In order to understand the universal laws, you must understand the difference between spirituality and religion. Spirituality and religion are two distinct and separate concepts (although there can be some overlap); a whole blog or more can be written on this alone. For purposes of this blog, and others to follow, I will use a simplified distinction between spirituality and religion.
Spirituality
Spirituality refers to one’s soul, the inner self, the heart. People who say they’re spiritual tend to look within themselves to explore deeper meanings of their lives and their purpose, it’s a way of being.
Religion
Religion, on the other hand, is an institution where certain ideologies are predefined and handed down from generation to generation by leaders within a specific faith. It’s more about adhering to rules and beliefs.
Some people say they’re religious, while others say they’re more spiritual. There is no one right or wrong way to be. If you are more spiritual than religious, I respect that. Equally, if you are more religious than spiritual, I respect that as well. Both bring an immense amount of peace and love into people’s lives.
What are Universal Laws?
This blog is not about religion or spirituality – per se, it’s about the Laws of the Universe.
Laws of the Universe are steadfast principles that we can use to create and increase balance and harmony with ourselves and with the world around us. They are spiritual in nature and not founded on a specific religion or religious practice. Some are well known – such as the Universal Law of Attraction. Others, are not as widely known, or used.
This is the first blog, of twelve: each one dedicated to a different Universal Law.
The Universal Law of Oneness
The Universal Law of Oneness is the first universal law. This law, simply put, is one of connection. The connection of me to you, you to those who live across the world. It’s the connection of all energies on this planet.
The Universal Law of Oneness speaks to the fact that we aren’t really one individual person living in a world filled with billions of other individual people, but rather that we are energy always connected to all the other energies of the world – those 10 feet from us, thousands of miles from us, and even to those living up in the International Space Station. Distance really has no bounds to the Universal Law of Oneness – we are one. What hurts one hurts others because we are unified.
Many great minds eloquently spoke about our oneness, our connection:
“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
“The most important principle of divine philosophy is the oneness of the world of humanity, the unity of mankind, the bond conjoining East and West, the tie of love which blends human hearts.”
– ʻAbdu’l-Bahá
“We are all one. When we allow ourselves to become aware of this statement in its purest form, we open the doors to reveal the oneness of being.”
– Jim Harrison
“Peace will come to the hearts of men when they realize their oneness with the universe, it is everywhere.”
– Black Elk
“The heart of the matter is always our oneness with divine spirit, our union with all life.”
– Nhat Hanh
“Whenever we see any disagreements, we must think how to solve them on the basis of recognition of oneness of the entire humanity.”
– Dalai Lama
“A person experiences life as something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. Our task must be to free ourselves from this self-imposed prison, and through compassion, to find the reality of oneness.”
– Albert Einstein
Final Thoughts
Oneness is not synonymous with sameness. We are not the same, nor are we meant to be. We are meant to live life, here and now, with our unique physical form and experiences, from this we expand into higher consciousness and awareness. Our uniqueness is what allows us to learn, expand, and grow.
“There is a big difference between oneness and sameness. Oneness implies that we’re all connected and that we all come from the same source. Sameness implies that we all have to do things and exactly think the same way as everybody else does.”
Wayne W. Dyer
An important concept to remember about the Universal Law of Oneness, it does not speak to sameness. As humans, we have individual likes and dislikes. Individual personalities, traits, and characteristics. We are as unique as the snowflakes that silently float to earth. Despite this uniqueness, we are always connected together as one collective universal consciousness. Ever-growing and evolving together. This is the Universal Law of Oneness.