The Mystery of Oneness
One of the greatest points of confusion as well as disagreement among students concerns the Course’s teachings on oneness. There are a number of interpretations that have surfaced about how oneness and non-duality play out with God, the Trinity and the Sonship.
There is a fair amount of agreement that there is oneness in the true reality, but disagreement as to how literally it manifests.
We discussed some of these points earlier, but in this chapter we will explore the subject a little deeper.
The problem comes from the Course itself, for its intent seems to be to place strong emphasis on oneness. In doing so some passages give the impression that there is not only union in heaven but a oneness with no parts, or any individual identities or choice.
Then other passages give numerous impressions interpreted as there being many types of beings in heaven, to heaven being a perfect version of earth.
The best authority on this subject is the Course itself, so let us take a look at the whole context to see what it has to say.
The oneness of the life of the Son is the main point of disagreement, but there is also the oneness of the Trinity to consider. Concerning them it is written:
“Father and Son and Holy Spirit are as One, as all your brothers join as one in truth. Christ and His Father never have been separate.” T-25.I.5
“The ego is legion, but the Holy Spirit is One… For reality is one with the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” T-6.I.10
“Christ knows of no separation from His Father,” T-15.VIII.4
This oneness includes us as Sons: “God created you as one with Him.” T-13.VII.8
Concerning God as a whole it is written:
“there are no separate parts in what exists within God’s Mind. It is forever One, eternally united and at peace.” T-30.III.6
So, concerning the Trinity, which includes us as Sons of God, we are told in these verses that we are “one,” there is “no separation.” And “no separate parts.”
If one takes these statements too literally, he could wind up believing that God has no parts whatsoever, and after our awakening and return to heaven, there will no such thing as any individual life or choice, for there will only be one life. You as an individual entity will no longer exist. What is left of you will be God all alone with no one else with which to share anything. If there are no parts, there is only the One all alone.
One can get this idea if he goes by a few isolated passages, but the Course as a whole does not support it. The first thing we need to clear up is what the Course means when it speaks of oneness.
It gives us a clue in the first passage we quoted. Here it is again:
“Father and Son and Holy Spirit are as One, as all your brothers join as one in truth. “ T-25.I.5
Here it tells us that oneness is created by joining “as one in truth. “
This joining together of parts to maintain oneness is emphasized a number of times in the Course. Here is a good example:
“In the holy meeting place are joined the Father and His creations, and the creations of His Son with Them together. There is one link that joins Them all together, holding Them in the oneness out of which creation happens.” T-14.VIII.4
A key phrase is that “There is one link that joins Them all together.”
Then we have passages like this that seem to support oneness with no parts:
“What is the same can not be different, and what is one can not have separate parts.” T-25.I.7
Some will quote this and say, “See, in heaven there will be just one life with no parts.”
But notice that the verse does not say “no parts” but no “separate parts.” When the many parts of God’s creation are joined together into “one link,” then they are no longer separate parts, but united parts of one life.
Think of a puzzle with the pieces separated in a box. You look at one piece and it is not joined to anything, and only confusion would result by trying to see the whole picture from it. But then if one joins the pieces together, he sees a completed picture. The pieces are no longer separated parts, but joined into a union that creates the one picture.
Similarly in heaven, all lives are joined together so they are not separate but create the one life. If there are missing pieces, the life of God itself is affected:
“God is lonely without His Sons, and they are lonely without Him.” T-2.III.5
The oneness of heaven can be manifest by a oneness through God’s teachers here on earth:
“God’s teachers appear to be many, for that is what is the world’s need. Yet being joined in one purpose, and one they share with God, how could they be separate from each other? What does it matter if they then appear in many forms? Their minds are one; their joining is complete. And God works through them now as one, for that is what they are.” M-12.2
These teachers are individual entities living on earth, yet they are not separate from each other because they are joined together since “their minds are one.”
This joining or linking together through sharing the one mind of God is what the oneness of ACIM is all about. It is not telling us that God or the Son is all alone with no parts.
For one thing, we are told that there are four categories of the parts of the One God in heaven.
The first is the initial creator who is called the Father. The second is the Son, who was created by the Father.
“I and my Father are one, but there are two parts to the statement in recognition that the Father is greater. T-1.II.4
We are told that the Son was “created only to create” T-14.I.4 and though the Father and Son are linked as one, there is a difference in that “the Father is greater.”
Then we have a third entity called the Holy Spirit who was created to fill a need that neither the Father or Son could do:
“He came into being with the separation as a protection, inspiring the Atonement principle at the same time. Before that there was no need for healing, for no one was comfortless. “ T-5.I.5
Finally we have the fourth major part of the one united life in heaven which are the angels:
“You (the Son) were created ABOVE the angels because your role involves creation as well as protection. You who are in the image of the Father need bow only to HIM, before whom I kneel with you.” UR T 1 B 30y
Whereas the Son was created to create and the Holy Spirit to atone, the angels were created to protect. Interestingly, the mission of the Son is said to be “above” that of the angels.
