The course opens with, “There are times when we feel so desperately alone in this world that it’s like we are completely separate from everyone and everything. But beyond the feelings of separateness, there is a unity, a source behind it all, that we can tap into.”
Does that ring true for you? In what ways?
I agree with this because not having a lot of things (example: car & money) growing up has showed me I can make something out of nothing.
Once I understood what detachment was, I was able to witness that feeling I got of being desperately aloneness as a gift.
The feelings of separateness brought up the awareness to my attachments I had towards material things. Whenever I found myself feeling alone, I would just 
CHANT 
DANCE 
YOGA and further strengthen my sadhana and tapped into opening my heart more to love God.
@Brittany_LSRF absolutely identifiable. Despite the endless enthusiasm I have had for meeting and learning new people (and still have), rare is the moment that such a bond has felt as though it spanned the distance to being truly known or knowing another. Loneliness for many years spurred on reckless sociability, though has morphed in recent days to an opportunity I’m seizing to stand in what feels like knowledge of myself. To embrace a unity of my personally faceted self that I’ve not tasted before without chemical aid. Does that make sense?
It does ring true for me. When I’m feeling isolated and alone, or like no one understands me, I think back to some of Ram Dass’ lectures where he so eloquently explains how “getting caught” in the mind’s trap of “poor me” can further take us back into separatism. My ego can play the oh whoa is me fiddle very well. Then I’ll catch myself doing it and realize the me that’s really pure essence is pure love and always connected. I sometimes giggle to myself when I catch myself in the “poor me” state and realize it’s just my ego acting up and feeding on something I should be letting go. Easier said than done I know, but hey that’s why we’re doing the work :).
There is only one reality: unity. All else is a temporary manifestation from the unity that undergoes constant change. This is why attachment is a waste of time and energy. Consciousness is the driving force of all life, and when I get out of my ego-based perceptions then I can receive direct wordless knowledge from all living beings by connecting to the field of consciousness that animates the universe.
There have been times when the loneliness has been bone deep and scary, but when I’m able to stop focusing on myself, it dissipates.
Something that has helped me lately to find that unity and peace is to focus my thoughts on asking God to bless others. They could be people, animals, even aspects of nature. I start close to myself (like family) and I keep going for as long and as far as I can. By the end I feel a great peace because I’ve reconnected with all things.
Absolutely, I believe that deep negative emotions and fear are what keep us in that state. If we take the time to look beyond them and realize that there is a blue sky even on the cloudiest of days, we can act with compassion once more and trust that recovery is possible for those who desire it. We are all students of life, after all, and as humans, we have a great capacity to learn, and that is the hope!!!
It definitely rings true for me. I love what Alan Watt’s taught around this topic where he instructs one to go as deep into that loneliness and feeling of separateness as you can and in going deep enough into you will find the connection between separation and unity.
I’ve dealt with feelings of isolation my whole life due to trauma. What’s interesting, as I’ve been on a path of healing, is the very things that isolate me ARE the things that propel me towards connection and open the heart. Like Ram Dass said, it’s all grist for the mill. We can use the feelings of separateness that come up as doorways to connection and to truth. And of course, we can’t know one without the other. 
Yes, trauma and healing, separateness and interbeing, the wave and the ocean, self and no self. Finally, we must laugh with joy and join the dance.
Yes, absolutely. Alan Watts is basically where my journey really began to take shape. I listened to his collection ‘Out of your Mind’ on repeat during the pandemic lockdown while doing my daily walk. There is something so fundamental tying what is all together that it can’t truly be given a name nor comprehensively spoken and communicated about. No matter in what state the body and mind have been, there is something that does not, has not, and never will change. It’s that ‘well, here we are’ feeling that I’m sure most people on this path have experienced with or without the help of psychedelics. You get so far out and one with it all and then you suddenly realize that nothing has changed but the forms that awareness is experiencing.
I love “recovery is possible for those who desire it”. @Jdodon . We are all experiencing our lives with varying levels of awareness. Beautiful
Yes this rings true and Yes there is something sometimes I cannot name that is leading me. Ram Dass may refer to this as the Soul and I like this but I also like the word Source, one with everything and everyone, I also like using your “imagination”. I think of what Ram Dass says "who you really are is the Soul, which is untouched but Ia also love that he wanted us to embrace our humanity which leads to Divinity. I really love this because we are divine beings having an human experience
Thank you for sharing this with us.
I love how the sentence starts with “there are times…”; From my humble observation, i majorly notice that this separateness and distinction between “self” and “other things” is a cultural phenomenon growing from generation to the next, and even developing to become the new norm of existence. This goes back to the collective, un-awakened nature of “thinking through an ego” rather than “being through an existence”. From this arises our yearn to be different and separate: we are so good in listing our differences with other elements of nature. We can even point out our differences with other fellow human as if we were “made” to be different or unique, completely overlooking the fact that what we call “different” is exactly the common factor of everything that makes up life but only seen from a higher, awakened perspective.
The “unity” behind all this lies in the simple truth that we all fall under the same sky, nourished by the same sun, and breathe the same air. From this level of perception, a heart pumping blood in a defined physical body cannot claim that it does not belong to this same body. In the same way, we cannot claim separateness from the system that houses us. If this thought / feeling ever arises, it should only be released in its initial energy form to find its way back to the same source it came from: Emptiness. Every thing around us, by virtue of nature, is united to create this whole experience we are lucky to be living.
Understanding unity means embracing diversity. And with diversity comes a blossomed garden of probabilities creating an exciting human experience rather than a challenging one.
Enjoy thy journey 
Feels like today of all days I’m having a crisis of simultaneously identifying with the Divine plane of consciousness of which my mind cannot conceive, but my intuitive heart experiences as Real, and my identifying with my national affiliation and loyalty.
This morning, dozens of men with guns infiltrated Israeli towns and massacred civilians and soldiers and kidnapped hostages back to Gaza, and this is clearly going to escalate into increasingly overwhelming bloodshed and suffering.
I am reaching out for perspectives to honor my role regarding my national identity as an Israeli member of the Tribe while simultaneously keeping my heart open and compassionate to all Beings.
I am troubled by my perception that compassion towards adversaries without the credible threat of overwhelming force in the Middle East is misinterpreted as weakness and met by savage violence.
I pray along with everyone I know for a peaceful resolution even as I know that people in power are already calculating the required blood price to be paid to restore deterrence.
It rings true to me today. Previously in my life, I felt so hollow that life had little meaning. Now that I have experienced oneness, however so brief those moments sometimes seem to be, I have moments when I see everything as one and it is a beautiful moment when that happens. I also feel deep inside that one cannot exist without the other, and I am trying to appreciate both extremes.
Yes, I do relate to this one. The most striking time was being divorced after 15 years together. I lost so much all at once and had to restart by finding that core part of myself to lean on inside. I’ve had other big losses, health, money, friends, family, deaths, and lifestyle changes. Life is like being in a rock band. Enjoy the times together, enjoy the shows, and keep in mind it will all change soon. Meditation has helped me to find my peaceful core in recent years.