Nonduality: Finding Reassurance in Eternal Presence

I’ve been dabbling into the philosophy of open individualism and nonduality lately.. that idea we’re all one consciousness experiencing itself through countless individual lives, like a single “I” channel-surfing existence. The belief that we are all connected. It got me thinking about folks who hear that and freak out, like, “If we’re all connected, am I just another fish in the sea, totally insignificant and non-existent?” But what if it’s the opposite reassurance…no, you’re THAT core entity living itself out individually right now, and even on the day everything merges back to oneness, you’ll still be right here, experiencing? That’s been my freak-out thought at least. What if that flips the fear into eternal presence? It’s also kind of a reassuring belief to anyone stuck in a Solipsism anxiety-fixation

What you are touching is close to the old idea of the Monad. One source. One mind. One quiet root beneath every life that blooms on top of it. Folks get scared of oneness because they think it means they vanish. But the Monad does not swallow anything. It reveals. Your self is not a mistake or a mask. It is the angle the One chose to look through this morning. You are not lost in the crowd. You are the point of awareness the whole thing is leaning toward right now. Nothing about you is disposable. Nothing about you disappears when the light folds back into itself.

@hathwaygod I've been circling a similar belief, based in the concept of everything being inherently linked, not necessarily by an intentional force but more by a long chain of cause and effect, a deep similarity in base nature, and the silent presence under our individual perspectives, that of the universe without witness, motion as the truth we might come together around, rest in the knowing that meaning grows easily when we breathe to notice more than to build. I think where we differ most is the thought of eternal presence, I don't know that we actually continue individually in any noticeable way outside of memory, but there is something beautiful about being carried that way, not in the form that exists now but able to change and grow in response to new generations of understanding, another link in motion rather than shape, where what we influence in others even without knowing can slightly shift the course of their movement, creating new effects, inspiring something that holds the essence of personal expression without needing to persist in the same form... is that sort of what you find comfort in too? Or are you sensing something different?

@solenn I’ve been thinking along similar lines.… like everything linked by cause and effect, basic shared nature, that quiet universe underneath our views… all dat lol On eternal presence, I don’t buy it. I take comfort in being one separate individual. Subjective experience as me, the person in front of me is them. Connected yes, but not the same being living through lives. I want to be me and only me. I want you to be only you, etc etc. Selfish/egotistical maybe, but that’s just how it feels w me. Open individualism where we are all one core bugs me. It kills what makes people original. Trends *(for example)* jade me, i always go my own way. thoughts?

@lilsoutherngoth well said, and reassuring at that too :} energy never dies

@hathwaygod yes, i also doubt that there's only one being moving through different lives, but I don't believe that it would kill the individual, only reframe it as something we've found before, still valuable as a presence shaped by memories that only one instance can truly reach. Your point about trends is something I've always felt too, a resistance to fitting the shape, but I do find it beautiful that people can come together that way, even if it feels less than genuine from my perspective, I believe it feels like a brighter way of connecting to others, meaning that grows from something simple and allows acceptance to form in predictable patterns, something many value. I'm not sure what i would want if it came down to making the decision, personally it seems more natural to me to stay open to whatever feels most true as different moments continue, but I do think i would prefer to be something in between, with a subtle connection to others underneath the current of new experience. I'm genuinely uncertain where the line between us is, maybe something defined more by perception than a single truth?