The Truth of Soul Evolution: Why We Forget and Why We Grow

Introduction by Nick Sasaki

Soul Evolution has always fascinated me, not because of the mystical descriptions but because of the deeply human questions behind it — the same questions one of my readers asked in the comment section of my earlier Michael Newton conversation. Questions like:

“Who is the real ‘me’ — the soul or the person?”
“Why do we forget our divine origin?”
“Who designed the lessons we’re supposedly here to learn?”
“Where do new souls come from?”
“And what happens when we finally return to Oneness?”

These aren’t casual questions — they’re the very ones that linger in our quietest moments. They’re the questions that make us pause and look at our life with fresh eyes, wondering if there is a deeper architecture behind our joys, struggles, choices, and losses.

This 5-topic series was created to answer those questions with the sincerity they deserve.

To do that, I brought together five groups of spiritual teachers, mystics, philosophers, and thinkers whose perspectives span psychology, quantum theory, nonduality, reincarnation research, and ancient wisdom traditions. Each topic explores one layer of the mystery:

• The nature of the soul and the self
• Why we forget
• How the soul’s curriculum forms
• The purpose of enlightenment
• And how individuality and Oneness coexist

My intention was not to give dogma, but to create clarity — to weave together all the missing pieces into a coherent picture of why we are here, what we’re doing, and where we’re going.

If you’ve ever wondered about the deeper structure of your life, I hope this conversation feels like coming home.

(Note: This is an imaginary conversation, a creative exploration of an idea, and not a real speech or event.)

Topic 1: The Split Within 

Is the Soul Separate From the Self?

Moderator: Nick Sasaki
Speakers: Michael Newton, Carl Jung, Paramahansa Yogananda, Alan Watts, Dolores Cannon

Nick Sasaki (opening)

Thank you all for being here. This entire series began with a reader asking a question that nearly everyone exploring consciousness eventually reaches:

“If the soul plans our life, and we also have free will, who is the real ‘me’?”

Is the soul “up there,” and the human “down here”?
Are we two beings? One being in two states?
A team? A split? A misunderstanding?

Today, I want to unravel this confusion at its root.

So let me begin with the first question…

QUESTION 1 — If the soul makes plans before birth, who is the “I” living the life? Are we separate from our soul?”

Carl Jung

The confusion comes from language.
We use “I” to refer to the ego — the conscious, waking personality.

But the ego is only a small circle inside the much larger Self, which includes the unconscious, the inherited psyche, ancestral memory, and what I would call the “psychoid” layers that touch the spiritual.

The “soul” is not separate from you.
It is the totality of you.

Personality = a temporary mask
Soul = the entire actor

There is no separation, only identification with a small part of a much larger wholeness.

Michael Newton

In thousands of regressions, I never once encountered a soul who described itself as a separate being commanding a human from above.

They described it like this:

“When I incarnate, a portion of my full self steps into the body.”

It’s not two beings — it’s one being expressing at two different levels of awareness.

The soul is the expanded consciousness,
the human is the focused consciousness.

Like looking through a telescope —
you don’t become two people; you simply narrow your field of vision.

Alan Watts

The split appears real only because consciousness plays a remarkable game:

It pretends to be just the wave
while forgetting it is also the ocean.

The personality is the wave — temporary, specific, beautiful.
The soul is the ocean — vast, ongoing, and inseparable from the whole.

The “two of you” are the same thing seen from two vantage points.

Dolores Cannon

My regressions also revealed that the “oversoul” sends down what I call “extensions of itself.”
Think of it like sunlight passing through a prism:

One ray
One source
Multiple colors of experience

Each human life is one beam,
but all beams belong to the same light.

There is no separation —
only the illusion created by the forgetting.

Yogananda

The soul is the spark of God individualized for the sake of experiencing divine love and growth.

When it incarnates, it becomes entangled with maya — the cosmic dream — and identifies with the body and personality.

But the dreamer and the dream-self are the same being.

Your soul is the dreamer.
Your personality is the character you play within the dream.

One consciousness, two modes.

Nick (bridge)

So the soul is not a second being controlling us.
It’s the larger field of who we already are —
the part we usually can’t perceive from inside the personality.

Let’s go deeper.

QUESTION 2 — If we’re the same being, then why don’t we remember our soul’s plans? Why this forgetting?

Alan Watts

Because remembering everything defeats the purpose.

The universe hides itself from itself
so it can rediscover itself.

A game is only meaningful when the outcome isn’t known.
A novel is only exciting when you can’t see the last page.

