Week 5 — Sacred Wholeness

In the first four weeks of this course, you explored awareness, thought, sensation, and Inter-Being—the recognition that experience is not as divided into “inside” and “outside” as it may initially appear.

Week 5 introduces an optional interpretive lens that appears in many contemplative, philosophical, and mystical traditions:

Reality can be understood as a single, sacred whole.

Some traditions describe this whole as God.
Others avoid that word entirely.

In this course, no belief is required.
This lens is offered simply as one way of interpreting an experience you may already be touching.

You are encouraged to use this language only if it resonates, and to set it aside if it does not.

Key Idea for This Week

Stress is often reinforced by the assumption that:

• you are a small, separate individual,
• living in a vast, indifferent universe.

The Sacred Wholeness lens gently offers a different perspective:

• The universe is not fragmented.
• Reality is not fundamentally hostile or indifferent.
• Individual experience is a local expression of a greater whole.

Whether or not you use the word “God,” this week explores what happens when separation softens at the deepest level.

Clarifying the Language

In this course, “God” does not mean:

• a supernatural being watching from elsewhere,
• a judge or authority figure,
• or a belief system you must adopt.

Instead, it refers to:

• the totality of reality,
• the seamless whole in which all experience arises,
• awareness and manifestation as one living process.

If the word God feels uncomfortable, you may substitute:

• • the whole,
  • reality itself,
  • the universe,
  • Nature,
  • or what is.

The practice works the same.

Core Practice

Resting as Sacred Wholeness

This practice builds directly on Inter-Being, inviting you to experience awareness not as personal or private, but as shared, universal, and inclusive.

Guided Audio Script

Begin by settling into a comfortable position.

Let the body rest naturally.

There is nothing to achieve.

[pause]

Notice that awareness is already present.

Just as in previous weeks.

[pause]

Allow awareness to include the body.

Sensations arise naturally.

[pause]

Allow awareness to include sounds.

They arise without effort.

[pause]

Allow awareness to include thoughts.

They come and go on their own.

[pause]

Now gently notice:

Is awareness something personal?

Or does experience arise within a field that feels larger than “me”?

[pause]

Let go of answering with words.

Just notice what is already here.

[pause]

If it feels natural, allow the sense of awareness to widen.

Not expanding outward—
but recognizing that nothing is actually outside it.

[pause]

Notice that the same awareness includes:

• • this body,
  • these thoughts,
  • these sounds,
  • and the space in which they appear.

[pause]

Some traditions call this whole God.

Others call it the universe, being, or reality itself.

You do not need to name it.

[pause]

Simply notice the feeling of being included, rather than isolated.

[pause]

Notice whether stress depends on feeling separate, small, or alone.

And notice what happens when experience is felt as part of a greater whole.

[pause]

You are not dissolving into something else.

You are noticing what you are already part of.

[pause]

Rest here for a few moments.

No effort.

No belief.

Just allowing experience to be held by the whole.

[pause]

When you are ready, gently allow the practice to end.

Notice that ordinary experience continues.

And notice that wholeness does not disappear.

After the Practice

You may have experienced:

• openness,
• peace,
• neutrality,
• or skepticism.

All responses are valid.

This practice is not about producing reverence or awe.
It is about noticing whether separation is as real as it seems.

Even brief moments of inclusion can soften the stress response.

Informal Practice for the Week

Once or twice per day, especially during moments of stress, try this gentle reflection:

“This experience belongs to the whole.”

Or, if preferred:

“I am not separate from what is happening.”

Do not repeat this as a mantra.

Let it point your attention back to direct experience.

Reflections

You may reflect on one or more of the following:

• Did stress rely on feeling separate or alone?
• How did experience feel when held as part of a larger whole?
• Which language felt most natural for you, if any?

Important Note

This way of looking at things is entirely optional.

If it feels unhelpful or uncomfortable, return to the practices of Weeks 1–4. Awareness, thought, sensation, and Inter-Being are sufficient on their own.

Nothing essential is lost by setting this language aside.