William Atkinson - The Complete Works of William Walker Atkinson

Separateness is but an illusion—a dream of the undeveloped consciousness. As man unfolds into the Cosmic Knowing, he sees the folly of the idea of Separateness—of exclusion—of condemnation—of any real difference between parts of the Whole. He sees degrees and grades—stages of growth— planes—but no real difference in the last analysis. He sees that God alone is perfect—that all the rest is but relative. As the Center is approached, the approaching thing rises in the scale. And the farther away from the Center the thing is, the lower in the relative scale does it appear. But higher or lower, it is a part of the Whole—a thing begotten by God. The only standard of perfection is God.

Each is a part of All. Not only a part, but a part intimately related to, and connected with, every other part. And All is in continual motion—constantly advancing—progressing— developing—unfolding—nearing the Center. All Life is on The Path. And as the part progresses along The Path, it becomes more and more conscious of its connection with All, and with the Center—realizes more and more the lack of separateness, and the Oneness of things. This consciousness is the proof of the stage of the journey which has been reached by the traveler— the milestone on The Path. The consciousness of Individuality does not decrease—on the contrary, the Individuality enlarges—grows—takes on more substance. The traveler sees his relationship to, and his connection with, a larger and larger part of the Whole, until, far along The Path, he becomes conscious of his nearness to All, and the sense of separateness passes away, never to return. The traveler along The Path may rest for long periods—may even wander from The Path, and be apparently lost—but he never turns backward—and stray away as he may, he always returns.

When one begins to see things as they are, he becomes aware of rapidly broadening sympathies and understanding. Prejudice after prejudice drops away, until the vision is clear. One then begins to “understand.” He sees in others that which is in himself—he sees in himself that which is in others. And he loses the feeling of superiority—and he ceases to condemn. He pities, but does not condemn. He has a broader insight into the motives of men—a clearer insight into their weaknesses, their temptations. He sees them as fellow travelers on The Path— some a little ahead, some a little behind—some stumbling and soiling themselves with the dust and mire of the road—but all travelers on The Path, all journeying toward the same place.

He sees some Truth in all sciences, all religions, all philosophies, but knows that none of them has all the Truth. The Truth is too great and large a thing to be held in one place—or by any one person. All have a bit of it. When one realizes this, he sees the folly of the bickerings, jealousies, condemnation, prejudices, and bitterness between people of differing beliefs—adherents of different faiths. He recognizes that they are all looking toward the Truth from different points of view—that all are doing the best they know how—all are reporting the Truth as they see it. As the feeling of separateness drops away, so does the feeling of opposition and difference pass.

To one who has this sense of Oneness, the world broadens out immeasurably, in fact to such a one, the Universe is the world, and all that it contains seems akin to himself. All men are his brothers—all places his home—all pleasures are his—all pain, his pain (though, in reality, not pain at all)—all life, his life. He feels close to everything—man, beast, plant, mineral—all are parts of the One.

And such a one sees that all that we have been calling “sin” arises from the sense of separateness—a lack of recognition of the Oneness of All. When Man finally sees that All is One, and that separateness is but an illusion, he will find it impossible to “sin.” The relation of man to man will then be adjusted on the basis of the Oneness of All, and injustice will then be impossible. The sense of separateness is responsible for Man’s woes—distress— misery—selfishness—lack of Human Brotherhood. In the day that is coming, Man’s law will have outlived its usefulness and will be forgotten. The Divine law of Oneness will be written in the hearts of men, and will form an unfailing guide. The welfare of one will be the welfare of all. The Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man will be living truths and principles of action. There will be but one code of ethics and morals, and that will be engraved on the heart of Man.

Throughout that part of the Universe with which we are acquainted, we perceive that invariable laws are in operation— everywhere the same. From the humblest form of life to the highest, all are under the Law. And from what we know of the Oneness of All, we know that these same laws are in operation throughout all the Universe, on and on and on—always the same. The suns, surrounded by their systems, obey the same law that controls the movements of the tiniest atom of matter.

All is One, and yet the variety of manifestation and expression is infinite. Each is a part of the Whole, and yet the Whole expresses itself differently in each. The separate experience of the part goes to make up the combined experience of the Whole.

Men differ in details, yet in the main agree upon the essentials. Take all the different forms of religion and analyze them, and what do you find after discarding the useless material? Simply this—a consciousness, coming from within, that there is, back of all things, and in all things, a Universal Presence which loves that which has emanated from it. This is the fundamental consciousness of religion. What more do you want? All the rest has been built around it by Man’s ignorance, conceit and desire to rule his fellows by a show of superior knowledge. Around this Divine Spark, priest-craft has built temples intended to shelter it, but which really have almost shut it out from view. Tear down the obstructions and gaze fearlessly and without hindrance upon the Light of the Spirit.

And, as Man gazes at the Light, he grows conscious that all the Universe is pervaded by that Universal Presence—that the Universal Intelligence knows all—that the Universal Power is everywhere in operation—that All is One—All an emanation of God.

When this idea of Oneness of Life is recognized, one begins to understand the wonderful relationships between persons and things—the psychic mysteries of Telepathy, Thought-transference, Clairvoyance and other phenomena of that kind. All that which is included in what we call The New Thought is understandable only when this idea of Oneness is grasped. Many dark places are illumined—many hard sayings understood—many difficult facts assimilated and absorbed— when we recognize this idea of Oneness.

Human sympathy, love, affection, pity, compassion, tenderness, brotherly love, humanity, are understood in no other way. As man grows into this understanding his sympathies increase. At the beginning, Man cared only for himself; then for himself and family; then his tribe was included: then the confederation of tribes; then his principality; then his nation; then friendly nations; then nations with whom he was brought into contact; and so on and on, until finally he will feel a brotherly feeling for all mankind, and wars between different peoples will be no more. As he grows in the idea of Oneness, unconsciously at first, he grows in sympathy. As Man progresses in the scale, his sympathies broaden, and his prejudices disappear.

This is the point toward which the race is traveling. Some individuals have stepped a little forward, and are deemed visionaries by the mass of people. Others have dropped to the rear, and lag along, the mass of people considering them barbarous and devoid of human kindness. But all are moving forward. The knell of Selfishness is being sounded—a better day is dawning for Man as he marches onward. The day of Universal Peace and Human Brotherhood may seem afar off, but we are approaching it. Amid the noise of Materialism, Cupidity, Selfishness and Greed, there is another note being sounded. It is not loud, but it is clear and strong, and is constantly growing in volume. Men are stopping to listen, and wondering what it all means. Soon they will find that the clear note is vibrating through them, and they will rally around the standard which is heralded by that note. And the note will then be so piercing and world-filling that the legions of Mammon and Selfishness will drop their arms and be irresistibly drawn along with the rest. This is not a dream—it is a prophecy of the future. Man cannot escape this. It may come with pain and suffering—but come it must. The note is sounding. Listen to it. It is swelling and growing in strength. Soon it will fill the world. And when a man hears it he will understand, and will await anxiously the day when he will find it possible to lay down the weapons with which he has been fighting his brother, not only on the battlefield, but in the market-place. He will hail with gladness the coming day, when he will be relieved from the struggle consequent upon his constant attempt to rob his brother, and at the same time keep another brother from robbing him . He will hail the day when Love, not Fear, will rule. These things are coming to pass because of the consciousness of the Oneness of All unfolding within the minds of men.