Unity With Source

This is not a phrase one would hear in Buddhism, but there is no reason why not. There are many ways to look at and translate experience, depending on one’s taste. If we have one taste, then it’s all the same; it’s all one!

The word ‘Source’ is a new word introduced into the language as an alternative to the word ‘God’, but by definition, God must be pure, timeless and unlimited awareness. All we need to do is follow the steps in taking anything apart to see what is left, rather than jumping to assumptions.

A psychological confusion occurs when we describe this ‘Pure Timeless Awareness’ or ‘Source’ as separate or different from ourselves, our ‘essential nature’, our ‘essence’.

The word ‘mysticism’ is a good starting point:

Dictionary:
Extraordinary experiences and states of mind. In modern times, “mysticism” means the aim at the “union with the Absolute, the Infinite, or God”.

Wikipedia:
‘Mystic’: a person who seeks by contemplation and self-surrender to obtain unity with or absorption into the Deity or the absolute, or who believes in the spiritual apprehension of truths that are beyond the intellect.

The interesting word here is ‘unity’ or ‘union’; an understanding of this will depend on how we translate the experience of ‘union’. We can see this as either something we join, or something that we are already. In the first case, two become one and in the second there were never two in the first place.

The question is, “What are ‘we’ and what is ‘it’?” Here, I am talking from a Buddhist perspective. We are awareness, for without awareness (some might call this consciousness) nothing would be known. All creatures have awareness. However, this awareness is contaminated by a belief in a self image – a mental construct – and so this awareness is limited.

When this awareness truly looks inward on itself, it finds nothing but awareness. This finding nothing but awareness is pure awareness. That is Essence, Source, Union, Oneness of relative and absolute reality.

It’s that pure and simple.
If there was an external source,
it would have to be pure and aware.

If we say that God is all-knowing,
we can say the same about the enlightened state.
It’s that pure and simple.

‘Union’ or ‘unity’ is not that there are two separate things that become one: rather, the nature of one reflects the nature of the other. A belief in an external creator and the idea that we are the creators are not compatible, and therefore there comes a time when we have to choose which path we are taking, otherwise there will be conflict and confusion, lacking clarity.

Which is the right one? The one that is right for you. Any stance can be refined.