All Are One and One Is All

The way we perceive reality dictates all that we experience in life. So how do we know that we are not missing something that could have made our experience in this world a whole lot better?

Do our five senses really provide us with a picture of the world that surrounds us? Science has already proven a long time ago that they do not. It is clear to us that there are innumerable details that we simply do not perceive. So what are we really sensing?

Our Own Interpretation of Reality

First, let's remember how our five senses work. We will take our sense of hearing as an example. It may seem that sound waves actually enter our ears and somehow find their way into our brains. But, in fact, nothing could be farther from the truth.

When a sound wave meets our ears, it is abruptly stopped when it strikes the eardrum. This contact creates vibrations that are transformed into electrical signals, which are then relayed to the brain. Subsequently, our brain interprets those signals as sounds, causing us to believe we heard something from outside.

Our eyes work in much the same way. Light never actually enters the brain, but is stopped by the retina, a kind of screen inside the eyeball. The retina transforms the light into electrical signals and sends them to the brain through the optic nerve. Our brains then create a picture, and again we believe we are seeing something that is outside us.

If we take a good look at this process, a real conundrum arises: The picture that is painted in the brain is entirely our own interpretation of the external stimuli, and not the external events themselves. So how do we know that our interpretation is the same as what is truly out there?

No matter what we perceive from our five senses, the reality we believe to be the world around us is simply our brains’ interpretation of the data we have collected.

All that we can really say for sure is that when we call what we see “a tree,” it is because we interpret it this way. The same goes for houses, milkshakes, and even people. Our entire reality exists only within us, as if a private movie were playing in our minds.

The Kabbalist's Point of View

To a Kabbalist, it is no secret that the whole of reality exists within us. But there is more to this, for despite the endless variety of minerals, plants, animals, and people that we see around us, Kabbalists say only one creature was created. The only difference between us and the Kabbalists is in how we perceive that single creature.

While Kabbalists see a single, collective soul composed of many interconnected pieces, we see us and the world around us, filled with other beings. The only thing missing in our perception is what actually connects these pieces, the “adhesive” that binds the pieces to form one entity.

Now let’s be Kabbalists for a moment: if you feel that you and everything else are one being, then there is only one creature that exists. In that state, all the others are no longer separated from you; they are all parts of you.

This single entity, the single soul that Kabbalists describe is experienced on a deeper, more fundamental level of reality that does not surface to our awareness. Simply put, we are all connected—we just don't feel it.

The wisdom of Kabbalah holds the key for us to recover our lost perception of the one, eternal soul. Once we have regained this integral awareness, not only will our lives in this world be peaceful, but we will also recognize the unique force that originally created us, and that now connects us.