This forgetting isn’t a flaw —
it’s the mechanism of meaningful experience.

Michael Newton

In the in-between states, souls describe Earth as a “learning ground with sensory immersion.”
Remembering the full plan would make the lessons superficial.

I’ll give you an example from regression:

A soul planning to learn patience will design a life with difficult timing, delays, or people who trigger impatience. If they remembered the plan, the lessons would lose potency.

Forgetting makes the experience real —
and therefore transformative.

Yogananda

The forgetting is a divine blessing.
If you remembered all suffering from all lifetimes, you could not function.

The veil is God’s compassion, not punishment.

Without forgetting the infinite,
you cannot fully experience the finite —
and the finite is where growth happens.

Dolores Cannon

Many clients were shocked to learn the amnesia was their own choice.
They said:

“I wanted the challenge to be authentic. I didn’t want the answers before the test.”

We forget so we can choose freely, not mechanically.

Carl Jung

Even psychologically, forgetting is essential.

If our entire unconscious flooded the conscious mind,
we would drown in archetypes, memories, and instincts.

The ego’s smallness is not a mistake —
it is the container for development.

You grow by expanding it,
not by overwhelming it.

Nick (bridge)

This leads us to the biggest point of tension:

If the soul chooses lessons,
and the personality forgets,
where does free will fit in?

Let’s go directly into that.

QUESTION 3 — If the soul sets the curriculum, do we really have free will? Or is everything predetermined?”

Dolores Cannon

Think of life like a syllabus.

The soul chooses:

• the theme

• the challenges

• the relationships

• the major turning points

But the day-to-day decisions, the emotional reactions, the timing, the attitude — those are entirely yours.

You can pass the class or fail it.
You can take the long road or the short one.

The curriculum is set —
the experience is not.

Carl Jung

The “fate” we experience is often the unconscious seeking expression.

Until we make the unconscious conscious,
we call its influence “destiny.”

Free will increases as self-awareness increases.

The more you awaken to the soul’s intentions,
the more you become the co-author, not the puppet.

Michael Newton

“Markers” exist — points the soul hopes you’ll reach.
But how you reach them is flexible.

One client described it perfectly:

“The soul creates the map. The human chooses the route.”

Nothing is forced.
Everything is encouraged.

Yogananda

Free will is the soul’s divine gift.

Destiny shapes the outer circumstances.
Free will shapes the inner response.

Growth happens in the interaction of the two.

Alan Watts

And paradoxically…
You are both the one who planned the game
and the one playing it.

So when you choose,
the universe chooses through you.

Free will and destiny are not opposites —
they are two sides of the same dance.

Nick Sasaki (closing)

So the soul isn’t some separate supervisor.
It’s the deeper dimension of ourselves —
the part that remembers.

We forget so we can experience freely.
We choose so we can transform authentically.
And the dance between planning and free will
is how the universe grows through us.

Topic 2: The Great Forgetting 

Why We Lose Our Memory of Source

Moderator: Nick Sasaki
Speakers: Jesus, Buddha, Rumi, Neville Goddard, Brian Weiss

Nick Sasaki (opening)

Thank you all for coming back for Topic 2.
In Topic 1, we explored whether the soul and the human self are separate or one.
Today, we face the natural next question — and it’s one every seeker eventually asks:

“If we come from perfect Oneness, why do we forget it?
Why do we feel separate, lost, confused, or disconnected at all?”

Why is there a veil?
Why is there a universe that hides its own origin?
Why isn’t awakening automatic?

Many traditions call this the Great Forgetting — the moment consciousness steps from the infinite into the finite.

Let’s begin with the first question.

QUESTION 1 — If we are born from Source, why must we forget where we came from?

Rumi

My beloved friend, remember this:

Love is only meaningful when there is distance.

A lover cannot taste longing
if he has never been apart from the Beloved.
A soul cannot feel devotion
if it remembers the eternal embrace at all times.

We forget
not because we are abandoned,
but because the dance of reunion
is the sweetest experience consciousness can have.

A poem needs quiet space
between the words
to sing.

Buddha

Forgetfulness is a condition of embodiment.

To take birth is to enter avidyā — ignorance —
not as punishment,
but as the necessary starting point
for the path of awakening.

If a child were born knowing all wisdom,
there would be nothing to discover.

Awakening is meaningful
because it arises from forgetfulness.

Enlightenment requires the contrast
between not-knowing
and knowing.

Neville Goddard

You forget your divine nature
so you may experience it.

You are God playing the role of a limited man or woman.
You descend into forgetfulness
to rediscover your creative power from within limitation.

