When the Consciousness of One is Shared by Two

In the experience of enlightenment, there is the recognition of absolute unity, perfect, nondual Oneness. An ordinary individual can taste this state of consciousness, but usually he or she can only sustain the awareness of that absolute unity in a condition of meditation or quietude—when the mind is very still and the awareness becomes unmoving, when the many disappear and dissolve into the immanent oneness of consciousness itself. When the individual emerges from that meditative state, stands up out of stillness and begins to act and react to objects that arise in awareness, he or she almost inevitably loses contact with the nondual nature of consciousness itself. When we become aware of the many, we lose touch with the one—this is usually how it works. The consciousness of ego is based on separation — from the other, from the world, from the universe. So in an unenlightened context, the closest we can get to unity is when two or more people are willing to compromise for the right reasons. If each one compromises enough, we can get very close. But we are still separate. Imagine what would happen, however, if each individual were able to sustain the consciousness of absolute nondual unity while relating and interacting in the world of multiplicity. When the consciousness of one is shared by two, we are able to relate in a completely different way that is free from ego. Oneness is not something we work toward, through compromise, but becomes the very ground that we start from. And this changes everything. When this the nondual nature of consciousness becomes the very ground of relatedness, a new world has been created.

— http://www.andrewcohen.org Andrew Cohen]