By Gerrit Gielen

Introduction

How do scientists think about human beings? They are usually concerned with our brains, or slightly more accurately, the app operating on the biological computer we call our brain. From their perspective, a human being is someone temporarily residing in a small box called the skull. If the computer or brain breaks down, then the app is no longer active, and we are no longer here. Simple and straightforward, if somewhat cold.

This is not my vision of human beings. I believe that the truth about the human being is far more expansive. The universe is infinite and everything in it is interconnected. Consciousness pervades everything and every human being is part of this one consciousness. Man is not small and finite, boxed in by time and space, but infinite and eternal.

You are not your brain; you are the universe. There could not be a greater difference.

The idea that you are your brain is based in duality, which at the deepest level is a belief that denies your oneness with the universe. A self that is not unified with the universe is a self that is separate and opposed to it. When separation takes hold, other human beings easily seem strange and mysterious, and in some people’s minds that spells danger, which calls for control, domination, and confrontation. This is how duality works, it leads to struggle and suffering on the physical level, and also on the psychological level where there is always the threat of subjugation, nothingness, and death.

Man has no death to die; (s)he is the eternal universe itself.

The conviction that we are separate distances us from the source, from unity. Some people hold on to this conviction, take it with them after their physical death, and cling to it in the afterlife. This creates an energetic sphere or field around the Earth due to their stubborn beliefs in duality. This sphere, which reflects our dualistic ideas, is called the astral plane. Even though we are on Earth, we are connected to it, it influences us and ratifies dualistic ideas and ideologies we hold within us. The astral plane around the Earth is a strong energy field that is an obstacle to making the shift from thinking dualistically to embracing and choosing Oneness. We live in an (almost) closed energetic circle called the astral sphere that perpetuates misery on Earth.

How the astral world influences us, and how we can detach ourselves from it and break the hold it has on us, is what this piece is about.

Before I discuss that, however, I will explain in detail what duality is and how it is rooted in fear.

What is duality?

Duality is two principles that are opposed to each other and cannot be reduced to each other. Duality plays a key role at the level of human thought, but it is not something that exists in reality. It is not a real thing. Everything that exists is part of the same one universe and therefore can never exist separately from the other because the universe is One. An example of duality would be to think that the opposite of light is dark, but in reality, darkness is simply the absence of light.

Human thoughts are full of fear with duality playing an important part in perpetuating it because after all, we are afraid of lots of things on this earth. We are afraid of the dark and feel something may be hiding in it that could hurt us. If something is foreign to us, we see it as unlovable. The dark is seen as something opposite from the light. We feel safe in the light, we don’t feel safe in the dark.

The psychological root of duality is fear. If we fear something, we think it can hurt us, that it is evil and in opposition to us. This is how duality is created and perpetuated. Only when we are free of fear can we experience that we are one with the universe, one with everything.

I can remember talking to a man once who had attended a fundamentalist Christian school in his youth. He said, “I thought back then how lucky I am. I am learning the truth and am chosen, while the rest of humanity is going to hell.”

To think that you are special, and others are not, is an example of duality, which we encounter everywhere. We don’t know the “other,” so we think they are bad, immoral, a threat, and undoubtedly to blame for everything that goes wrong. Think back on history, witches who were burned at the stake, Jews who were persecuted and killed, Muslims who are demonized. We fear anyone with a different skin color and religion, we see opposites as threatening. They must be eradicated, and the result is war, oppression, and suffering.

Our worldview mirrors our self-image. There is a one-to-one relationship between the two. For example, a man who is afraid of women will hold a worldview which judges women to be inferior, dangerous even, and based on those judgements will feel justified suppressing her. Inwardly, he will suppress his own feminine side too, thus negating his consciousness that all is one. If you seek self-knowledge, examine your worldview.

A worldview based on fear puts us in boxes and draws boundaries that separate us—separates us from people, from man and the cosmos, and from man and nature. If we are always afraid of what looks opposite to us, or what is different from us or on the other side of the boundary, we feel justified to control, dominate, and exploit it.