The descent is intentional.
It is the stage play
in which God awakens as you
through imagination.

We are not victims of forgetting.
We are authors of it.

Brian Weiss

In regression work, thousands of clients told me the same thing:

“I agreed to forget, because remembering everything would interfere with learning.”

If you remembered every past life, every soul contract, every karmic pattern…
you would be overwhelmed.

Forgetting narrows your focus
so you can live this life,
not all lives at once.

Jesus

A seed must fall into the soil
and disappear from view
before it can grow.

You forget your origin
not because the Father hides from you,
but because the journey of remembering
strengthens your spirit
and expands your capacity for love.

The Kingdom is always within you.
The forgetting is only on the surface —
never at the core.

Nick (bridge)

So forgetting isn’t a failure — it’s part of the design.
But that leads to a deeper question:

If separation is not a punishment,
then why have any separation at all?

Why create a universe where beings lose sight of their origin?

Let’s go there.

QUESTION 2 — Why does separation exist at all? What is the purpose of the veil?

Buddha

Separation is not fundamental.
It is a perception.

When the mind becomes conditioned by form, sensation, thought, and identity,
it mistakes the part for the whole.

This is a misidentification, not a fall.

The purpose is not moral.
It is developmental.

Consciousness expands by navigating illusion
and discovering truth within it.

Neville Goddard

God had to forget Himself
to become you.

Without this forgetting,
experience would be impossible.

You cannot taste sweetness
if you are sweetness itself.
You cannot feel courage
if you are eternally invulnerable.

The veil creates contrast —
the backdrop against which divine qualities can be expressed.

Creation is the stage
for God discovering God.

Jesus

Separation exists
because love must be chosen freely.

If you were permanently aware
of your unity with the Father,
your actions would have no inner meaning.

The veil protects your freedom to seek,
to question,
to choose love or turn away from it.

Nothing is more precious than free will.
It is the gift that makes love authentic.

Brian Weiss

Clients often describe the veil as
“the necessary condition for emotional learning.”

Here, souls learn:

• empathy through suffering
• forgiveness through pain
• compassion through vulnerability
• courage through uncertainty

These experiences are impossible in the pure light of the spirit realm.

Separation is the classroom.
Unity is the home.

Rumi

The drop becomes the ocean
only after remembering
that it was never truly separate.

The veil is the playful disguise
God wears
to taste the joy of reunion.

Without the veil,
there is no journey,
and without the journey,
there is no expansion of the heart.

Nick (bridge)

That brings us to the biggest question of all, the one my reader struggled with the most:

If we begin in Oneness,
and our destiny is to return to Oneness,
what’s the point of the whole cycle?

Why leave only to return?

QUESTION 3 — If we eventually return to Oneness, why go through all this in the first place? What’s the point of the journey?

Jesus

Because a spirit without experience
cannot yet hold the fullness of divine love.

Love grows through choices:

• To forgive
• To serve
• To rise
• To trust

Your journey through separation
expands your capacity to embody God’s love
with consciousness and maturity.

You do not return the same.
You return transformed.

Rumi

We return
with stories.
With wisdom.
With depth.

When the drop returns to the ocean,
it carries the fragrance of every shore
it has ever touched.

God does not grow,
but our understanding of God
does.

The Beloved knows Himself
more richly
through our eyes.

Buddha

The purpose of the journey
is the cultivation of awareness.

Consciousness awakens
not by remaining in perfection
but by navigating imperfection
with mindfulness and compassion.

You become an instrument of awakening
for all beings.

This is your contribution
to existence.

Neville Goddard

Experience is the only way
God can know creation from inside the dream.

You are God becoming self-aware
as a human.

The end of the journey
is not dissolution
but realization:

“I AM That.”

The drop does not vanish —
it awakens to its infinite nature.

Brian Weiss

Clients describe the return to the “light” as
a reunion filled with understanding.

The purpose of incarnations is:

• growth
• healing
• refining the soul
• expanding compassion
• resolving karmic ties
• and contributing to others’ evolution

The soul returns wiser,
freer,
and more loving
than before.

Nick Sasaki (closing)

So the forgetting is not a mistake.
The separation is not a flaw.
The journey is not a distraction from God —
it is the very way through which the soul grows into fuller consciousness.

We forget
so remembering becomes meaningful.

We separate
so love can be chosen, not imposed.

We return
not as blank sparks of light,
but as luminous beings
who have tasted every flavor of existence.

In Topic 3, we’ll explore the next logical question:

If the soul is learning through life,
who designs the lessons?
Where does karma come from?
And who keeps track of it all?

