Nancy Nelson
Sep 6, 2018 · 4 min read

My Secret Aversion To the Idea That We Are All One

No one can get very far in their search for spiritual meaning in life before running across the phrase “We are all one.” I accepted this saying as truth quite early on, then mentally filed it away without giving it much thought. There were other more interesting topics to explore.

Then I obtained a copy of the well-known, self-study spiritual thought program “A Course In Miracles” — pretty much de rigor reading material for anyone interested in metaphysics and spiritual development. The course is designed so that if you do one lesson daily you will be able to finish it in a year’s time. I jumped in and started working my way through it. I was committed and made good progress — until I got to a part that explained that all separation between myself and others is an illusion, and that we are all one.

Have you ever actually stopped to think — to really think — about what “We are all one” actually means? Whether or not I correctly understood the point that “A Course In Miracles” was making, I had the image of a bunch of people melting into each other, with no ego to differentiate one person from another. We would all be …the same, indistinguishable, replaceable.

Frankly, the idea creeped me out. I didn’t want to be just like everyone else or some mindless clone. Being unique is what makes me valuable — it’s what makes everyone valuable. If we were truly all one, would we be ourselves anymore? Would we still hold a unique love for our children, or would we feel for them exactly what we feel for that annoying neighbor down the street? Would my best friend be able to replace me with a random stranger working in the next office? Would anyone miss me if I wasn’t there?

I like differentiation.

I put away “A Course In Miracles” for several weeks, and when I went back to it, I was slower and less eager than previously. It took me over two years to complete.

During the following years I mouthed the “We are all one” mantra, but I avoided thinking about it in any detail. It’s even a theme that kept popping up throughout my channeled material, but I did my best to ignore it. The idea made me feel uncomfortable.

Then I attended a week-long program at The Monroe Institute (TMI). While the overall mission of TMI is to advance the exploration of human consciousness, one of the main goals of the specific program I attended was to connect with nonphysical intelligences. Aliens! At last something I understood. While there were other, equally important goals, this was the one that jumped out at me.

What was not explained beforehand, however, was that while in previous programs the stress was placed on what you — the individual — were able to experience, in this program the emphasis would be on your experience within the group (the group being the other 12 individuals who were going through the program with me). I was rather taken aback. I had just met these people, didn’t know them, and was reluctant to open myself up should the experience become too personal (a common occurrence in these programs). During our sessions we were supposed to reach a certain level of consciousness during meditation, “look” around for our other group members, and then continue -as a group- to the next stage of the exercise.

I wasn’t looking forward to it but I did as told — and was surprised at my experience. It wasn’t the “melting” into an indistinguishable mass that I had feared from “A Course In Miracles,” but more of a melding into something bigger than me. Like people on a bus traveling together for a purpose, but still ourselves. But now we were bigger, more powerful, and we resonated.

And I loved every single one of them — an emotion that took nothing away from my children, my friends or myself.

I no longer fear the idea that we are all one. To me, “We are all one” no longer implies that my life and personality will be washed away to become some nameless cell of a bigger thing. Instead, it’s an act of creation — the joining of our forces together to better express the wonder and awe of life and consciousness in the universe.

And now I can’t wait.

Nancy Nelson

Written by

Retired diplomat, psychic intuitive, and channel. Author: The Storm Wind, Channeled Guidance For Unsettled Times.”

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade