The Search for Wholeness

in fractured times

What if simply knowing our wholeness is the MOST IMPORTANT understanding for healing our fractured society? I happen to believe that it is….that the real and lasting revolution will only happen one person at a time, as we each begin to disengage from the illusion of so much division and separation, and reclaim what is true. For when we each remember our own wholeness, we are able to know the wholeness of every other being, too. From this understanding, we may disagree with ideas or actions, but there will be no attraction to engage with the kind of divisiveness that invokes the self-righteousness, hatred and harm that we see today.

I will never forget what happened inside me on my 26-day water-only fasting adventure in Costa Rica, nearly 20 years ago. My biggest fear going into the fast, was that mental demons from my past might rise up from some unconscious depths and overtake my mind and soul. What happened instead, left me permanently changed. For several years prior to this fast, I had been cleansing my body on a fruit-based raw vegan diet, so this was not my first deep-detoxification experience. But it was perhaps the most transformative.

What happened is that about 2 weeks into the fast, stripped of all substances and interactions that ordinarily obstruct our pure natural clarity, I began to have overwhelmingly beautiful experiences of my whole self being filled to bursting with golden light; no space for anything else. This gentle yet powerful light seemed to be expanding from my heart, and radiating outward to encompass everything and all beings around me. Everything and Everyone was SO RADIANTLY BEAUTIFUL! I cried, to realize through direct experience what I was truly made of - what we ALL are truly made of - the LIGHT OF LOVE! (Not the dark fear and confusion of the depression from my past; not the misunderstandings that keep us believing we are all separate and divided, and must struggle and fight to win in life.)

Over the past few tumultuous years, as the collective illusion of division has grown ever louder and more damaging, my curiosity urged me to look much deeper into the different narratives consuming people’s views and attitudes. I continue to be fascinated with what I am finding: when you really listen to the seemingly competing perspectives, it becomes OBVIOUS that deep-down we all really have the same core aches and needs as humans. I have always held a strong belief in the basic root GOODNESS of virtually all human beings, but in taking the time to really listen to the opposing narratives playing out right now, it is quickly apparent that good people have been seduced into a dangerous illusion that unity can be found by banding together tribally with like-minded folk, while blaming our concept of ‘wrong-minded’ folk for all the conflict in the world.

Psychologists speak about our ‘shadow side,’ made up of those mostly hidden parts of our psyche that we reject because they feel so unacceptable and threatening to us. We don’t realize that we then project these rejected negative qualities onto people around us - the very people who somehow trigger us to feel things in ourselves that we would rather not feel. There is an illusion that it is easier, more powerful, or more unifying, to join with a group and express righteous anger about our many grievances, blaming others and even feeing entitled to hatred and destruction, than to walk the less traveled, unfamiliar path of integrating our shadow traits into a sense of wholeness about ourselves, and our wholistic experience in the temporary material world.

Years ago I wrote a poem about knowing our wholeness, and recently a dear friend wrapped it in inside of his beautifully inspirational video titled: ‘The Search for Wholeness: From Seeking to Sacred Communion.’ We offer this to you, as an invitation to pause and remember where we ALL came from, and what we are all made of. Enjoy.

WE ARE WHOLE
by Ellen Livingston

Knowing we are whole is the secret of life.
It’s our grounding, our sustenance, the end of our strife.
Not the sum of our parts, it’s beyond all of this.
Beyond body, mind, or emotion, whole just IS.

We try to deny it, and explain it away.
We’re convinced we are damaged, broken and frayed.
But the light that lives us just keeps shining on,
Permanent perfection, it knows all is one.

It’s the law of Nature, it’s the nature of us.
Our divine blueprint, in this we can trust.
We are love, we are joy, we are peace, we are light.
Our light is unlimited, steady and bright.

When we gaze into each other’s eyes,
We catch a glimpse, and we’re caught by surprise.
We are one. We can surrender and let go of the fight.
Our light is our wholeness, in fact our birthright.

Things fall apart, people and plans disappoint you.
Still the sun shines, plants grow, and the sky is clear blue.
If we would know and remember what we are really made of,
We would be here now, living in love.

Let us bow to each other, to our shared light and to the Earth.
We can celebrate our oneness, and know our worth.
Life is so much more fun when we live from this place,
An indescribably deep pleasure that lights up our face.

No you, no me, just the light, the love, the whole.