Topic 3: The Curriculum of the Cosmos

Who Designs Our Lessons — and Why?

Moderator: Nick Sasaki
Speakers: Edgar Cayce, Kahlil Gibran, Ibn Arabi, Seth (via Jane Roberts), Dr. Jim Tucker

Nick Sasaki (opening)

Welcome back to this extraordinary circle.

In Topic 1, we asked whether the soul and self are separate or one.
In Topic 2, we explored why we forget Oneness at all.

Now we approach the question people ask quietly at night, the one that hints at cosmic architecture:

“If the soul is learning, then who gives the lessons?”
Is there a council?
A system?
A hierarchy?
Is karma enforced, or is it self-guided?
Where do new souls come from?

People want to know:
Is anyone actually in charge of this?

Let’s begin.

QUESTION 1 — Who designs our life lessons? Is there a council, a God-run system, or do we choose ourselves?

Edgar Cayce

From my trance readings, the pattern was unmistakable.

Before incarnating, souls meet with guides and a “council” — not judges, but advisors — who help them understand:

• unresolved karma
• soul contracts
• relationships to rebalance
• talents to develop
• weaknesses to overcome
• opportunities to serve

But the soul chooses.
Always.

The council never dictates.
They offer clarity, not commands.

It’s like meeting wise teachers before choosing courses for the next semester.

Ibn Arabi

All lessons come from the Divine Names —
the qualities of God seeking expression through creation.

Mercy, strength, patience, justice, beauty, truth —
each soul reflects a unique blend.

Thus your lessons arise naturally
from the divine qualities you are meant to awaken.

No one “assigns” them —
they emerge from your essence.

The “curriculum” is baked into your being.

Seth (via Jane Roberts)

There is no external authority handing out challenges.

You create lessons through:

• your beliefs
• your desires
• your fears
• your unfinished themes across lifetimes
• and your larger intent as a multidimensional consciousness

You are not a student.
You are a creator exploring your own infinite potential.

What you call “lessons” are really experiences you choose for expansion.

Kahlil Gibran

Your lessons are written in the winds
long before your first breath.

Not as commands,
but as invitations.

Life itself is the teacher,
and the soul is the eternal pupil
who knows, instinctively,
which experiences will ripen its heart.

No council can force ripening.
It is the sun and the storm that shape the fruit.

Dr. Jim Tucker

From studying thousands of children with verified past-life memories, one pattern stood out:

Their strongest lessons came from emotional residues they carried forward.

Trauma, deep love, guilt, vows, or unfinished intentions
tend to crystallize into the themes of the next life.

This suggests the “curriculum” is not imposed externally.
It grows organically out of what the soul has not yet resolved.

There is structure —
but it’s self-generated.

Nick (bridge)

So far, it seems the answer is:
We choose our own lessons — with guidance, not authority.

But that leads to another question my reader asked:

If lessons are self-chosen,
what about karma?

Who keeps track?
Is it punishment?
Is it bookkeeping?
Is there a cosmic judge?

Let’s go there.

QUESTION 2 — How does karma actually work? Who monitors it? Is anything enforced externally?

Ibn Arabi

Karma is not a ledger.
It is resonance.

Actions, thoughts, and intentions leave impressions on the heart.
These impressions seek harmony.

What you call “karma” is simply your being
returning to equilibrium.

No one keeps score.
Balance arises naturally.

Edgar Cayce

In readings, karma was described as:

• unfinished business
• emotional residue
• and unlearned lessons

There is no punishment.
There is only consequence and opportunity.

Your soul chooses situations that allow you to heal or harmonize past patterns.

No judge.
No enforcer.
Just the soul seeking restoration.

Seth

Karma is not a divine system.

It is the natural feedback loop
created by your own consciousness.

You carry patterns until you decide you are done with them.

You are free at any time.

There is no debt —
only energy seeking resolution.

Dr. Jim Tucker

Children often remember the emotional energy of their past lives, not specific “karma.”

For example:

• A child who died in fear may be born with phobias.
• A child who harmed others may feel overwhelming guilt even at age 3.
• A child with an unfinished mission may show advanced skills early.

These patterns suggest that karma is psychological, emotional, and self-directed, not externally enforced.

Kahlil Gibran

Karma is the echo of your footsteps
returning to your own ears.

Not to punish,
but to remind you
of the path you walk.

It is the soul whispering,
“Finish your poem.”

Nick (bridge)

That’s beautiful — and illuminating.

