There Is No Other

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There Is No Other

 

The Heart of Relationship

 

 

Awakening to the truth of perfect Unity, means to awaken from the

dream of a personal self and personal others to the realization that

there is no other. Many spiritual seekers have had glimpses of the

absolute unity of all existence, but few are capable of or willing to

live up to the many challenging implications inherent in that

revelation. The revelation of perfect unity, that there is no other,

is a realization of the ultimate impersonality of all that seems to

be so very personal. Applying this realization to the arena of

personal relationships is something that most seekers find extremely

challenging, and is the number one reason why so many seekers never

come completely to rest in the freedom of the Self Absolute.

Inherent in the revelation of perfect unity is the realization that

there is no personal me, no personal other, and therefore no personal

relationships. Coming to terms with the challenging implications of

this stunning realization is something that few people are willing to

do. Because realizing the true impersonality of all that seems so

personal, challenges every aspect of the illusion of a separate,

personal self. It challenges the entire structure of personal

relationships which are born of needs, wants, and expectations. It is

in the arena of personal relationships that the illusion of a

separate self clings most tenaciously and insidiously. Indeed, there

is nothing that derails more spiritual seekers than the grasping at

and attaching to personal relationships.

 

The revelation of perfect unity reveals the true impersonality of all

relationships. The ego always interprets "impersonal" as meaning

cold, distant, and aloof. However, "impersonal" simply means not

personal, or void of a separate me and a separate you. The mind

cannot comprehend of a relationship without separate entities. Much

as a character in a dream cannot comprehend that all other dream

characters are simply manifestations of the same dreamer. Yet when

the dreamer awakens, he instantly comprehends that the entire dream,

and all the characters in it, were none other than projections of his

own self. In the dream there is the appearance of separate, personal

entities in relationship, but upon awakening one comprehends the

impersonal (non-separate) Self that is the source of all appearances.

 

To deeply inquire into the question "Who is another?" can lead to the

direct experience that the other is one's own Self—that in fact there

is no other. However, I have seen that for most seekers, even this

direct experiential revelation is not enough to transform the

painfully personal ways they relate. To come to this profound

transformation requires a very deep investigation into the

implications inherent within the experiential revelation that there

is no other. It is in the daily living of these implications that

most seekers fail. Why? Because, fundamentally, most people want to

remain separate and in control. Simply put, most people want to keep

dreaming that they are special, unique, and separate, more than they

want to wake up to the perfect unity of an Unknown which leaves no

room from any separation from the whole.

 

There is a powerful tendency in most spiritual seekers to avoid

probing deeply into the implications inherent within profound

spiritual experience and revelation, because these implications are

always threatening to the sense of a separate self, or ego. It is the

implications inherent within profound spiritual revelation that

demand the transformation of the apparent individual.

 

Inherent within the revelation of perfect unity is the realization

that there is no other. The implications of this realization reveal

that in order to manifest that unity in the relative world, one must

renounce the dream of being a separate self seeking to obtain

anything through relationship with another. Indeed, personal

relationship appears to happen in the relative world, but in reality,

all appearances simply arise as temporary manifestations of a unified

whole. In the relative world these appearances are in relationship,

but not as separate entities. Rather, they are the play of the one

Self projecting itself as apparent entities in relationship to one

another.

 

As long as you identify yourself with the projection of separateness,

you will continue to deny that you are the Source of all projections.

When you truly and absolutely awaken to this fact, and comprehend the

overwhelming implications inherent within this awakening, you will

continually experience that all apparently personal relationships are

in truth nothing other than the play of your Self. To realize that

the personal me is an illusion born of false identification with the

body, thoughts, and emotions, brings a profound sense of freedom.

This is fundamentally the realization of emptiness, of what you are

not. But contained within the realization of emptiness (formlessness)

is also the realization of what you ARE. In the most absolute sense

you ARE this conscious emptiness which is the source of all

appearances (existence). But you are the appearance as well. Not just

one part of the appearance called "me", but all of it , the entire

whole. This is the challenge, to let your view get this vast. To let

your view get so vast that your identity disappears. Then you realize

that there is no other, and there is nothing personal going on.

 

Contrary to the way the ego will view such a realization, it is in

reality the birth of true love. A love which is free of all

boundaries and fear. To the ego such uncontaminated love is

unbearable in its intimacy. When there is no clear separating

boundaries and nothing to gain the ego becomes disinterested, angry,

or frightened. In a love where there is no other there is nowhere to

hide, no one to control, and nothing to gain. It is the coming

together of appearances in the beautiful dance of the SELF called

Love.

 

To the seeker who is sincere, an experiential glimpse of this

possibility is not enough. If you are sincere you will find it within

yourself to go far beyond any glimpse. You will find within your Self

the courage to let go of the known and dive deeply into the Unknown

heart of a mystery that calls you only to itself.

 

 

~

Adyashanti