truth of this is only a matter of perspective, as perspective creates perception, and perception creates reality. If our perspective changes, so too does our reality.
The philosopher Alan Watts invited us to consider how the fundamental expression of consciousness is based on perspective. He mused over how we might perceive our own bloodstream, observed under the magnification of a microscope. We would at once see a continuous arena of movement and activity - a veritable battleground of epic proportions, with cells waging wars on invading organisms. If we were to personally identify with that level of magnification, we may well begin to take sides! However, at a higher magnification of ‘seeing’, this same scene becomes a balanced, vital and integral part of the overall health of our bodies - a beautiful and sustainable system of harmony and biology/environment integration.
He further postulated that if we were to decrease our magnification in the opposite direction, and in effect pan outwards, might we begin to perceive a higher order of harmony and symmetry underpinning the apparent chaos and conflict of the world. Might we gain insight into these times as being a necessary stepping stone in the evolution and emergence of consciousness on this planet? Indeed, it has been observed many times and on many levels, that Mother Nature expresses apparent waves of chaos and discord just prior to the onset of new wave symmetry. This new pattern is based on sustainable and harmonic inclusiveness - a pattern where all the waves meet, greet and party non-destructively - the true definition of Sacred.
The intention behind this book is to offer a personal perspective - a journey of discovery where we may observe how life reveals itself as an astoundingly beautiful and effortless expression of Perfect Unity - Oneness - Onessence. This book is intended as an invitation to see how everything is connected at a most basic and profound level. It offers a glimpse at how we might begin to see ourselves as the entire Universe perceiving itself through a human nervous system - experiencing and recreating itself anew through our thoughts, emotions and actions. Once we open ourselves to this perspective we can begin to creatively apply this knowledge to how we live. We can then consciously engage in the playful exploration and realisation of the very dreams of the Universe. We can once again begin to Shape, Surf and Share the Sacred.
I wrote a brief introduction to the book about four years ago, and stumbled across it just a few minutes ago. I read through it and saw that I mentioned the upcoming Winter Solstice - and I thought, 'hmmm.. interesting timing...' . so I read on.
I am going to offer this brief introduction to you now - pasted below, and ask you to witness my first step in the process of manifesting this book in 2013. Don't worry - there is nothing you have to do, or answer, or remember; rather this is my just putting my intention 'out there' so that I can take a little more responsibility for it.
so here goes... drum role please... (there is one in my head now.. so that's ok)...
Onenessence
There is an old Chinese saying - "may you be cursed with living in interesting times". It seems to many that we are living in times of great turmoil and discord - with chaos and upheaval being a primary and continuous experience. There appears no longer any construct of stability to which we can anchor our lives, to derive meaning and purpose in what appears an increasingly unstable world. Traditional perceptions, beliefs and collective societal agreements appear to be crumbling. Institutions are crumbling at their core, and the future has never appeared so uncertain. We are bombarded on a daily basis with prophecies of doom, with a plethora of deathly scenarios ranging from asteroid collisions, runaway global warming, war and poverty to alien invasion and incurable pandemics. The list is as long as peoples imagination and is flavoring the current zeitgeist of the world.
There is also an entire belief system which has emerged, evolved and involves the concept of the 'end of days' - specifically the upcoming Dec 21st 2012 - the winter solstice - date being the calculated end point of this cycle of the Mayan Calendar. This time portents to an astronomical alignment where the Sun and her planets 'phase lock' with Galactic centre. Much is being conceived and discussed about what this so called 'zero point' may mean to life on Earth, and as with everything else we experience, the answer is directly related to our collective beliefs, perceptions and projections.
Every one of us continuously creates unique personal realities based on our world views - which is a product of our thoughts, emotions, beliefs, prejudices, suppositions and perceptions. This awareness of how life creates reality can no longer be ignored or dismissed as being some wishy-washy 'new age' concept or belief - it is an emergent understanding of the fundamental workings of the living Universe. The cutting edge of science (and other forms of exploration) are revealing, at an accelerated rate, the knowledge and wisdom about how we might begin to create a truly sustainable world - a world based on pure principle applications of the role of awareness and consciousness in the creation of reality. A world based on love and interconnection, rather than one based on the illusion of separateness and fear.
This information is yet again becoming available to those who have ears to listen, and eyes to see. Our history offers a tantalising glimpse of how our ancestors may have incorporated this natural and harmonious approach to life and living into their structures, societies and civilisations. Indeed there still exist today some indigenous and aboriginal societies which are based on harmony with their environments. And of course there are more and more ‘new’ communities forming and developing who not only learn from the past, but dare to dream up new ways to live, explore and express their fullest potential. As our growing awareness extends into new realms of potential in the creation of a brighter future, we may begin to see these people and how they lived with new eyes, and appreciate the timeless wisdom of their ways.
Fundamental to this integrated world view is the basic premise that we are not the helpless victims of an uncaring world we sometimes believe ourselves to be - or have been told we are. Rather the premise that we are surrounded by and immersed in an infinite and absolutely living (and loving) field of implicit potentiality, with limitless opportunities for conscious creativity, emergence and expression. In truth and with greater clarity, we are not 'in' this field - we 'are' this field. We are not merely connected to this field, the field is us. Every place and every moment is filled with all we need and indeed all we could ever dream of and desire. To perceive the beauty and the truth of this is only a matter of perspective, as perspective creates perception, and perception creates reality. If our perspective changes, so too does our reality.
The philosopher Alan Watts invited us to consider how the fundamental expression of consciousness is based on perspective. He mused over how we might perceive our own bloodstream, observed under the magnification of a microscope. We would at once see a continuous arena of movement and activity - a veritable battleground of epic proportions, with cells waging wars on invading organisms. If we were to personally identify with that level of magnification, we may well begin to take sides! However, at a higher magnification of ‘seeing’, this same scene becomes a balanced, vital and integral part of the overall health of our bodies - a beautiful and sustainable system of harmony and biology/environment integration.
He further postulated that if we were to decrease our magnification in the opposite direction, and in effect pan outwards, might we begin to perceive a higher order of harmony and symmetry underpinning the apparent chaos and conflict of the world. Might we gain insight into these times as being a necessary stepping stone in the evolution and emergence of consciousness on this planet? Indeed, it has been observed many times and on many levels, that Mother Nature expresses apparent waves of chaos and discord just prior to the onset of new wave symmetry. This new pattern is based on sustainable and harmonic inclusiveness - a pattern where all the waves meet, greet and party non-destructively - the true definition of Sacred.
The intention behind this book is to offer a personal perspective - a journey of discovery where we may observe how life reveals itself as an astoundingly beautiful and effortless expression of Perfect Unity - Oneness - Onessence. This book is intended as an invitation to see how everything is connected at a most basic and profound level. It offers a glimpse at how we might begin to see ourselves as the entire Universe perceiving itself through a human nervous system - experiencing and recreating itself anew through our thoughts, emotions and actions. Once we open ourselves to this perspective we can begin to creatively apply this knowledge to how we live. We can then consciously engage in the playful exploration and realisation of the very dreams of the Universe. We can once again begin to Shape, Surf and Share the Sacred.