Man's Violation of the Concept of Oneness
By Peter E. von Sass
March, 2020
Science, religion and philosophy have wrestled with the “Concept of Oneness” for centuries, primarily, because it cannot be grasped or proven by intellect alone. Intellect, the masculine element is based mainly on our five senses. However, within the oneness ‒ that permeates manifestation through perpetual emanations from the Absolute ‒ is contained its complementary feminine, intuitive element within the soul.
Oneness, “The Divine Unity from which all proceeds, whither all returns, omnipresent, without beginning or end, in ceaseless motion” (H.P. Blavatsky) has been variously described as: The unified field, universal consciousness, shared reality and non-duality. It is the Inter-dependency and inter-connectedness representing a universal order that, when disturbed or violated, will re-establish its original balance. ”Every single thing is an aspect of One Field of Consciousness. The whole never loses contact with its parts; they are never lost or forgotten” (D. Chopra). “If you can see God (the Oneness) in everyone, you can never do harm to anyone” (Bhagavad Gita). “It is all-powerful and all-pervasive.” “Spirit is the one real being of which all things are modes. Creation represents the manifestation of spirit, by means of its descent or ‘fall’ into lower modes, of which matter is the lowest. The essence of all is One.” (A. Kingsford).
“Since we are all interconnected as part of a large Energy Field, we are affecting others through our thoughts, and since thoughts are energy (E=mc^2) and energy converts matter, thoughts are creating our physical reality as well. Although “Mind is the Builder” (E. Cayce), mind/Intellect can make scientific validation only partially possible, as it needs the complementary assistance of intuition.
In accordance with the teachings of both Eastern and Western religions, of Theosophy and of the Kabbalah, the name of God symbolizes total unity beyond intellectual comprehension. It is in Him that all opposites exist in unity, though ignorant of their differences. The Kabbalistic term “En-sof” translates into: the limitless, boundless, absolute, being in duration (not existing in time) and being no-thing (not nothing), while in constant motion. This Absolute contains within itself the germ of creation, that ‒ like a brilliant white light, when focussed through a crystal ‒ is fractured into the seven coloured rays of the Tree of Life in manifestation, where it caused evolution to take place, initially producing the mineral world, then the plant world, followed by the animal world and finally by man. Man must eventually return to the place of his (spiritual) origin, following his lengthy learning and purification process, while in material manifestation.
When we look at the past one thousand years of man’s interaction with his fellowman, with the animals and with nature, we can only shudder. The priestcraft of the Christian churches not only initiated a corruption of the original teachings, but also supported idolatry and a focus on material greed. In addition to the brutal mistreatment of non-Christians during the crusades, where the Muslim leader Saladin finally taught the Christian Knights a lesson in Humanity, the Catholic church continued its persecutions during the Inquisition, and finally, some priests were in the habit of sexually abusing boys and girls. With respect to politics and socio-economics, following hundreds of years of hereditary aristocratic rule and serfdom, European rulers introduced colonialism and the slave trade. The Industrial Revolution required more raw materials and caused a shift of workers from farm to factory, while medical science engaged in animal experimentation including vivisection. For centuries, the world was entangled in a series of perpetual wars that are still plaguing us today and have resulted in millions of deaths, injuries, dislocation and refugee camps. In the meantime, our jails are full, real rehabilitation is lacking and racial, religious ethnic and gender discrimination is in evidence.
Today, many industrial countries favour a military buildup and the sale of weapons over an improvement of the quality of life for their own citizens. Furthermore, man ‒ in pursuit of material wealth and the extension of physical life including organ transplants ‒ seems oblivious to the consequences of his actions, both spiritual and material, having entered onto a path of exploitation of the three “lower” forms of creation in reverse order of their prior natural evolution. While animals, plants and minerals were created to coexist in harmony with man, a disturbance of the Laws of Nature, caused by man’s excessive appetites, would have to have repercussions, particularly, when repeated warning signs ‒ such as pandemics ‒ are ignored.
Man’s first target seemed to have been the exploitation and mistreatment of the Animal World by developing slaughterhouses, fisheries, hunting lodges and zoos to satisfy man’s increasing appetite for eating flesh and for admiring wild animals in captivity, while medical science established laboratories to experiment with live animals including vivisection and other methods to benefit mankind’s desire to ward off illness and to extend life.
Next, man turned toward exploiting the Plant World in an effort to increase crop yield via fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides etc. The use of these chemicals and the concept of factory farming were designed for short term benefit, but has actually resulted in long term harm to soil, water and air that are needed for the nourishment of plant and animal life. Natural crop rotation was destroyed, genetic modification introduced and the quality of fruit, vegetable, grain crops etc. diminished. The number of insects, birds and a variety of other animals is declining at an alarming rate, and the negative impact on the health of mankind is evident.
Not being satisfied with the abuse of the Animal and Plant worlds, man then turned toward the exploitation of the Mineral World with a simultaneous pollution of both air ‒ especially in cities and industrial areas ‒ and water, including the oceans and the sweet water aquifers. Giant pits yielded iron ore, copper, aluminum, coal, oil, gas and gold for both industrial use and profits for owners and bankers, whereas compensation, working and living conditions were often quite dismal, even harmful for those engaged in the countries of extraction of the minerals.
The gradual changes from agriculture to industrialization and information technology have impacted the quality of life for man, beast, plant and minerals alike while seriously disturbing the balance of nature. In his quest for greater accumulation of wealth and an extension of physical life, man has continued to disregard the Laws of Nature, seemingly oblivious to the inter-connectedness within our shared Unified Field. And while our solar system undergoes periodic climate changes, mankind has not faced up to the responsibilities of its very considerable participation and contributions to the deterioration of life on our planet.
I believe that mankind has for centuries severely disturbed ‒ even violated ‒ the Laws of Nature, that inherently must re-establish equilibrium within the higher order of Oneness and Inter-connectedness of all living beings ‒ be they man, animal, plant or mineral. Hence, I am not surprised to witness the emergence of the current corona virus, which I consider to be a warning sign ‒ as were previous pandemics ‒ and similar to a fever signalling an inflammation within the body. The challenge to be faced now: Will mankind view this pandemic as a warning sign and make haste in reverting our world to a state of harmony and balance or will the elements of material greed, abuse and politics continue to create further deterioration? The insurance companies have always considered our largely man-originated disturbances and the resulting calamities as “Acts of God” and blamed the Laws of Nature’s quest for restoring equilibrium. Will we continue to do the same or will we take appropriate responsibility and finally become a real Brotherhood of Man?