The Course thus tells us that in heaven there are four categories of lives with four different purposes yet united as one, all sharing the same mind of God. They are not separate parts, but united parts joined together by the one mind.
The next point of confusion comes over the life of the Son. All students agree that the Course clearly tells us that the one Son of God is us, but that is as far as the unity goes. Because the Course says several times that God has only one Son, they literally interpret this to mean that there are no parts, and one entity who is the Son is all there is. In other words, when they awaken and find themselves in heaven, they will discover that this whole world was a dream of the one Son with no parts. None of the people in the dream existed in any fashion.
It is amazing that this belief has gotten as much traction as it has since the Course gives us quite a few details of what it means by the “one Son.”
Here is just one example of many that could be cited:
“It should especially be noted that God has only one son. If all His creations are His Sons, every one must be an integral part of the whole Sonship. The Sonship in its Oneness transcends the sum of its parts. However, this is obscured as long as any of its parts is missing. That is why the conflict cannot ultimately be resolved until all the parts of the Sonship have returned.” T-2.VII.6
Notice that the word “part” is used four times in this short statement about the “one son.” Each individual, such as you and I, are “an integral part of the whole Sonship,” and if “any of its parts is missing,” the transcendent oneness is “obscured.”
One of the best illustrations that there are parts or groups in the Sonship is the account of the initial separation as follows:
“The Atonement actually began long before the crucifixion. Many Souls offered their efforts on behalf of the separated ones, but they could not withstand the strength of the attack and had to be brought back. Angels came, too, but their protection did not suffice because the separated ones were not interested in peace.” UR T 2 B 43
Here is a description of the beginning of the journey of the Prodigal Son (or separation) and the interplay of three groups. The first were the Sons (a part of the Sonship) called the “separated ones” who began the journey into the world of dreams and illusion. These are the Prodigal Son in the parable.
The second was another group of Sons, or “many souls” who did not separate and tried to prevent the separation. These are represented in the parable by the faithful son who remained with the Father.
Not mentioned in the parable but in the Course, were angels who tried to help “but their protection did not suffice.”
Thus was oneness disturbed and heaven “shattered” for a time (See T-18.I.12)
This shattering caused this situation:
“The Sonship in its Oneness DOES transcend the sum of its parts. However, it loses this special state as long as any of its parts are missing. This is why the conflict cannot ultimately be resolved UNTIL all of the individual parts of the Sonship have returned. Only then, in the true sense, can the meaning of wholeness be understood.” UR T 2 E 52
This account clearly tells us that the Son consists of not just one part, but all the individual lives are a part with free will. We can use that will to unite with the One Life of God, or we can create the illusion of going against it as happened in the separation.
A point of confusion and division occurs among students as they read certain passages that sound like we are in the midst of the separation and need to be saved, but then there are others that make it sound like we never left home, nothing has happened and nothing needs to be done. These two descriptions sound like they cannot both be true. Here is a passage that sheds some light.
“Therefore, it is the tiny part of yourself, the little thought that seems split off and separate, the Holy Spirit needs. The rest is fully in God’s keeping, and needs no guide… This is the little part you think you stole from Heaven. Give it back to Heaven.” T-18.IX.1
“Any part of the Sonship can believe in error or incompleteness if he so chooses.” T-2.VII.6
The answer to the conundrum is that there are two parts to ourselves. The first is that “tiny part” of ourselves that split off. That is you as you seem to exist in a body in this world. Then there is the “rest (that) is fully in God’s keeping.” This is the real part of yourself that is still linked to the one life of the Sonship in heaven. This is sometimes called your “other self” as in this text:
“There is another vision and another Voice in which your freedom lies, awaiting but your choice. And if you place your faith in Them, you will perceive another self in you. This other self sees miracles as natural.” T-21.V.3
Concerning this “other self” it says:
“You are part of reality, which stands unchanged beyond the reach of your ego but within easy reach of spirit.” T-4.I.8
That little part of the Sonship that “you stole from Heaven” is “irreplaceable”:
“You are altogether irreplaceable in the Mind of God. No one else can fill your part in it, and while you leave your part of it empty your eternal place merely waits for your return.” T-9.VIII.10
Sounds like the part that is you is pretty important for “without you there would be an empty place in God’s Mind.” T-11.I.2-3
Another point that produces some confusion is the Course’s statements about the part and the whole such as this one:
“The idea of part-whole relationships has meaning only at the level of perception, where change is possible. Otherwise, there is no difference between the part and whole.” T-8.VIII.1
“The recognition of the part as whole, and of the whole in every part is perfectly natural, for it is the way God thinks, and what is natural to Him is natural to you. “T-16.II.3
Those who believe in no individual parts will say that this proves their point. They say ACIM talks about parts, but the parts and the whole are the same, meaning that the talk of parts is symbolic, as there is only one life with no parts. There only seems like there is more than one part in our dream world. When we wake up there will be no parts.
