The 40 days to Oneness and Global Oneness Day by Anakha Coman and James Twyman

Practice 12

The Temple of Oneness

“Your daily life is your temple and your religion. When you enter into it take with you your all.”
— Kahlil Gibran

“This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.”
— The Dalai Lama

“The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him—that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free.”
— Swami Vivekananda

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Exercise

What would it be like to feel at home wherever you go? At home in your body, in your relationships, in the world, and even in the universe? What if you could experience everything as holy and whole? What amounts of peace, freedom, and joy might that bring you? Today you’re invited to experience everything and everyone you encounter as an integral aspect of the temple of Oneness. All are invited into this temple, and everything is contained within it. Nothing exists outside of the sacred temple of Oneness.

Begin this practice with a deep realization of your own wholeness. Remember that you’re a sacred temple—home to the Divine, to Oneness, to Love. This is your true identity, your Soul’s identity. You are a temple of Oneness. Know this, and become rooted in this truth. Emanate and radiate this essential wisdom: I AM a temple of Oneness—home to God, a house of Love. Allow the inner fire and light of this temple to grow and encompass your whole body. Feel the temple of Oneness surround you.

Now imagine this view expanding to include your home, neighborhood, and city—the traffic, the buildings, the people, the streets, the cars, and so forth. Imagine everything enveloped by the warm light that shines in the temple of Oneness. Expand your awareness again to include the state in which you live, your country, and eventually the entire planet. All sentient beings and all of nature are living in the temple of Oneness. Allow your experience to expand even further to include the universe. Explore every aspect of the temple. What lives within this holy sanctuary? Do you see children, animals, stars, plants, people, statues, oceans, rivers, mountains, buildings, and cars? What else? They are all living temples of Oneness.

Slowly allow your awareness to return to your own body. Feel the world and the cosmos contained within you. Sense the cells in your body, and know that each is an entire universe unto itself. Remember that you inhabit all of these temples of Oneness—from microcosm to macrocosm. There are many temples held in the One temple, as Jesus affirmed: “In my Father’s house are many mansions.”

Remember this as you walk in the world today. Look upon everyone and everything with the gaze of Oneness. This transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary. A tree, a cloud, a bicycle, a poster, a mini-mart, and a cat are all living temples of Oneness. With everything you encounter, ask yourself, What does this temple of Oneness hold?

Feel at home wherever you go. No place, person, or experience is foreign. Remember that all beings, all things, are Divine, integral parts of the expansion and expression of Oneness.

Affirmations

I AM awake, walking in the world.

I AM a holy temple of Oneness.