The topic of today's article is the 'universal law' of The One and the Many. Considered by some to be one of the greatest treasures in humanity's collection of wisdom, I have come across this term various times throughout the years, but have never quite understood it's true meaning, it's origins and it's main advocates throughout the ages. Yet after interviewing our resident philosopher, Michael Brown on the topic, the (Many) pieces of the puzzle have returned to a more clear and holistic understanding (One.) You'll understand what I mean by that as you read on!

This is an enlightening topic that brings new perspective and understanding to the laws and dynamics of life, from the subatomic to the Astronomic, from the macro to the micro, from the celestial to the worldly. We hope you enjoy. 

Manny: Could you start by giving us an introductory explanation of this universal law?

Michael: The Universal Law or Universal principle referred to here as the law of the One and the Many, is one of the Kosmos' most primary laws or principles, and it works simultaneously and in conjunction with the Law or Principle of Duality, the law of conservation and Einstein's famous equation E=Mc2. This law applies to pretty much every discipline or 'Ology' manifesting from the 'logos' that can be studied by man, and is part of an ancient story, mythologized by early man and referred to as the Cosmogonic cycle. The Cosmogonic cycle is basically a story stating that from the One come the Many and from the Many comes the One.

Manny: Briefly, what do mean by 'Universal law' and how does this one actually work in conjunction with the law of conservation and E=Mc2?

Michael Brown: A universal law/principle, is a natural phenomena that appears to occur at every level of existence, from the sub-atomic realms to the astronomical. The law of conservation essentially tells us that all energy is conserved eternally through time and space, that nothing is ever really gained or lost, it merely goes through a transformation; as Buckminster Fuller so wisely stated - "The things we think are destroyed are now in a frequency that we've tuned out of. The things we think are created have come into a frequency that we're tuned into. But there is actually no creation or destruction, just change in form." E=Mc2 basically says that all energy and mass are exchangeable, and are essentially one and the same, energy is mass and mass is energy, and both mass (matter) and energy (spirit) are interchangeable and always conserved in equal amounts simultaneously. This in relation to the law of the one and the many basically means there can not be One without many, and there can not be Many without One simultaneously. The many are in the one and the one is in the many. 

This One primary law/principle underlies the many secondary laws/principles recognised by science. The law of the One and many can predominantly be found in Theological and Philosophical fields of study, where these exact terms are referred to, however as i said earlier, this law/principle can be applied to almost all fields of of study, from atomic physics to physiology, psychology, sociology, mathematics, mechanics etc.

Manny: In order to make that easier to understand, let's illustrate by going through a number of ways that the Law of the one and the many is applied.

Michael Brown: The One can be described as a synthesis and synchronicity of all complimentary opposites, a fusion or a unity of all opposites, the many is the separation of these opposites, it is duality, rather than a synthesis and synchronicity, it is a diathesis and diachronous.

The One is equanimity or equilibrium, the Many is fragmentation and disequilibrium.

The one, seen as a synthesis and synchronicity of all complimentary opposite emotions can be called the SOUL, or the pure radiant essence of who and what we are, and the many as a diathesis and diachronous can be seen as the Many fragmented "personas" within each person, who we unwisely believe is what and who we are.

Manny: That makes sense, I myself often ponder this dichotomy, or rather synergy between the part of us that is divided into personas, and the source of us which is somehow in resonance with and inseparable from everything else.

Michael Brown: We have both aspects of the one and the many within ourselves and our nature at all times… Alexis Carrel said - "The science of man..... must be synthetic as well as analytic, since man is simultaneously unity (soul) and multiplicity (persona)."

Manny: I'm very interested to hear how else this law applies to the inner life of the individual. Please go on.

Michael Brown: We have Soul/essence (one) then we have what might be called the assumed self (the many personas) that we think is us. These can also be referred to as the higher mind and the lower mind. The higher mind is 'us'; when the higher mind listens to the wise messages of the soul, we are in unity consciousness or oneness with our essence, when the higher mind listens to the lower mind, we are run by the many dualities and external forces from our environment.

Manny: So can this concept be applied to enhance or heal our personal innerspace?

Michael Brown: Sure, by attuning into and resonating with our  Soul/essence, and synthesising and equilibrating our emotional dichotomies into a unity (oneness) we experience Unconditional love (oneness); Unconditional love is the greatest healing power in the universe.

