Each tentacle that used to be anonymous
Is now, by mutual consent, autonomous.
They may, at first, behave like fools
But they’ll do better when they know the rules.
The Golden Rule shines brighter than the Sun
– one and one and one and one makes One!
“Universal Octopus” is used as a mental concept to express the profound underlying Oneness of everything. How every individual thing is connected to every other thing within the Whole in which all exist.
Universal comes from “unis”, one and “vertere” to rotate or change. It indicates something which is a unity, rotating and rolling on and ever changing. Because it is One – all life forms are created to live in harmony but mankind has so misused its “dominion” over created things that there is now disharmony everywhere, which is expressed in physical disease in human, animal and plant life.
The world is like a Universal Octopus with every individual a tentacle of the One.
“The Centre” is a verbal concept to express Totality – the “nature and origin of everything and its relation to the Whole in which all exist.” It needs to be considered together with its ideograph of a circle.
The line of the circumference is there to indicate the oneness and non-duality of everything. But we can illustrate, conceptually, the relationship of the One and the many by developing this circumference line. This makes it appear as a kind of UNIVERSAL OCTOPUS but with an infinite number of tentacles.
The tentacles reach out and take on material form. They are manifestations of the Centre and therefore not identical to it. But not separate either. The Centre is the centre and circumference of everything. The tentacles reach out from it and subside back into it. Like waves in the ocean. The energy that keeps this going is Desire. Desire to experience Other. There is no Other. Only other appearances of the same thing. The Centre.
If a tentacle strikes another tentacle, it is striking the One. It is striking itself. This is why karma works as it does. What you do to another, you do to you.
It is done to you by you!
Everything created is interdependent. What affects one tentacle of life must affect all other tentacles as well. If we deliberately cause suffering and disease in other lives, we increase our own suffering and disease.
Think of the disease and torture inflicted on laboratory animals in a futile and foredoomed attempt to combat illness. All creation is tormented through the ghastly agonies which the vivisectionist inflicts on helpless animals. Any relief of illness supposed to be removed by “knowledge” gained at the expense of such agonies will be paid for many times over in increased suffering in some other part of the Whole.
The Universal Law is “What you do to another you do to yourself.”
The tentacles look out at each other. The outward-looking senses make it appear that that tentacle is over there. Whereas I am here.
The computer/brain immediately calculates and comes up with – based on the evidence, since these two things are not connected, they are separate. That’s you. This is me.
The computer is not malfunctioning. Based on the evidence presented to it, its conclusion is valid.
With the diagram we can see that the tentacles are all joined at the base and in no way separated from the content of the Centre.
But the tentacles are a product of the outward-looking sense represented by their eyes. Their eyes can only see tentacles.
To see where they are joined together needs another sense that is not outward looking. The tentacles, you, me, and the others, are not really joined at the feet. We would soon see it if they were. We are joined at the Centre. The Centre is not outside the tentacle, not outside our bodies. It is inside. Right at the centre of our bodies. Right at the centre of the tentacle, which in the diagram is represented by its base, beyond which it just merges into the undifferentiated One.
The tentacles can reach out as far as they like and develop as many eyes (and other senses) as they wish. They only ever see more and more tentacles. If they want to find the origin of everything, including tentacles, they have to look back inside, withdraw back inside and travel back inside. So it is with you and me.
One and not two,
that’s all you have to do.
One and not two.
Wherever you go.
That’s all you have to know.
Download UNIVERSAL OCTOPUS leaflet here.