A child who is pumped full of these kinds of ideas throughout his life has to discover for himself that no matter how correct and logical they might have seemed at the time, they are irrational, and fear based. Most people do not change their thinking and escape from the box up in their head. They live their lives in fear and perpetuate it.

Much has been written about fear and duality, and I have touched on it here. Now, I would like to talk about a subject we don’t hear much about, and that is how the astral world plays its part in all of this.

What is the astral world?

Man is a creative being and the astral plane, which surrounds the earth, is an expression of man’s creative power. It is largely the product of human fantasies and desires, whether conscious or not. In the astral sphere, your imagination and fantasies become reality, what you see and experience around you is a direct reflection of your inner state. The separation between inside and outside is removed. You walk around in your own mental and emotional creations, so to speak. Sometimes these creations are incredibly beautiful and rich—beautiful landscapes in the higher astral realms, for example. Sometimes they are not beautiful, they might be dark and violent, or plain ugly and boring. Not every person who dies and passes into the astral sphere possesses a rich and exalted spirit. So, the astral sphere reflects both the exalted and the ugly in man, beautiful pure feelings, and ideals, but also lower feelings of violence and primitive sexual instincts.

Human beings alone do not shape the astral sphere. It is an open field where various kinds of cosmic energies can penetrate and if they are of a pure intention, they wish to help humanity. To give an example, many people who were raised Christian love Mary, the mother of Jesus. The thoughts they have about her take form in the astral sphere where strong beliefs in something, especially if it is a strong collective belief, create an energetic reality. A collectively created “Mary” is thus at work in the astral world, and if this form of Mary is created from pure truth, higher energies can use it to transmit light and consciousness to others. They use human representations to transmit loving energy to them. People on earth can feel that they are being helped and supported by Mary and may even receive messages from her. Through such collective projections, higher energies can penetrate people’s consciousness, and help them transcend the lower astral sphere.

It can work the other way, too. There are many man-made representations of Mary conjured in the mind resulting in different Marys “living” as projections in the astral sphere. To be clear, these Marys are not souls, they are constructs of the human mind, and not all of them have their origins in pure and loving beliefs. There may be heavy Christian ideas projected onto Mary that have to do with sin, service, penance, and guilt.

In addition, the number of Marys in the astral world is multiplied by the fact that there are deceased people who believe they are Mary. If a person on earth believes they are a reincarnation of Mary, they will not abandon this idea after death. They suffer from delusions and will fight to maintain this fabricated identity. They do so by sticking with their dualistic morality, and like to predict disasters, for one reason, because it generates attention and an emotional response from “followers.”

The astral world is a very chaotic place and can be a big source of untruths. There are higher realms in the astral plane where souls can identify the light and source of pure consciousness, but in the lower earthbound parts of the astral world, there is a jumble of human projections, emotions, and desires. As exemplified, there are a multitude of ideas projected onto Mary, and many of them of questionable.

The astral world and life after death

After death, the natural course of a soul is to travel through the astral sphere and leave it behind. After one dies, there is a natural urge for consciousness, to return to the source and from there enter into a new cycle of birth. When you break free from your life on earth, and all the limitations of being human, it is a heavenly experience because there is an expansion of happiness and consciousness. You rediscover your true self, and once again experience oneness with everything. There is a deep remembering, no sense of loss but growth, an integration of your earthly and cosmic being. You realize that at the deepest level you are the source; that you coincide with God. After this natural shift of consciousness, the illusion of duality completely disappears.

This shift only happens when you are in a place of complete freedom. You are free on earth and in the hereafter; no one is coercing you to do anything. But herein lies the trap. It is true that most of us are not free. We are in the grip of rigid beliefs and ideologies based on duality. Until we let go of the fear-based belief in separation, we cannot embrace our inner Oneness. Otherwise, we stand still and remain stuck in the astral plane until finally the wheel of rebirth turns again.

The astral plane is static because what is inside you and what is outside you coincide. You are trapped in a repetition of the same experiences, the same subjective states of mind, which lacks dynamism and growth. The soul will seek to free the personality from this dilemma by immersing it in a unique perspective of experience—a new incarnation.

