I’m on a Larry Dossey kick. He’s a physician who seeks to bring scientific understanding to spirituality. I can’t get enough of his books. The one I’m reading lately is One Mind. How Our Individual Mind Is Part of a Greater Consciousness and Why It Matters.
One image caught my attention. When we look at a map, the coastlines appear to be solid. There is a crisp distinction between the sea and the shore. But when you’re at the beach, you know this isn’t so. There is water in the sand and sand in the water. It’s a porous boundary.
Our minds need this same sort of porosity. When there are iron curtain-like boundaries, when one part of the mind cannot communicate openly with other parts, it results in separation. This can lead to things like multiple personality disorder.
Similarly, we need the boundaries in society to be more like the shore and less like the iron curtain. Boundaries that are too firm result in world problems. Cultures thrive where there is interconnectivity, communication, and integration.
Unfortunately, we seem to be in the process of establishing increasingly impermeable boundaries. The more video cameras on banks and houses, the more motion detectors, and the more locks we install, the more we separate ourselves from others in the name of security. There are now more guns in the United States than there are citizens. And we wonder why we feel increasingly estranged from one another.
One Mind delves deep into philosophy and spirituality. It’s a heady, excellent read. I can’t possibly sum it up in the 400 words I use here. But the book clearly shows that a Universal Consciousness that unites us all. Studies have shown that this is a reality.
So, how do we begin to break down the barriers that we’ve built up? One simple way is through visual experiences that momentarily fill us with a sense of awe, whether it’s a jaw-dropping sunset or a powerful artwork. These events stun the mind into a blur, creating a delicate attunement or calibration. This then invites in the Divine Mind and influences the individual mind. The individual mind becomes increasingly like the Divine Mind.
This week, get out from behind that locked door and watch the sunset. Go to a museum. If you’re in Las Vegas, see the mind-blowing Postcard from Earth at the Sphere. Break out of a rut or mind-numbing habit. Stun your mind to reconnect with the Divine.
