"Unity with the universe."

The concept of me being unity with the universe.  There are two notions I feel in my head.  One is that there is a congruency with me, who I am and the universe, i.e., an identity, that we are one and the same.  There other is more of a dependency that I am an integral part of the universe so that the universe isn't this universe without me and I am not me without this universe, but we are not one and the same.  Sort of like my brain.  Well, I guess not exactly, the analogy doesn't quite follow and both sides are analogies, so one is right and the other not.  Like me being an organ part. The organ part... No, that isn't quite right.  So, all people, souls, spirits together make up the universe.  It's not right to be saying this universe is not this universe without me.  But, I am a part of the universe like an organ is part of the body.  The point is that all of us together make up the universe.  It is not that we are individuals separate from one another embedded in the universe. Together we are the universe. So, we are each an expression of what the universe is vs. together we are the universe.  I heard the other day, oh, a post on Facebook to the effect a pick against the right side that they do not see about taking care of nature and the earth, exploiting it and leading towards corporate interest over conservation and at the same time being followers and believers in loving god when in fact the god is nature so acts of anti-conservancy are acts against god.  So how do I lean.  Each of us is the universe or together we are the universe.  I like together we are the universe.  We are interconnected and that interconnected is the beauty of the universe.  If I go away, then the universe is still there.  If the universe goes away, then I am not there.  We share in the unity.  Of course the instantiation of the universe is different if I am not in it.  But, the universe is constantly changing and never the same.  It is a different universe from moment to moment and from place to place.  Taking Einstein's theories to heart, my universe is bound by the finite time for the propagation of information.  My universe is unique and different from anyone else's universe because my time and place is different from anyone else's.  No one else has the same bounds of perception as I do.  My horizon of perception includes  things some other people cannot perceive and it excludes things that other people can perceive.  That makes each of us unique.  I like that way of looking at things.  And that horizon of perception not only includes time and space, but it includes experience.  I should think about how experience is another dimension in our experience besides the physical dimensions of time and space. Even if someone else instead of me was at a time and place I was in, their past experience makes there perception different.  Our perception has dimensions of space, time, experience and perspective.

Our individual perceptions has dimensions of space, time, experience and perspective making each of us unique and beautiful in how we see and interpret the universe in the present moment.

Twitter: "Your perception has dimensions of space, time, experience, and perspective making you beautiful in how you see the universe at this moment."

"At some level, it is a selfish thing to seek that peace.  Is it really selfish?"

I've given myself a paradox in that seeking heaven and avoiding hell and behaving for that end is selfish and that behaving for those goals makes for a hollow love.  The only way to achieve happiness is to self-sacrifice trying to be happy and act for the happiness of others and forgo trying to achieve happiness for oneself.   The other day, a thought went through my mind that I don't know if I can recapture.  It allowed me to seek my own happiness in such a way that it is not selfish.  It is or was it as simple as that if I am happy, then it is easier and I am more effective in making others happy.  That almost feels right.  This notion is synergist.  The happier I am, the happier others are.  The happier others are, the happier I am.  Ah, the happiness of the universe, the well being of the universe.  I think the notion came out of living together for the happiness of one another.  It is a facet of unity with the universe.  Making myself happy is broader and wider reaching than just myself.  Making myself happy makes the universe happy.  Making myself happy makes others happy.  Maybe the best path into lay my desire out as desire for the universe to be happy and my individual happiness is along with it.  Or they are one and the same.  Can I be happy if the universe is not happy?  Does my individual happiness rise when merely trying to make others and the universe happier?  Or I only be happy if the universe is happy.  There is a coupling I don't quite see.  Am I selfish if I take the perspective that I am part of the universe, even a representation of the universe.  So, if I, as the universe want to be happy, is that selfish.  But, if there is nothing else, then how can that be selfish.  That is a great path towards seeing, feeling, being in unity with the universe. My happiness and happiness of the universe are one in the same.  Change my perspective to one of unity.  Not even if I'm happy, then the universe is happy or vice versa. It becomes I am the universe and the universe is me.  If I live for the happiness of the universe, I live for me own happiness because they are the same.  No different.   I think maybe meditating on that unity.  I need to be careful about falling into a trap of rationalizing.  Not merely thinking if I make myself happy, then the universe will be happy as a consequence.  Making myself happy is synonymous with making the universe happy.  But, the perspective I think is better reverse to not lapse into rationalization of selfishness.  I live to make the universe happy.  It may result in action to make this body, this mind over which I have direct dominion to be happy.  but, the goal is to make a happier universe.  That is the line along which my path can go to be a happier universe.  So, I have the vague notion in my head, but it is hard to make concrete because my perspective of 50 years is me and the universe rather than the universe, me or me the universe.  The universe is nothing without me.  I am nothing without the universe. Amen.

Our unity as the universe demands that happiness is not an individual endeavor, but an interconnected purpose whose successes and failures everywhere touch everyone.

Twitter: "Universal unity demands happiness is not individual effort, but interconnected purpose whose success and failure everywhere affects us all."