Manny: Ok, so am I safe to assume that the law of the one and the many suggests that although our true essence is 'one', our assumed self is also vitally important, and also inescapable, due to the fact that the one and the many are inseparable, in that they interchange and come in and out of awareness?

Michael Brown: Correct. Any time you attain the One, you simultaneously birth the many, both are conserved throughout time and space. We require the assumed self/lower mind in order to tap into the higher mind/essence of who we are in the first place.

Manny: We absorb the many into the one--attain a state of unity consciousness--then return to the world of the senses, of the many personas. We can't sustain one side permanently? (As many neo-Eastern spiritualists claim to be possible.)

Michael Brown: If we were somehow able to stay just in the One (unconditioned state), we would not even be able to manifest into a physical reality, all manifestation requires polarity, or tension and resistence between opposites, this is referred to as conditioned as opposed to Unconditioned, and our Nervous systems have not evolved to a point where we could resonate in an unconditional state for any real length of time.

Manny: Yet, you would look around the present world and assume that many, if not most people, hardly ever, if not never actually get to that experience of unity consciousness…  At least not while awake?

Michael Brown: The lower mind and body require duality, not unity. The higher mind is us, and it is on its journey through the Cosmogonic cycle from the Soul to the Personas and back again.

Manny: So we can stay locked into the lower bodymind state if we continue resonating at that level.... So how then is the 'One and the many' applying to this situation? Isn't it a law that applies constantly without exception?

Michael Brown: Just because someone doesn't consciously attune into their essence, does not mean it is not there, E=Mc2 remember. 

Manny: You're not saying that our conscious experience automatically oscillates between being in the state of ONE and the state of MANY... You're saying that ONE is in MANY, MANY is in ONE, not that they swing in and out consistently like a pendulum?

Michael Brown: Not like a pendulum no. Our many lopsided emotional personas are the pendulum swinging back and forth, tick-tock- tick- tock, up-down, happy-sad, positive-negative, elation-depression and so on. Our essence or Soul, is what is holding the pendulum; steady, poised centred and loving. The emotional personas are wobbly, unsteady and unbalanced and see the world as either black or white.

Manny: So how can we use this knowledge to console or rebalance ourselves, or to bring inner illumination into areas of our life that we are misunderstanding or mislabeling? For example, breakups, job loss, money issues, health, spirituality, etc?

Michael Brown: Whenever you perceive a loss or have grief, bereavement or sorrow over a perceived loss, identify specifically what it is you think you have lost, then ask yourself the question - " With this trait or quality that I perceive of as now missing from my life, where has it now re-emerged, and who is displaying it?" Upon doing this and listing all the different ways that it has now re-emerged, you will see that the very trait, action or inaction you perceived was missing, has now emerged in one or many other people. You see, we unconsciously become attached to a particular form, and whenever we experience a loss associated with that form,  we have grief and sorrow. But if you identify and list where the new form has emerged, and if you then find the drawbacks of the old One form and the benefits of the new many forms, you attune to the essence of your true nature, you experience a oneness, not a fragmented oscillating pendulum.

Manny: Let's illustrate some more examples of how this law expresses itself into our known universe. 

Michael Brown: Many sub-atomic particles make up one atom, many atoms make up one molecule, many molecules make up one cell, many cells form one organism, etc. Many planets make up a solar system, many solar systems make up a galaxy, many galaxies make up a galaxy cluster, and on and on it goes. 
The female has one egg, the man has many sperm, when an egg and a sperm come together they form one cell, that cell divides into many cells and forms an organism. 

Manny: The many arise from the one. The many are reabsorbed into the one upon material 'death'. 

Michael Brown: Build and destroy.  
Synthesis and analysis.  
Attraction and repulsion.  
Monarchy and democracy. 
Peace and war.  
Syntropy and entropy.  
Statics and dynamics.  
Co-operation and competition.  
Peace and War. 

Michael Brown: At the level of the soul we are all the same. At the level of the senses we are all similar and different. 

Manny: For sure. 

Michael Brown: This law is also called the laws of similars and differences, and is sometimes referred to as Unity and diversity.

Manny: You mentioned, peace and war, syntropy and entropy, statics and dynamics, co-operation and competition. Are we wise to understand that we cannot separate or destroy these opposites without new forms emerging?