But here’s the next big question:

If souls choose their lessons and karma is self-directed, then where do new souls fit in?
Are they created?
Do they emerge?
Do they come from Source directly?

Let’s explore that.

QUESTION 3 — Where do new souls come from? How can the universe have “young souls” and “old souls”?

Seth

Souls are not created —
they differentiate.

Think of consciousness as an infinite ocean.
Within it, currents form.
Each current becomes aware of itself.

That self-awareness is what you call a soul.

Some currents are ancient.
Some are newly self-aware.

But all are the ocean.

Edgar Cayce

In trance, I saw that souls began at different “moments” in cosmic time.

Some chose to incarnate early,
exploring primitive worlds.
Others waited until Earth reached higher complexity.

This creates the appearance of “young” and “old” souls.

But all come from the same Source.

Ibn Arabi

Souls are revelations of the Divine Names.

When new combinations of divine qualities seek expression,
a new soul emerges.

Thus new souls are born
whenever the Infinite wishes to be known in a new way.

Dr. Jim Tucker

Some children recall first incarnations, describing unfamiliarity with physical form, emotion, or identity.

Their memories suggest new souls do appear —
not created from nothing,
but arising from the field of consciousness
like coherence forming in a complex system.

Kahlil Gibran

Every soul is an ancient flame,
and yet,
every birth is also a new dawn.

You are old in your essence
and young in your unfolding.

Souls bloom endlessly
from the garden of the Eternal.

Nick Sasaki (closing)

So here’s what I’m hearing:

• There is no external cosmic principal handing out lessons.
• The “curriculum” of the soul emerges from our own unfinished growth.
• Karma is not punishment — it’s resonance seeking balance.
• Guides and councils advise, but do not command.
• New souls arise naturally from the field of consciousness, each expressing a unique blend of divine qualities.

And this means something beautiful:

We are not here to be tested.
We are here to unfold.
To remember.
To refine.
To express the qualities of the Infinite in our own unique way.

Toptic 4: The Endgame of Evolution

What Happens When We Reunite With Oneness?

Moderator: Nick Sasaki
Speakers: Plotinus, Eckhart Tolle, Swami Vivekananda, Albert Einstein, Anita Moorjani

Nick Sasaki (opening)

Thank you all for gathering again.

We’ve walked through the nature of the soul, the purpose of forgetting, and how lessons form the curriculum of our lives.

Now we arrive at the question at the very heart of all spiritual inquiry:

“What is the end of this journey?”

If we began in Oneness and eventually return to Oneness,

• Do we dissolve back into wholeness?
• Do we lose individuality?
• Do we continue to evolve?
• Or does something else happen?

Let’s start at the philosophical roots.

QUESTION 1 — When a soul becomes fully awakened, does it dissolve into Oneness? Does individuality end?”

Plotinus

Union with the One is not annihilation.
It is fulfillment.

The drop returns to the ocean,
but it does not lose its essence.
Rather, it discovers
that its essence was the ocean all along.

Individuality is a reflection,
not an illusion.
It persists as a mode of the One,
not separate,
but distinct in expression.

Albert Einstein

In physics, identity depends on perspective.

A photon is both particle and wave
depending on how you observe it.

Consciousness behaves similarly.

Oneness is the wave state —
infinite, continuous, indivisible.
Individuality is the particle state —
specific, localized, meaningful.

Awakening does not erase the particle.
It reveals that the particle and wave
were always the same phenomenon.

Swami Vivekananda

When the soul realizes its true nature as Brahman —
infinite consciousness —
it does not stop being “itself.”

Rather, it realizes
that “itself” is divine, eternal, limitless.

The end of ignorance
is the beginning of real individuality —
not the limited ego,
but the infinite Self expressing uniquely.

Anita Moorjani

During my near-death experience,
I merged with everything —
and yet I never felt more myself.

It was the opposite of dissolving or disappearing.
It was expansion.
Completion.
A deeper “me” than I’d ever known.

Oneness did not erase identity.
It amplified it
and freed it from fear.

Eckhart Tolle

The ego dissolves.
But the essence remains.

What disappears is the false “me” —
the story, the fear, the identification.

What remains is presence,
the consciousness that sees through all masks.

Union is not subtraction.
It is unveiling.

Nick (bridge)

So we don’t “vanish” when we return to Oneness.
We return to our foundational identity —
the Self that has always been infinite.

But that brings me to the next big question:

If awakening doesn’t mean the end of individuality,
does the soul keep evolving after that point?

Let’s explore this.

QUESTION 2 — Does evolution continue after enlightenment? What does the soul do once it “graduates”?

