One - Richard Bach

I just read this book yesterday and wanted to share my thoughts here.

The experience of One was a mixture of relief and restlessness within me. Relief because, I have always wondered if it is possible that we are all the same. I have read in several texts and I do truly believe that we are all from the same source and essentially One. The whole concept of time and place is just an illusion. So, I could be Hitler's reincarnated soul, or Gandhi. I can also be you and you can be me. Basically, there is no clear border as to where I end and you begin, if at all we do. I was relieved that someone has also thought about it and written about it. So, I'm not insane after all!

Then the skeptical part of my brain asked - what about the actual boundaries that we do see. Like, I know where by body ends and where the chair begins. What about that. Then I thought of conditioning. When we are born, we come into this world with different levels of sensations and the ability to feel, see, hear and experience many things. Slowly, our parents, teachers and society conditions us to only feel, see, hear or experience certain things which they approve and accept. Hearing voices from people other than those present in the room is disapproved and so on. So, due to conditioning, the human brain loses the ability to experience all that which was experienced before.

Just because an adult brain can not process the information, the adult eye can not see it, we can not deny its existence. What about all the microbs and bacteria that are only visible using a microscope. Parallel universe and the existence of a parallel self is hence acceptable. We can not deny just because we can not see it with the naked eye.

This whole experience of reading the book was like walking in a storm. So many questions and so many answers unfolding. Restlessness within me and all around me. I felt like I knew the answers to those, but I could not frame it into words in my head. It was the exact same feeling you have when you have the name of a movie at the tip of your tongue, but you don't remember it clearly. The nagging feeling in your chest.

Then I had this another weird thought. What if all this is an illusion? A dream. Could it be possible that what we think we dream is actually the reality and what we think is the reality just the dream? Also, could it be possible that all this is an imagination? Of someone? Is it possible that Earth does not exist at all? Nor does the universe or anything for that matter? Could it be possible that everything is nothing? P.S. I have tried to verbalize my questions here. But I still feel that I have not captured my feelings. Oh! the limitation of human language!