The Intimacy of Oneness
“When fear dissolves, you no longer separate yourself from this single flow of immense force. Love is continuity with infinite life force, a Oneness of being with no separation. [Love is the key to] opening to this flow of life force.” — David Deida
“The value of the personal relationship to all things is that it creates intimacy . . . and intimacy creates understanding . . . and understanding creates love.” — Anaïs Nin
“Long seeking it through others,
I was far from reaching it.
Now I go by myself;
I meet it everywhere.” — Tōzan (translated by Katsuki Sekida)
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Exercise
The intimacy of Oneness is a sacred and holy place. It is the I-Thou relationship with all life, a living namaste—perceiving, receiving, and honoring the Divine light in one another. When we’re humbled in our humanity and glorified in our divinity, we become infused with the realization: I am in you, you are in me, and ours is a most sacred union. We simultaneously experience the ultimate vulnerability and ecstatic blessing of Oneness. We expand our knowing of ourselves and of one another. We experience the love and desire that the universe has for us and the attraction and allure we have for it. We share an ever-more intimate dance in the kingdom of Oneness. We make love to each moment through our uninhibited expression of the Oneness that is. We become the beloved, the lover, the consort, and the companion. This is the romance of our lifetime: the love affair with the living, waking, breathing God. This is the intimacy of Oneness.
Today you’re invited to explore the rapture and radiance of being alive. This is the moment—right now—for your full surrender to love. This is your solemn vow: to be a radical lover in the world and to live in the intimacy of Oneness. Moment to moment, you choose whether to wake up or remain asleep—don’t be a dead fish in the ocean of God.
Approach your day without holding back: Choose to live and love with an unguarded heart. Before you rise in the morning, take a moment to pause and connect with your heart. Feel your heartbeat. Feel your breath as you watch your chest rise and fall. Feel your body, your flesh, your bones. Feel the blood coursing through your veins. Experience the sacred intimacy you have with your own magnificent self. What are you sensing? What are you thinking about? What are you wanting? Tune in to your internal awareness.
As you get ready in the morning, move slowly, maintaining a graceful connection with your breath, body, and actions. As you shower, feel your skin, muscles, and bones. Be present with your own Divine temple. Allow yourself to touch and be touched with the items around you: a smooth bar of soap, a plush towel, a silky tie, worn denim jeans, soft cashmere socks. Feel the sensations of intimacy all around you.
As you glance in the mirror, look into your eyes. What do you see? Breathe in and breathe out. Take in the image of Oneness that meets you in the mirror. Give yourself time to become fully present in this moment. Feel your own Divine human presence. Whisper “I love you” as you gaze at yourself. Feel the depth of your connection to your soul. Breathe in and breathe out. Experience all of the emotions that accompany this intimacy. Are you touched and grateful or resistant and critical? Just notice everything without judgment or analysis.
Continue with your day; and practice being intimate with everything you touch, taste, hear, see, and smell. Commune with an orange, tango with a flagpole, soar with an eagle, whistle with a bird, coo with a baby . . . permit yourself to explore the realm of radical intimacy. Be a fool for intimacy’s sake! Become fully available—“naked” and vulnerable—to life. Embrace all that arrives to greet you, and be alive and joyful.
Now extend this intimacy to those around you. Be willing to experience others as they truly are. Look beyond the masks, the roles that people play. See into the heart of another, and be open to the life force that exists between you. Feel the I AM presence move you into greater awareness and ever-more fulfilling experiences of the intimacy of Oneness.
Take out your journal, and spend about 30 minutes reflecting on the following questions as a demonstration of your devotion to embracing the intimacy of Oneness:
1. How can I create more intimacy with myself, with God, with others, and with life? What small yet powerful steps can I take?
2. What would loving with an “unguarded heart” look like in my life?
3. How can I calm my fears and soften my heart so that I’m more available to the intimacy of Oneness?
4. How can I move into a more vulnerable and open experience of intimacy with others?
5. What do I need to release? What should I embrace?
6. How would living in the intimacy of Oneness bless me? Bless others?
7. Finish this statement: “The intimacy of Oneness I long for is . . . ”
While you’re lying in bed tonight, say a prayer. Ask the Divine Beloved to work with your heart and soul as you sleep, delivering you to the promised land, the intimacy of Oneness.
1. How can I create more intimacy with myself, with God, with others, and with life? What small yet powerful steps can I take?
2. What would loving with an “unguarded heart” look like in my life?
3. How can I calm my fears and soften my heart so that I’m more available to the intimacy of Oneness?
4. How can I move into a more vulnerable and open experience of intimacy with others?
5. What do I need to release? What should I embrace?
6. How would living in the intimacy of Oneness bless me? Bless others?
7. Finish this statement: “The intimacy of Oneness I long for is . . . ”
While you’re lying in bed tonight, say a prayer. Ask the Divine Beloved to work with your heart and soul as you sleep, delivering you to the promised land, the intimacy of Oneness.
Affirmation
I AM waking up, experiencing the ecstatic nourishment and the radical intimacy of Oneness in life.
I AM waking up, experiencing the ecstatic nourishment and the radical intimacy of Oneness in life.
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