It is possible that while you are between two earthly lives you may not transcend the astral sphere, and so, you re-enter an earthly life. This is certainly not always the case. For many transcended people, life in the astral world is a pleasant, temporary phase. Most realize that they have physically died and take quiet time to process their earthly life and grow toward the light, aided by loving guides.

The guides help people make sense of their lives and the impact of their choices and actions on themselves and others. Gradually, they release Earth’s atmosphere and all their fear and duality-based beliefs. Love, happiness and beauty are attractive teachers that manage to touch most people and draw them into an upward movement towards the light. And anyone capable of humor and self-reflection is open to this light and further growth.

Most people love discovering that there is nothing to be afraid of, that you have no enemies, that the universe is a magnificent miracle of love. They also experience the joy of their own growth. By letting go of all fears and all fear-based ideologies, they become more themselves.

The key to letting go of the astral sphere and returning to source, to an awareness of your oneness with All, is the willingness to enter into inner growth and to open to love. The reward is great—beauty, truth, and love. It is a liberation from a cocoon of fixed ideas and beliefs. The universe with all its beauty and wonders opens up. Who doesn’t want that?

Unfortunately, there are people who don’t. They do exist. Surely there are quite a few people who hold tight to rigid dualistic ideas. Here are some examples.

– People who have hurt others in the past and refuse to face up to it.

For example, war criminals who believed they had the right to persecute and kill people. After all, to them, they were evil, a threat. Many perpetrators cling to the belief that they were within their rights to do this, even after their deaths. When you have hurt others because you hold tight to a particular belief, it is exceedingly difficult to let go of it. The more misery you cause, the stronger the belief becomes and the more difficult it is to let go of it.

– Ideological and religious fanatics who practice dualistic thinking.

Many religions, curiously many monotheistic religions, proclaim dualistic ideas. We are good, others are bad. Those who disagree with us (pagans, unbelievers) will go to hell and must be persecuted. There is a deep belief in the separation between man and God. God is great, good, and all-powerful, man is small, sinful, and void. If you identify strongly with such an aggressive religious and moralistic worldview, you will not easily let it go in the afterlife.

– Victims who cannot forgive.

To forgive is to let go. To forgive is to allow growth to occur and to accept the inner Oneness of life. To forgive is also to say yes to the offender in yourself. Not to forgive leads to bitterness. It  blocks the flow of love and suppresses and denies the offender in yourself. You can remain stuck in your identity as a victim even after death.

– People who are completely focused on the outer world and identify strongly with their possessions and careers.

In the astral world, it is possible to continue your earthly life to some extent. You can surround yourself with material wealth and create a bubble of prestige and success. But you will feel basically alone. Life will become increasingly empty and meaningless over time, and before you begin to figure it out and truly long for contact with your soul, a great deal of time may have passed where you stay in the lower astral sphere.

– People who cannot let go of other people.

If you are excessively attached to people still living on earth, a partner, or a child, out of a keen sense of duty, care, and emotional dependence, it can keep you from journeying through the astral sphere and letting go of Earth. If you are excessively attached, you can still feel stuck in the emotions of loss, pain, and powerlessness even on the other side. The inability to draw boundaries and say goodbye can hinder the dynamics of your inner growth. This is true on earth, and death does not necessarily put an end to compulsive, obsessive relationships. The astral sphere is full of a great many souls who cannot detach themselves from Earth. They continue to cling to their loved ones out of fear or dependence.

– People who believe they hold the truth and have nothing more to learn.

An example would be the so called “gurus” of cults. “Spiritual leaders” who believe so strongly in their “teachings” that they want to continue practicing it after death and may even find followers in the astral sphere.

– People who do not listen to their inner voice but blindly follow others.