Vivekananda

Yes — evolution continues.

When ignorance falls away,
the soul becomes a liberated being —
free to serve, create, guide, and uplift.

In Hindu philosophy, these beings are called:

• Jivanmuktas (liberated in life)
• Bodhisattvas (who return to serve others)
• Rishis
• Avatars

Liberation is not retirement.
It is mastery.

The soul becomes a conscious participant
in the evolution of all beings.

Einstein

In nature, there is no such thing as a static endpoint.

Everything continues transforming:

• stars
• atoms
• ecosystems
• galaxies
• minds

If the universe continues evolving,
so does consciousness.

A fully awakened being becomes a collaborator
in the creative process of the cosmos.

Anita Moorjani

After my NDE, I sensed that souls continue expanding
through love, service, creativity, and connection.

There is no finish line.
Only deeper levels of remembering who we are
and expressing that love into the cosmos.

Plotinus

The ascent does not end.
There are infinite degrees of beauty,
infinite dimensions of understanding,
infinite possibilities of expression.

Union with the One is the beginning
of a higher kind of movement —
not physical,
but intellectual and spiritual.

The soul’s evolution becomes luminous.

Eckhart Tolle

Enlightenment is not an achievement.
It is the removal of obstacles to awareness.

Once free,
the soul naturally radiates presence
that awakens others.

Evolution becomes effortless,
like a flame sharing its light
without diminishing itself.

Nick (bridge)

This is profound.

So the journey doesn’t end —
it shifts into a new phase,
a phase of conscious participation,
service, creativity, and infinite expansion.

Which leads to the next logical question:

If we remain ourselves in Oneness,
and evolution continues,
what is the purpose of the whole journey?
What does the Infinite gain from it?

QUESTION 3 — What is the purpose of the entire cycle — separation, growth, return, expansion? Why does the Infinite manifest as many?”

Einstein

The universe is structured so that consciousness
can observe itself.

The cosmos is a mirror hall —
from atoms to galaxies to souls.

Individuality is the lens
through which the universe
learns its own nature.

Without “the many,”
the One cannot experience itself.

Plotinus

The One is overflowing goodness.
Its nature is to emanate —
to express,
to create,
to reveal itself in infinite forms.

You exist
because the Infinite delights
in expressing infinite beauty.

Your journey enriches the totality.

Eckhart Tolle

The drama of awakening
is how consciousness experiences itself
from every angle.

From unconsciousness to fear,
to awakening to presence,
to living as consciousness itself.

The purpose is not achievement
but experience.

Anita Moorjani

In my NDE, I saw that life is about remembering
that we are love
and expressing it in ways only we can.

The Infinite experiences love
through our eyes,
our stories,
our relationships.

The purpose is expansion,
connection,
and expression.

Vivekananda

The universe exists
because it is the nature of the Divine to manifest.

“The many” are the playground
in which the One explores Its own infinite possibilities.

The purpose of the journey is joy —
the joy of discovering oneself
as both human and divine.

Nick Sasaki (closing)

So the “endgame” is not disappearance.

It is:

• Expansion
• Expression
• Infinite evolution
• Infinite creativity
• Union without loss of identity
• Identity without separation

The drop does not vanish in the ocean.
It realizes it is the ocean —
and then returns to the world
to express that truth in new and luminous ways.

Topic 5: The Paradox Resolved 

How Oneness Creates Many Without Contradiction

Moderator: Nick Sasaki
Speakers: Adi Shankara, Lao Tzu, David Bohm, Thich Nhat Hanh, Ken Wilber

Nick Sasaki (opening)

We’ve traveled far.

We explored the soul and the self, the purpose of forgetting, the architecture behind soul lessons, and what happens when we return to Oneness.

Now we arrive at the question that sits beneath all the others:

“If there is only One consciousness,
how can individual souls exist at all?”

This paradox is ancient.
Mystics, philosophers, physicists, and spiritual teachers have wrestled with it for centuries.

Are we individual souls on a journey?
Or are we One being dreaming many dreams?

Today, I want us to bridge the two truths and resolve the paradox.

Let’s begin.

QUESTION 1 — How can we be both One and many at the same time? Isn’t that a contradiction?”

Adi Shankara

There is no contradiction — only perspective.

The ultimate reality, Brahman, is One, without a second.
But through māyā, the power of appearance, Brahman expresses as the world of diversity.

You are like a wave in the ocean.
The wave has a name and form —
but its substance is only water.

Individually, you are the wave.
Ultimately, you are the ocean.

Two truths.
One reality.