Michael Brown: Yes. See, attraction brings things together, repulsion pulls them a part. The same goes with peace and war, co-operation and competition; these are the one and many in different languages, but at a higher level they themselves are also many, as an example for every thesis there is an equal and opposite anti-thesis, and it is only when thesis and antithesis (many) are brought together into a synthesis (One)and it is in their uniting in the middle that a higher level of oneness is achieved. And this keeps going, all the way up and all the way down, in an infinite universe, both in the micro and the macro, there is no end to it, the one and the many exist simultaneously at all level of existence.

Michael Brown: In another 4.5 billion years from now when our very sun (one) explodes into a supernova at the end of its life cycle, all the (many) planets in our solar system and everything on them will all be consumed in a massive fireball, (one) and their substance will once again be distributed and blown out into space, (many) only to once again over billions of years, be re-incarnated into a new solar system, (one/many) which will once again go through a cycle of giving life to new suns, planets & organisms. And the whole process of the cosmogonic cycle will start over again and again ad-infinitum, and all of this of course is occurring with an even larger universal cycle, which is also oscillating between its own cosmogonic cycle between one and many.

Manny: Share with us your vision of how understanding this universal law has affected your experience and your views.

Michael Brown: In a way it helps you to know things you didn't think you knew, especially when you are aware of the principles and can apply then to any field or topic. Understanding, the one and the many, the law of conservation or the law of duality seems to give you are perspective of unity and diversity in all things; you automatically become aware to find the hidden variables in things, to look for this law, and when you see it, you are truly humbled and grateful for what is as it is. It helps you to see transformation in the universe, rather than the misperceptions of gain and loss, creation and destruction, build and destroy.

Manny: Man that is so true. I can see now that this law or principle has always been right in front of my eyes. I can remember considering it's various applications since I was a young boy right up until now. I think this article will have something valuable to impart on anyone who reads it with an open mind. 

Michael Brown: I remember when being right in the thick of the Christchurch earthquakes, many people saw nothing but destruction, collapsed roads and buildings etc... There were a small few who automatically saw how it brought people together, brought the entire city together as one; Christchurch people, through the destruction created a new fellowship for each other. Then the entire nation got in behind it. A destructive earthquake united a city and a nation in a way it had never experienced before.

Manny: So at first, the 'many' saw nothing but destruction, loss, bad, but the few saw unity, synergy and transformation. That IS a fantastic example. Hence why certain people often use the term "The masses" to explain the many, and "The masters" to explain the elite few who understand and live in close relationship to the One. 

Manny: What are some of the other pertinent insights that you've learned about this law and it's applications? 

Michael Brown: in business there is always the one at the top, and then the many employees.
For every city there is the one major and the many people.
In every nation a government and the many people
One body, many limbs
One peice of fruit, many macro and micro nutrients, one tree. many pieces of fruit
One leader, many followers
If you get one truly inspired individual he/she will have many followers.
The yin and the yang are drawn as white and black, but both are within the whole.  The whole is always greater than the parts.

Manny: Indeed.

Michael Brown: Involution and evolution are part of the great cosmogonic cycle. Involution or descent is referred to as the fall from the one (spirit/energy) into the many (matter), ascension or evolution is from the many back to the one (from matter to energy/spirit). Both ascending and descending currents make up the cosmogonic cycle, which is an eternal journey; always repeating at new, higher more inclusive levels, or higher quantum octaves.

As man continues to grow and as each moment of time unfolds, new challenges and new supports will emerge, new pains and new pleasures, new aversions and new desires, new creations and new destructions. With every new emergent unfolding and enfolding we encompass and include within ourselves a greater part of a new more abundant and inclusive whole. Our growth towards encompassing ever greater and more inclusive wholes is and always will be continual both ontogenetically and phylo-genetically; there is no end to it in an infinite universe. We are not here as a species to play small and insignificant, we are here to expand and demonstrate our significance, and as we expand our individual awareness we simultaneously add to the expansion of the collective Noosphere… And so our evolutionary Telos will continually drive us along the great holarchichal chain, finally culminating at the omega point, where all will recycle itself through a quantum leap to the next evolutionary quantum octave on our never ending eternal journey from the One to the Many, from Lux to Logo’s and back again. There are cycles within cycles within cycle’s ad-infinitum.

This is the great Cosmogonic story of the one and the many.