Speaking of parts, this thinking is another example where the whole rather than the part of the teaching needs to be considered. We have already given ample evidence from the Course itself that there are four major parts or divisions in heaven itself, and that the Son has parts. When the Course speaks of the parts containing the whole, it is not saying there are no parts, but describing the parts similar to how we would a hologram.
A hologram can appear as one image or be divided into many. When divided, the parts contain the information of the whole so they can duplicate the complete image. It is interesting that the investigation into holograms was very elementary when ACIM was received, and Helen Schucman
most likely had never heard of one; yet the Course talks about God and its parts as if they correspond to a hologram.
The Course also says this:
“The whole does define the part, but the part does not define the whole. “T-8.VIII.1
That is an amazing description of how the initial hologram relates to its parts. The whole affects all the parts, but the part does not affect the whole. Change the image of the initial hologram and all the parts change, but anything you do to the part does not affect change to the whole.
ACIM tells us that God extends or expands His creations, and all creation shares in the extension, but the part cannot create itself and affect the whole.
Students with a knowledge of holograms are therefore quite impressed with the correspondence in ACIM of God and Its creations with holographic science since the Course was written before the general public knew what a hologram was.
So, just as a hologram can have many parts with each part containing the whole, so can the many extensions of the one Son do the same.
There are, however, two ingredients of heaven that are one with no parts that link the Sons of God so all the parts function as one life. The first is the mind of God and the second is the Spirit.
ACIM tells us the Spirit is perfected so even the illusion of division with it is impossible. This heavenly Spirit is not even aware of our world but only has contact with us through the Holy Spirit which was created for that purpose.
The mind represents the creative function of God and He has shared it with us. With the separation the one mind had the illusion of being split into the higher and lower, with the higher being linked to Spirit and the lower to the ego. The split only happened in the illusion of the dream, but all powers of the mind whether in or out of the dream come from the one mind.
You could compare Spirit and mind to space that contains our universe. When we send a rocket into space or observe stars in it through a telescope, we do not speak of spaces plural but always space singular.
Why?
Because there is just one space, but that one contains everything, trillions of parts.
Similarly, the mind and Spirit from God are one, singular, yet Spirit contains everything and mind links everything.
You are a Son of God, a part in the divine space or Spirit of God, yet when in your right mind you are the life of the whole as if you are the whole.
We “are of one mind and spirit with Him. (God)” T-5.VII.3
The paramount fact that “God is love” (T-9.I.9) tells us that there are many parts to the one life we call God. For love to exist there has to be more than one. After all, we are told that “love is the same as union.” T-16.V.3 Union can only happen when there is more than one part.
To be united with His Sons is very important to God, for it is written that “God is lonely without His Sons, and they are lonely without Him.” T-2.III.5
Because God is love, He desires to be united with His Sons, and for this reason seeks the end of the separation.
The very function of love tells us that many parts are involved:
“For it is the function of love to unite all things unto itself, and to hold all things together by extending its wholeness.” T-12.VIII.7
Love “holds the universe together in its meaning.” T-15.XI.6
This tells us that love is a power that can “hold all things together” and holds the actual “universe together.”
We can see that this teaching on love is true when we examine how it plays out in our lives. Think of a time that you fell in love. What was foremost in your mind? There was nothing you wanted more than to be with that person and be as close and intimate as possible.
Because God is love, He desires to pull all of His Sons toward a great center where they all share their essence.
This could not happen if God were all alone. If this were the case, love could not exist because there would be no sharing or union.
As it is, we stand “before the altar to one God, one Father, one Creator and one Thought, we stand together as one Son of God. Not separate from Him Who is our Source; not distant from one brother who is part of our one Self.” W-pI.187.10
Copyright by J J Dewey
Read the Introduction HERE, Read Chapter One HERE. Chapter Two HERE, Chapter Three HERE, Chapter Four HERE, Chapter Five HERE Chapter Six HERE, Chapter Seven HERE, Chapter Eight HERE, Chapter Nine HERE, Chapter Ten HERE, Chapter Eleven HERE, Chapter Twelve HERE, Chapter Thirteen HERE, Chapter Fourteen HERE, Fifteen HERE, Sixteen HERE, Seventeen HERE, Eighteen HERE, Nineteen HERE, Twenty HERE, Twenty-One HERE, Twenty-Two HERE, Twenty-Three HERE, Twenty-Four HERE, Twenty-Five HERE, Twenty-Six HERE, Twenty-Seven HERE, Twenty-Eight HERE, Twenty-Nine HERE, Thirty HERE
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