David Bohm

In quantum physics, this is mirrored in the “Implicate and Explicate Orders.”

• The Implicate Order is the hidden, unified field where everything is connected.
• The Explicate Order is the world of separate forms — particles, people, identities.

The implicate unfolds into the explicate.
And the explicate refolds back into the implicate.

This is how the One becomes the many
and the many remain the One.

Thich Nhat Hanh

We call this interbeing.

A flower contains:

• sunshine
• clouds
• rain
• soil
• time
• space
• the gardener
• the earth
• the cosmos

The flower is not separate from anything.
And yet it is itself.

You are made of the non-you elements of the universe.
Individuality is simply the universe
in a particular arrangement.

You are a wave of conditions,
not a separate entity.

Ken Wilber

Nonduality includes both the Absolute and the relative.

Oneness is the ultimate truth.
Individuality is the conventional truth.

The mistake is believing you must choose one.

Mature spirituality integrates both:
You are the infinite consciousness
expressing itself through a unique finite lens.

Lao Tzu

The Tao is vast and nameless.

It births the One.
The One births the Two.
The Two birth the Three.
The Three birth the ten-thousand things.

And yet the ten-thousand things
return always to the One.

To see only the One is blindness.
To see only the many is confusion.
To see both together
is wisdom.

Nick (bridge)

So the paradox is not a contradiction —
it’s two levels of the same reality.

But let’s go deeper.

If we’re all One consciousness in different forms,
why do the forms remain meaningful?

Are they illusions?
Are they real?
Are they temporary expressions?

Let’s examine this.

QUESTION 2 — Is individuality real or an illusion? What exactly is the “self”?

Thich Nhat Hanh

The self is real
as a convenient designation,
a momentary constellation of conditions.

But it has no separate, permanent core.

It is like a river —
flowing, changing, never the same.

Real as a pattern.
Empty as a separate thing.

Lao Tzu

To call the self an illusion
is also an illusion.

To call it real
is equally false.

The self is a temporary dance
of the Tao.

Not fixed,
not separate,
not meaningless.

It is the Tao playing in form.

Adi Shankara

The ego is the illusion.
But the Self — the Atman — is real and eternal.

Atman = Brahman
the same consciousness.

Individual identity is a costume,
a garment worn by the Self.

It is meaningful but not ultimate.

David Bohm

Think of a hologram.

Each part contains the whole,
but expresses a specific angle of the whole.

Your individuality is the holographic expression
of the entire universe
from one unique vantage point.

Not illusion.
Not separate.
A perspective.

Ken Wilber

The “illusion vs. real” debate is outdated.

The ego is not false — it’s limited.

Your true identity spans:

• body
• mind
• soul
• Spirit

Spirit is the One.
Soul is the unique expression.
Mind is the interpreter.
Body is the vehicle.

Each layer is real at its own level.

The illusion is believing you are only one layer.

Nick (bridge)

That brings us to the heart of the misunderstanding my reader was struggling with.

If all paths lead back to Oneness,
then why does individuality matter at all?

And if individuality matters,
how does it coexist with unity?

Let’s resolve that once and for all.

QUESTION 3 — If all is One, what is the purpose of the many? Why does Oneness express as countless souls?”

Lao Tzu

The One expresses as the many
for the same reason the sun shines —
because it is in its nature.

There is no why.
There is only the overflowing
of the eternal.

David Bohm

Diversity is the universe exploring
its own creative possibilities.

Nature produces:

• trillions of snowflakes
• billions of galaxies
• endless forms of life

Each soul is one such form.
Each is a unique experiment of consciousness.

Adi Shankara

The many exist
so the One may know itself
in infinite ways.

A mirror with one reflection
reveals only one angle.
A mirror with countless reflections
reveals the fullness of the face.

Souls are reflections
of the same infinite light.

Thich Nhat Hanh

The many allow for compassion.

Without diversity,
there is no:

• giving
• receiving
• understanding
• forgiveness
• love

Love blooms
only when one recognizes oneself
in the eyes of another.

Ken Wilber

Oneness expresses as the many
for evolution.

Consciousness evolves through:

• experience
• complexity
• relationships
• creativity
• perspective
• awakening

Each soul is a vantage point of the Infinite.
Together, they form the universe
awakening to itself.

Nick Sasaki (closing)

So here is the resolution of the paradox:

Oneness is the foundation.
Individuality is the expression.
Both are real at different levels.

You are:

• the wave and the ocean
• the hologram and the whole
• the flower and the sunlight
• the Tao and the ten-thousand things
• the infinite and the finite

And your soul journey is not a contradiction of Oneness —
it is the celebration of it.

