Who Are We? Experiencing Your True Nature
By Sankari Ishaya
Imagine a large bowl filled with millions of ice cubes in various shapes—circles, stars, squares, and more. We notice countless distinct shapes if we focus on the bowl's contents. Yet, each ice cube is made of the same substance: water. When they melt, nothing remains but water.
Now, picture each human being as an ice cube, living daily under the belief that they are separate and alone. They yearn to understand who they truly are, longing to experience something beyond their temporary form, observing a world filled with countless shapes and flavours.
Now imagine an ice cube falling into an infinite ocean and melting. Does it become water? Does it become the ocean?
Truth Pulls Us Back To It
Through habit and ignorance, we've come to identify ourselves solely with our bodies, thoughts, emotions, beliefs, experiences, past, and aspirations for the future. Our identity is rooted in a changing world of forms, beliefs, and time.
Yet, if you're reading this article, something within you is likely seeking more—perhaps peace, purpose, enlightenment, unity, or unconditional love.
Throughout our lives, we experience moments of remembrance, often called "peak experiences". In these moments, time seems to stop, and we feel complete, with no need to change anything. The ego dissolves into pure presence—the ice cube melting into the ocean.
What Is “The Teaching of the One”?
The Teaching of the One is like a lighthouse, guiding us to remember that we are the infinite ocean of consciousness. It points to what already exists within us and all creation.
Just as an ice cube is already water and needs no transformation to exist, we are—and have always been—pure consciousness, embodying unconditional love, peace, acceptance, and presence. You are the awareness behind your thoughts, emotions, and life.
I learned to meditate 21 years ago and have experienced moments of absolute peace—sometimes a stillness so profound it felt like nothingness, empty of thoughts.
"Where are the angels singing?"
These moments are indescribable. Yet, I once believed that to experience the unity described by books and masters, I needed to feel connected to others in a dramatic way. Where were the angels singing, the crown chakra opening, or the universe exploding within me? I longed for a profound experience, convinced this natural stillness wasn't enough. I needed to know that I and others are one.
What Is “Unity”?
Here lies the key: unity, the experience of the One, the peace that surpasses understanding, is the absence of the self—the absence of "me," of a mind bound by time and space.
It is consciousness free of judgments and concepts, experiencing life exactly as it is. In this purity, consciousness awakens, realising—not as knowledge, but as direct experience—that it has always been one.
The ice cube realises it has always been water, that the infinite ocean is within itself, and that the belief in its separate form was an illusion. The limited, self-absorbed mind ceases, revealing what has always been present: stillness, completeness, and presence.
When can this be experienced? Only in the moment that exists—now. We strive to become something else—to be free, enlightened, or happy—believing peace lies in another moment, requiring us to control or change ourselves and the world.
But it's a matter of perspective. We're accustomed to viewing life through the filter of a limited, self-absorbed mind. Our true nature is to be so aware, present, and open that life shines. We remain still, fully aware of change, while resting in our unchanging essence.
I invite you to experience this, to have a direct experience. It is worth everything and it is closer than your next breath.