Fido and Cleopatra A Story of Separation

Imagine an earth where there are no humans. Imagine a field where a dog (Fido) and cat (Cleopatra) are lying near one another. All of a sudden, both see this magnificent light within their field of awareness, which grabs their hearts, and the following message is conveyed to them by this loving light, a message so powerful that it cannot be denied:

You are one, not two. Each of you is a manifestation of one spirit.

Now, stick with me on this scenario for a second, as silly as it may seem. Imagine now that Fido and Cleopatra begin to attempt to express this truth conveyed to them. Fido begins barking repeatedly, very anxious to explain this wonderful good news. He tries to tell Cleopatra about his interpretation of this message. But it comes out only as "roof, roof-roof . . . roof." Fido is convinced that his interpretation is correct. Cleopatra is perplexed. She doesn't interpret it that way at all. Her interpretation is "meow... me, meow." She swears that the meows she is uttering match exactly the truth of the message which was just etched into their hearts.

The two become angry at one another, scared. Fear begins to drive them. Each believes that the other's interpretation is wrong. Each has mistaken his own interpretation for the divine message. Once it was captured by the brain, Fido made the message his message. It became about him, and about his interpretation prevailing over Cleopatra's. He now mistakenly believes that the series of sounds coming out of his mouth captures this truth. Cleopatra does the same. She believes that her interpretation captures the truth. The two exaggerate their separation in form with one another, by barking, clawing, biting, and fighting. Each is seen as threatening by the other. The interpretation becomes more important than the truth. Each knows that the message was important. But each forgot the core realization, which is that they are of the same light and not essentially separate.

Fido and Cleopatra run away separately, looking to form packs of others who agree with their respective interpretations.

Now, when you read this as a human, you might say: "Fido and Cleopatra are insane. They totally missed the truth of the message." But isn't this what we, as humans, have been doing for thousands of years? We have split off into immeasurable religions, divisions, groups, schools of thought, philosophies, theories, twelve step programs etc etc (the list goes on and on) because it became about the interpretation of the deeper truth rather than the truth itself. The deeper truth is that this is One Life. Our beliefs or interpretations are creating false, mind-made divisions.

So, I'm not proposing a new belief here. I'm not asking anyone to believe it's all One. Do not believe a word I say. But look within yourself, at the ways in which you separate yourself from your fellow human being---from your spouse, your co-worker, your friend, the pastor on TV. You do this through belief, yes? You divide life into fragments. You pick a fragment (e.g. buddhism) and you believe that the truth is in the fragment. But in order for this fragment to survive as a belief, you must insist that the other fragments (Christianity, Scientology) are false. So you are separating yourself from life, are you not? You are doing it, yes? The human mind is doing it. The fragment can never see the whole, can it? Can you ever really see the whether there is truly separation if you are hell-bent on having your fragment prevail in the marketplace of ideas?

I'm not asking you to change a thing. I'm certainly not asking you to believe it's all One. We don't need another belief, another fragment. Continue to celebrate your religions, traditions, and programs. They are absolutely beautiful. I'm asking, "Do you see this fragmentation in the mind?" Not as another belief or thought, but as the reality of what you are doing? Is this not the cause of thousands of years of war and conflict? Ask yourself, "To what extent am I separating myself from the rest of life?" But, ask it seriously, without any expectation of where the question will lead you. Don't seek to find an answer which confirms the truth of your interpretation, your fragment (i.e., your religion or belief). That would not be looking at all. That would simply be a confirmation of your own ideas, which means a confirmation of the attachment to your own memories. That is not a search for truth. That is ego looking to confirm its own story. Don't think about the answer to the question,"To what extent am I separating myself?". In fact, place no conclusion on the question at all. Allow the question to open awareness up to seeing. Let it see the separation thought is causing in each moment. Be a fool for the truth.