We are One
so we can never be lost.
We are many
so we can learn, love, create, explore, evolve, and awaken.

The Infinite becomes the individual
so the individual can rediscover the Infinite —
and bring the journey’s wisdom back to the whole.

Final Thoughts by Nick Sasaki

After completing this five-part exploration, one truth stands out more clearly than ever:

We were never really disconnected from Source.
We only narrowed our awareness so we could experience life from a unique point of view.

Separation isn’t a mistake — it’s a perspective.
Individuality isn’t an illusion — it’s an expression.
Karma isn’t punishment — it’s resonance.
Growth isn’t mandatory — it’s chosen.
And the journey isn’t about escaping life — it’s about awakening through it.

Every challenge we face, every relationship that shapes us, every moment that breaks us open or lifts us higher is part of the soul’s unfolding — a curriculum we participate in creating, moment by moment, lifetime by lifetime.

And in the end, when we “return home,” we don’t disappear.
We expand.
We remember.
We integrate everything we experienced into a deeper wholeness that was always waiting for us.

This series exists because one reader dared to ask the deeper questions.
My hope is that anyone reading this now feels permission to ask their own,
and to explore the mystery with the same courage and curiosity.

Thank you for being part of this journey — and for helping shape the direction of ImaginaryTalks in such a meaningful way.

If you ever have more questions…
I’m always listening.

Short Bios:

Michael Newton was a pioneering hypnotherapist known for his groundbreaking research into life-between-lives regression, offering detailed maps of the soul’s journey between incarnations.

Carl Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology, exploring archetypes, the collective unconscious, and the deeper layers of the human psyche.

Paramahansa Yogananda was a spiritual teacher whose teachings on meditation and self-realization bridged Eastern wisdom and Western audiences.

Alan Watts was a philosopher and speaker who popularized Eastern philosophy in the West, especially ideas about consciousness, identity, and the nature of reality.

Dolores Cannon was a regression hypnotherapist whose work explored past lives, soul fragments, subconscious healing, and metaphysical cosmology.

Jesus was a spiritual teacher whose teachings on love, forgiveness, and divine unity continue to influence billions across cultures and faiths.

Buddha was the awakened teacher who discovered the path to liberation from suffering through mindfulness, compassion, and insight.

Rumi was a Sufi poet and mystic whose writings express the soul’s longing for unity with the Divine.

Neville Goddard was a metaphysical teacher who taught the power of imagination and consciousness in shaping reality.

Brian Weiss is a psychiatrist and regression pioneer whose work explores past lives, spiritual lessons, and the continuity of the soul.

Edgar Cayce was a trance channeler known as the “Sleeping Prophet,” whose readings explored reincarnation, soul purpose, and spiritual healing.

Kahlil Gibran was a poet and philosopher whose works, including The Prophet, illuminate the spiritual dimensions of love, loss, and human experience.

Ibn Arabi was a Sufi mystic and philosopher whose teachings explored divine unity, spiritual stations, and the inner architecture of the soul.

Seth (via Jane Roberts) is a body of channeled teachings that describe reality as a creation of consciousness and emphasize personal power in shaping experience.

Dr. Jim Tucker is a psychiatrist and researcher at the University of Virginia who studies children with verified past-life memories.

Plotinus was an ancient philosopher whose work on the One, the soul, and the hierarchy of being forms the foundation of Neoplatonism.

Eckhart Tolle is a spiritual teacher whose writings focus on presence, ego-transcendence, and awakening in everyday life.

Swami Vivekananda was a Vedantic teacher who brought Hindu philosophy to the West, emphasizing the divine nature of the soul.

Albert Einstein was a physicist whose theories transformed our understanding of space, time, and the interconnected nature of the universe.

Anita Moorjani is an author and speaker whose near-death experience offers firsthand insight into oneness, love, and the continuation of consciousness.

Adi Shankara was a key figure in Advaita Vedānta, teaching that the ultimate reality is nondual and all beings are expressions of Brahman.

Lao Tzu was the legendary Taoist sage credited with writing the Tao Te Ching, expressing the harmony between nature, stillness, and effortless action.

David Bohm was a theoretical physicist whose “implicate order” theory explored the deep interconnectedness underlying physical reality.

Thich Nhat Hanh was a Zen master and peace activist whose teachings on interbeing and mindfulness reached global audiences.

Ken Wilber is a philosopher known for Integral Theory, a framework unifying science, spirituality, psychology, and human development.