To allow your decisions to be determined by an outside authority (parents, a partner, school, societal norms, religion) makes for losing touch with your own soul. During your earthly life you will discover that this comes at the expense of your joy, fulfillment, and self-respect. Many people who succumb to this eventually find it unbearable and head into a crisis that eventually brings them back to themselves. But if you continually ignore these feelings and submit to the authority of a guru or any outside authority, alienation from yourself can occur. This alienation goes with you after your physical death and keeps you in the astral sphere which will reflect back this state of inner emptiness.

This is not a complete enumeration, but it gives you an idea of what kinds of people populate the astral sphere. In addition, the astral sphere is full of all sorts of non-human energies that are attracted to it for assorted reasons.

In the astral world, like-minded people attract each other and create a reality that confirms their beliefs. The outer world fits seamlessly with their inner world. This creates an “island of untruth” that the inhabitants mistake for reality. They live on this astral island in a closed system and are often inaccessible to spiritual guides who could show them a different, unique perspective. On these so-called religious islands, which the residents—even if they feel very unhappy there—mistake for heaven, the guides are usually considered representatives of the devil.

In the astral sphere, much more than on Earth, the outer environment reflects the inner life of the person. Because people in the lower levels of the astral sphere are not attuned to their soul, or their inner beauty, their environments are not beautiful, instead there are drab buildings in drab surroundings. Fortunately for the inhabitants there, the desire for beauty is a way to escape that environment. Desire for beauty restores contact with the soul and creates a way out; an opening to the higher realms where a person can accept help and free themselves from the “islands of untruth.”

Besides these islands, there are much larger places in the astral world inhabited by groups of people who share similar beliefs about their identity. This sense of identity may be based, for example, on a common language, nationality, or skin color. If such an area is exceptionally large, it is called a sphere. Inhabitants of a sphere are generally less attached to their identity and more willing to change. Therefore, there is more light and beauty here than on an island defined above. People realize that the goal is to grow toward the light, they take the time to do so, and may realize it is necessary to reincarnate so they can internalize a new and unique perspective.

In general, the larger the area or sphere, the more light there is. Again, the point is—separateness is a sign of untruth. There are still some islands with hardly any residents, however, there are still Nazis on them who are unable to let go of their beliefs.

People who live in high separation—an island of untruth—adhere to a strong dualistic worldview. This worldview causes a suppression of their true self. Believing in some absolute “sacred” truth always leads to the suppression of one’s inner sun and thus, to dwelling in the astral world. This is sometimes seen as a punishment, but it is not. In the universe there is no such thing as a punishing God, or any other authority that dispenses punishment. The situation you are in is purely the result of choosing to adhere to a belief that is not true, thereby suppressing your true self. To embrace the truth is to embrace yourself. To reject the truth is to reject yourself.

To believe that something does not belong, and to deny the unity of the universe always means that you reject a part of yourself. To believe that others are bad, that others do not belong, always leads to an inner rift. The views you have about the universe reflect the views you have about yourself.

The psychological impact of the astral world

The inhabitants of the lower parts of the astral sphere, the islands of untruth have an extreme psychological focus on Earth and reinforce the dualistic fear-based world views that prevail there in the collective mind.

A lot of so called “spiritual information” comes from these islands of falsehood, to which you may ask “how does that work?” Suppose there is a sect leader on Earth who, like many other sect leaders, proclaims a certain doctrine, and in doing so, underlines it with the message, “I am special, I have a ‘direct line up’ and know and see more than you do. You better do what I say, and you will be saved.” After this person dies, they continue to proclaim these “truths” and gather followers. Death does not usually cause people to change their opinions or behavior. Thus, an island of falsehood is created in the astral sphere. However, because his energy is still close to the earthly level, this “teacher” can emit his influence on people who are sensitive enough to pick it up. When they do pick up his messages, they can easily mistake them for the truth.  After all, the information comes from “the other side.”

The ideas proclaimed by such an astral guru reinforce the existing fear and duality on Earth. The receiver of such information, who is already anxious himself or has strong judgments about right and wrong thinks, “You see? I am right. It has been confirmed by a higher source.”

