We’re One with All Life
by Rev. Cory Coberforward
Readings
Isaiah 40:10-11
See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power,
and he rules with a mighty arm.
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.
He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.
Isaiah 40:12-14 (responsive reading for live service)
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?
Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord,
or instruct the Lord as his counselor?
Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,
and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge,
or showed him the path of understanding?
Read the written message below with music videos
Pets ground us in a way that we often underappreciate. What we call a pet, an animal or insect living in our home, is often a living embodiment of nature – something we miss in ourselves. Through our inculturation and indoctrination, our thoughts tend to wear well-worn paths, and much of our living and thinking becomes somewhat mechanicalistic (even if we don’t think so). To our mechanized mind, this provides a sense of safety and a structure that we hope provides some peace. But what happens when our typical ways of living don’t serve us or our earth? When what we’ve been doing and are used to doing undermines the very foundations of life around us and within us? I think that we must return to nature and return to the wisdom teachings that are close to the ground if we are to have any hope to survive as a planet.
I think starting to look to the animals in our lives can help us remember the simplicity and peace of being that many of our Indigenous teachings and teachers empower. Indeed, saving our world may be one of the simplest things imaginable, but given our complicated approaches to living such simplicity may seem incomprehensible. But no matter how complicated our thinking, building, and living has become, the nature of life is always simple and yet infinite and profound. To begin our return to such peaceful simplicity within, we have but to turn to the very light of consciousness – what we ultimately mean when we think or feel “I am.”
Indigenous teachings often use examples of nature to expound profound truths of life and help us return to the wisdom of the earth. Growing up I would hear some of these stories from my mother, and within these stories a simple worldview often expressed itself through profound and beautiful examples: that we are all one. Like ourselves, the animals, plants, and earth around us all express aspects of the Great Spirit. This teaching is quite similar to the (yes, Indigenous!) teachings of Jesus. And even though we all have different ways of living and believing, this fundamental wisdom should pervade all, grounding us in the simple awareness of our natural unity.
This type of wisdom is in desperate need today. Sometimes I think that the greatest disservice our religious baggage and disastrous history has done for us is that in its wake our materialistic mindsets still centre on division and the idea that we are our bodies and limited minds, and that dead material is the fundamental nature of the universe. Even with our sciences expounding the incredible ways that we are one or connected, be it in biology, ecology, physics, and so on, we still return to an outdated sense (pre-quantum physics) of what material nature is. We still fail to put this simple fact at the head of our understanding: we are one.
I think that an animal in our lives can go a long way in bridging this understanding. We naturally feel a unity with our pets, even if we can’t put that into words. We interpret a lot of what our pets do from a personal lens, what some call “anthropomorphizing” and what psychologists simply call, “projecting.” But there’s an aspect of projecting that I think is true. Simply put, we are aware that our pets are aware, and many of their concerns are pretty obvious and relatable. Whether it is in the home or in nature, an animals daily living also seems somewhat mechanical or repetitive, but for one simple fact: they’re not typically thinking too much about it.
Now thinking isn’t exactly the root of our problem, but our over-thinking is definitely the fruits of it. As Christ said, “You will know them by their fruit.” Most of the ways that we think centre from a dead understanding of what it means to be human, and we don’t even realize it! But how do you supplant the impact of a tree with such anxious, destructive, controlling, and hurtful fruit? Do we wait around for this tree’s ripe fruit to fall, fretting over each one? No, we have to start at the roots.
Take a moment to notice what arises within your perception, including any sense of self. Notice that all of these things are arising to you, but they are not the core of who you are, they are not the thing watching them arise. It may seem simplistic, but often the most profound truths are. Our shamans and other spiritual teachers often point us toward this source, even though it is beyond our typical perception as it is the thing perceiving. How well do you know this aspect of yourself?
Notice that what you’re seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, and thinking or imagining can all arise at the same time in your perception. Do you have to jump over internal borders to go from seeing to hearing? Does what you see arise in a different space than what you’re thinking about? The answer we’re looking for is experiential, not intellectual. Whether it's hearing or feeling or thinking, all of our perception is a kind of knowing. In fact, all that we have ever experienced or learned or mislearned has happened in our perception as a kind of knowing. Everything we think about ourselves is included in this; you could say that the entire universe is experienced as a type of knowledge or a knowing. What could these perceptions be made out of when we experience them? We must be experiencing the stuff of our consciousness itself expressed as the infinite forms of what we perceive. Anything unperceivable is by definition never perceived.
So, in a fundamental way, whatever we explore is entirely limited to what arises in our consciousness. To say that there’s a life of material outside of consciousness is to take quite the leap of faith, even if it’s a leap that we tend to centre our entire civilization on (see, even atheists are religious!). Even our most basic understanding of quantum physics says that material only manifests as material when observed. In a way, the entire universe could be described as points of infinite consciousness exploring and getting to know itself through various journeys and various senses. But whether your mind agrees with this assessment or not, the fact that everything we all ever know is in consciousness remains.
To take this supplanting of our noxious tree further, notice that any desire is a yearning for fullness or wholeness outside of our current state. And yet, the consciousness that observes this yearning is already full, even the most amazing experience is at least an expression of the malleability of your consciousness. Our sages tell us that as we get to know what we truly are we no longer need to reach for wholeness and fulfillment. This type of yearning only arises to part of what we call ourselves that feels limited and lacking, notice that this sense of lack or need arises to something that in itself isn’t lacking or needing. Indeed, even dread or pain arises to a fundamental aspect of being that isn’t caught up in these emotions. As for happiness or peace, these are its natural fragrances, we feel happy naturally when we fully accept the moment we’re in.
I think our pets often serve as an example of this. Even when our pets seem a bit too intent on something, they are in the moment. This is true even more so for animals in the wild, as our pets sometimes pick up a little bit of our worse habits due to indoctrination themselves. And because they so closely exhibit pure consciousness in its simplicity, it’s easy to fall in love with them. We don’t have to worry about motives, long-cons, or anything like that! As we get to know ourselves as consciousness itself, the light of all life, we can also start to see others and nature as naturally one with ourselves – which opens us up to the natural love of the Great Spirit. This is the sense of oneness and love that can heal our natural world and our personal ones, indeed, it’s what these things are made out of.
Peace is with you,
Cory