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Once you overcome the other three splits, the first and primary split—overcoming the separation of self from nonself—becomes much easier, although the autonomous self is usually the last to die. When Jesus commands us to love our enemy and to love our neighbor, he’s training us to overcome this split. What you do to another, you do to yourself, and you do to God, Jesus says. He speaks as if there is a real moral equivalence between the self, the other, the Christ, and the God-self. Really quite amazing, you must admit. In various ways, he says “what you do to one, you do to the other.” This is totally clear in Jesus’ teaching, but only the non-dual mind is able to see this—or live this.
The point of Christianity is to be able to experience this radical unity with our self, with creation, with neighbor, with the enemy, and always with God. It is done step by step. Little by little you have to overcome each of these splits. And then you are ready to die! The final splitting called death is almost the natural next step.
Adapted from an unpublished talk in Assisi, Italy, May 2012
The Daily Meditations for 2013 are now available
in Fr. Richard’s new book Yes, And . . . .
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