This is a clear example of astral influence, but it can also take place more subtly and unconsciously. Many people sometimes suffer from “intrusions,” or unpleasant, violent thoughts that drift in from the astral sphere that scare them. What happens is that the lower astral world resonates with negative or aggressive thoughts you have and greatly magnifies them. The trick is to recognize those intrusions as non-genuine, like noises you hear from the street, but ignore. You let them be and move away from them.

The main problem with the lower astral world is that the inhabitants of the islands of untruth have a common interest in inhibiting human evolution. After all, evolution leads to man’s deeper connection with his soul, expressing his freedom and light. To those on the islands of untruth, this would mean that they would no longer be nourished and would slowly begin to disappear. Indeed, eventually the entire astral sphere will disappear, insofar as it is the result of losing contact with the soul. A unity consciousness will then awaken on Earth—a world without borders, a world without war, a world of harmony among men, and harmony between man and nature.

Many inhabitants of the astral sphere believe that the end of it will be the end of them. Like many people on Earth, they believe in their own finitude and want to avoid it. They realize, sometimes consciously, sometimes instinctively, that the astral sphere is fed by lower energies produced by humans. So, they try to maintain duality on Earth, and that includes struggle and suffering. They see this as their salvation. The forces of light and love are their enemies. After all, light and love ensure their downfall. The central idea perpetuated by such astral forces is “the battle of good against evil,” pure duality. Paradoxically, they present themselves as “leaders of good” and under this guise provide humanity with “advice” that is often moralistic, incantatory, prophetic, and threatening in tone.

The myth of the battle between light and darkness

There is an ancient belief that the forces of light are battling the forces of darkness, which is the ultimate duality, good vs evil. Consider, for example, the idea of monotheistic religions that teach God and Satan are engaged in a fierce battle over human souls. In fact, there is no such battle. That is a myth. Light does not fight darkness. Where there is light, darkness simply no longer exists. Darkness is the absence of light. People can fight against Christ, who teaches, “love your enemies,” but Christ does not fight back against them. Love does not fight hate. It transforms hate.

An imaginary battle of hate against love, of darkness against light does exist. The inhabitants of the islands of falsehood believe firmly in this form of duality. They see all who believe in the inner unity and love of the universe as a threat. They see themselves as the forces of light fighting against darkness. They proclaim the myth of the battle of light against darkness. Ultimately, they are fighting against themselves. Whenever and wherever people believe in this struggle, they are influenced by the astral world.

How do these influences work? See below.

1) Lower emotions

Analyze the emotions of a crowd during a lynching in which a mass of people ruthlessly and hysterically rages against a victim who has been branded a sinner. Those who participate in such a bloody massacre are driven by an aggressive, animalistic emotion. Astral energies intervene and amplify these emotions. Sometimes this energy is so powerful that it takes control of a large area of a country’s population resulting in pogroms (large-scale persecutions) or war. When such a situation is finally over and a person is free of this influence, they often say, “I don’t know what possessed me.”

2) Unconscious influence via hitchhikers

Many people are not properly grounded, that is, they do not fully occupy their aura, which is a space intended just for them. This creates “holes” in their aura which are an opening or dwelling place for astral entities to enter. Such entities are a source of negative feelings and thoughts. The fact that you have one of these “holes” indicates that you have a limited idea of yourself. You maybe condemn a part of yourself, suppress it and therefore limit your ability to be in contact with your soul, joy, and inspiration.

For example, a man may consider that masculine energy is superior to the feminine, or that in order to be a “real man,” he must suppress his feminine side. If he believes that the feminine is inferior, he will push it away to the point it becomes completely inaccessible to him, which creates a hole in his aura where his feminine energy could flow but does not.

He does not allow it to incarnate in him and find ground. An astral energy can take advantage of this entry point and radiate feelings and thoughts in accordance with the man’s limiting belief. This astral influence magnifies the man’s limited idea. The feminine is seen not only as inferior or nonessential, but as bad, dangerous, something to be controlled and fought against. The duality in the man’s thinking is reinforced and the natural bond of love between the masculine and feminine is undermined. This seriously affects his relationships with women. He behaves disrespectfully toward women, is not able to process his feelings properly, and can become aggressive and depressed.

