There is only one religion, the religion of love.
There is only one language, the language of the heart.
There is only one race, the human race
~ Sai Baba

Today is President’s Day in the United States. It started out as a holiday commemorating George Washington’s birthday on February 22nd, and was later moved to the third Monday in February to celebrate all presidents past and present. I choose this day to speak of love and unity.

There is tremendous division, anger, and upset over the current state of American politics both nationally and internationally. I have my Canadian and European friends asking me in concerned tones how things are in the U.S.? I was recently at a training and the speaker was referring to the source of war and conflict and a participant called out, “Donald Trump”. I thought of how it would feel to be in that room, in the minority, as a supporter of President Trump. I felt the ill will and was moved by how the speaker Eirik Grunde Olsen responded.

He said, “Donald Trump is me. I am the same as Donald Trump. Donald Trump has innate wellbeing. There is no difference between Donald Trump and me. We are all the same.”

With all of the polarizing views related to the 45th President of the United States, his cabinet members, and his advisors, it is easy to get caught up in fear and anger — me too! However, notwithstanding my humanness, it is my intention to bring more love onto the planet and not less. I know those very normal emotions will not serve me if I react to them and act from them.

The truth is, we are all the same no matter what our political affiliation. As the quote  above states, there is only one race, the human race. One of the metaphors I have heard used by George Pransky is about mushroom fields. He explains how on the surface of the ground we see individual mushrooms, but the majority of the mushroom exists underground as one organism. Isn’t this true for us?

We are each magnificent and unique in our human expression, and we are all one in our formless, true nature. We are connected at the source. Beyond the diversity of this world is the oneness of our loving, formless essence.

From the understanding of love, we are all doing the best we can. We are all waking up to our true nature. I know I slip into the arrogance of thinking “what is” should look different, and then I remember everything is a call to love. I see the current political climate as the by-product of our collective consciousness and not the source of the problem. The real way forward comes from each of us experiencing shifts in our own consciousness that have us awaken more fully to our loving nature. We will then, in turn, be kinder with each other individually and collectively.

I am not advocating for passivity. I am encouraging all of us to stand forward even more fully for what we believe with the intention of being for love and not against the learning process. Being human is not a competitive sport. It seems to me that life is about waking up to our spiritual nature. This is an individual process that is enhanced by coming together and looking in that direction with others in whatever form that takes: organized religion, spirituality, ordinary living.

Looking in the direction of love as the true identity of who we all are can’t help but allow us to see more fully the loving essence in all people. This is our common ground. Acts of evil, large and small, are the result of suffering and misunderstanding on the part of the perpetrator. They are disconnected from knowing who they are and driven by fear and distress. There is nothing outside of love, everything comes from the oneness and the divinity of who we are. Our task is to see that and act from that place inside of ourselves. As we change, so will the world.

One of the ways I am looking in the direction of love, is by participating in the upcoming One Solution Conference in Cape Town, in March. I attended the first One Solution Conference last year in Oslo, in person. I will be attending this one via Livestream. This conference focuses on how a shift in consciousness is the one solution to all problems from the individual level to the global level. Having an understanding of how our spirituality and our humanity intersect and interplay points us in the direction of that solution.

As Eirik, one of the co-founders of the One Solution global movement, said at the training, “We think we see the world, but we are filling in the blanks. We don’t see the world, we see our thinking.” When our thinking changes through a shift in consciousness, everything changes. That is what gives me hope, knowing that we are all naturally called forward toward and have the infinite capacity for growth in consciousness. We are all waking up.

Rohini Ross is a psychotherapist, a leadership consultant, and an executive coach. Rohini facilitates personalized three-day retreats to help individuals, couples, and professionals connect more fully with their true nature and experience greater levels of wellbeing, resiliency, and success. You can find out more about Rohini’s work on her website, rohiniross.com.