3) Influence through clairvoyance

Humans who are bothered by ideas of terrible natural disasters happening to them are being influenced by the exact same kind of thinking that has its roots in the astral world. It is possible for a traveler in the astral sphere to perceive these ideas as objective reality. In addition, fears imagined and magnified by the astral sphere are perceived by clairvoyants on Earth, who interpret these representations of fear as an actual picture of the future. A cycle of fear is thus created. Passing along this kind of information from a lower astral sphere is what clairvoyants have inundated us with throughout the ages, but their predictions about disasters and “end of time calamities” never come true. However, many people take those predictions seriously and become fearful as a result, thus feeding the astral world as it feeds them and completing the circle.

4) Influence through channeling and guides

There are many people in this world who believe they are spiritual teachers, or an incarnation of Jesus or some other well-known personality. Sometimes they are so unbalanced that they end up in a mental institution. If they don’t break free from this delusion during their Earthly life, they can continue their “teachings,” and gather followers after they die. They create their own island of falsehood. Because these islands are usually close to Earth, they are easily picked up by people channeling information.

Anyone who bothers to check channeled information about Jesus (Jeshua) will quickly discover that the channeled information about his life is always different. According to one source, he died on the cross, according to another, he did not. According to one, he married Mary Magdalene, according to another, he did not. These different fabricated stories stem from all the “Jeshuas” in the astral sphere that surrounds Earth, and they actually believe they are him.

How do you recognize the truth? It’s quite simple. Truth frees, truth expands consciousness and truth is love. Truth makes you aware of your inner unity, the richness and beauty of life.

Untruth works with fear. Astral sources detect your fears and amplify them, transforming semi-conscious fears into permanent dualistic beliefs, hindering inner growth.

For example, many people fear having no control over their own lives. An astral channeled source or guide will say, “you have no control over your life, it’s true,  humanity is being manipulated by dark forces behind the scenes.” The first thing many people think when their fears are confirmed is, “You see, I’ve always known this, I’ve always felt this deep inside.” As a result, everything they think revolves around those dark powers, while the process that can really lead to growth, facing one’s own fears, is never entertained. Because this kind of information emanates from lower astral sources, fear becomes frozen in a dualistic worldview; good versus bad, light versus dark. This causes one’s inner growth, which always comes from going inward to transform fear, to be blocked.

People are led to believe via these types of guides that they have acquired deep esoteric knowledge and that the masses are naive and ignorant, thus increasing the belief in duality amongst fellow human beings.

How to deal with astral energies

Astral energies have power over us only if we give them power. When we believe in duality, and in the battle of light against darkness, we deny our inner oneness. By denying our inner unity, we identify with something we are not and create a hole in our aura. Thus, there is a place for an astral entity to enter, which does nothing but validate our fear and confirm our belief in duality.

We free ourselves from astral energies by taking three steps.

 1) Choose beauty

Beauty is a mystery. Why do we enjoy music, a beautiful landscape, a beautiful flower, or a work of art so much? We don’t know exactly. Often beauty is not considered important. What is most important to us in life is usually money, career, and prestige. But beauty does matter. Beauty is nourishment for the soul; indeed, it is the awareness of one’s own soul. To experience beauty is to experience your soul, it is a memory of your soul. You are the beauty you see.

People tend to seek complicated and arduous ways to elevate themselves spiritually. But there is an amazingly straightforward way to elevate yourself—open yourself to beauty and enjoy it. Dwell for a moment on a beautiful flower, a sunrise, take time to listen to music, look up at the night sky and behold the stars. Take it in. Life will become so much more inspiring, and inwardly you will feel richer.

Wherever there is beauty, there is a higher vibration—there is the soul, there is your true self.

2) Choose unconditional love

There are people who hurt their fellow human beings and cause them a lot of pain. You can believe that these people are bad, must be fought against, and that you are right to be extremely angry with them. Or you can say, these are people who were severely damaged as children, people who need love to gradually return to a normal state.

If you choose to go along with mass consciousness and choose to fight and rage, you are choosing to suppress something in yourself—the angel in you, who loves unconditionally, the Christ in you, who tells you to love your enemies.

To choose to love your enemies and to be open to compassion and understanding, is a deep choice for yourself, for your deepest core. Your real self is a source of unconditional love. Within you lives a deep desire to lovingly heal all those damaged people who are so violent and so full of hate. Your inner eye sees the wounded child in them.

Choose to love. First, that means to choose to love yourself. Look honestly at the fearful part of yourself and accept it with understanding and compassion. It is a part of you, but it is not your boss. By consciously embracing it, you free yourself from the astral forces that are using your fear to manipulate you. It is your fear and when you realize this, you won’t allow it to flow into the world where it can manipulate others. To love yourself is to take responsibility for your fears.

3) Choose truth

Truth is not something that can be proven; only in mathematics is proof possible. Truth, however, can be shown; truth can be lived and experienced. What is truth? My definition of it is that unity exists in everything, and love transcends time and space. Ultimately, something that cannot be put into words.

Trust that reality will always bring you into harmony with the truth. You never have to convince other people of your truth, don’t worry about that, leave that to reality. When you express your opinion, you can do so openly and quietly with respect and love for the other person. Only words carried by love can touch and move the heart of another.

Finally, what is unity consciousness?

Above, I talked about unity consciousness. But what does that actually mean? What is Oneness? “We are one” is something totally different from “we are the same.” The unity of which I speak is in fact the opposite. We are all different, we are all unique. Unity includes multiplicity and plurality, and by embracing the uniqueness in yourself, you participate in that unity.

Think of your body. It is a unit, yet all the parts or organs are different, and each has its own function in the service of the whole. They form an organic unity. Everything is different, everything has a different function and is a unique part of the greater whole.

This unity consciousness does not lead to uniformity. On the contrary, it leads to embracing diversity. The paradox is that the very suppression of this unity consciousness leads to uniformity. It is precisely unity consciousness that allows each person to flourish in their own unique way and make their own unique contribution to the beauty of the whole that is humanity. In contrast, the denial of our underlying unity leads to pigeonholing people, ideas, and philosophies which suppresses our unique way of expressing ourselves.

Unity consciousness has two aspects that reflect each other, the awareness that inwardly we are one, and thus can lovingly accept everything in ourselves (dark and light), and the awareness that outwardly we are one, the entire universe around us is one and connected.

Both aspects are deeply connected. If we adhere to a dualistic ideology about the outer world, dividing it into boxes such as “good and evil,” we will suppress and condemn things within ourselves. By doing so, we will perceive the world around us in a disturbed way. This will influence our behavior and contribute to the creation of a discordant society. For example, if a man suppresses the feminine in himself, he will also begin to suppress women around him. If many men do this, a society will be created where the feminine is systematically suppressed with all the  consequences that implies—creation of hierarchy, control, violence, and disharmony with nature.

Unity consciousness sounds lofty, but it begins with something remarkably simple and obvious—self-acceptance. As long as we do not accept ourselves as we are, and suppress or condemn certain parts of ourselves, we remain incomplete. This leads to a disturbed dualistic worldview and to spiritual stagnation. This spiritual stasis often persists after death. When we die, there are many changes, but we take ourselves with us to the other side, and that includes all of our beliefs as well. If we have an incomplete self-image, we create a world on the other side that reflects that in the astral world. The astral world influences the Earth in such a way that it tries to sustain itself by empowering duality on Earth.

Ultimately, unity consciousness is the same as unconditional love. As soon as love becomes conditional, there is duality, and we lose touch with unity consciousness.

Unconditional love is first of all unconditional love for us, we condemn nothing in ourselves, suppress nothing. We look at the darkness within ourselves and embrace it with love and understanding. By becoming whole, we experience the unity and wholeness of the world around us.

This enlightening experience makes the astral world, and all others forces that maintain duality, disappear. Then, people can take on their natural role in the universe and on Earth—that of star children.

© Gerrit Gielen

Edited by Suzy Conway

---