Nothing is more dear to most than their own 'self'... but what really is one's self?

Is it merely the sum total of our mind and body or is there more? Since all forms of creation are the effect of some cause, its easier to tackle this question by going to the root of creation to determine the real self of all.

If in the beginning nothing existed but the Infinite, then everything that came afterwards must exist within 'the body' of the Infinite because... where else could creation be put - if nothing else existed?

From a scientific viewpoint, all forms of creation are the effect of a finer cause, and each cause in turn is the effect of a still finer cause, etc. For example our 'physical' bodies are the 'effect' of a finer cause, being atoms which are its building blocks. Atoms in turn are the effect of a combination of a finer cause known as electrons, protons and neutrons, which in turn are the effect of an even finer cause known as sub-atomic particles, and so on and so forth. At the very end of this whole chain of cause and effect, we arrive at a field of unified energy which appears to be empty.

Its a universal truth that an effect can never exist without it's cause... the reverse is not true.

A wave cannot exist without the ocean, but the ocean exists with or without waves. To the best of our current scientific knowledge, the furthest we can go back into the chain of cause and effect is to the level of pure energy which has manifested as the Cosmos.

THE SOURCE OF THE CHAIN OF CAUSE & EFFECT
As we go deeper and deeper into the finer cause of each effect, it becomes obvious that we cannot keep going forever in an endless circle. Eventually we must arrive at an end point which is the 'starting point' of ALL creation.

This 'starting point' of ALL creation therefore has to have always existed without any birth, for if it depended upon something else for it's very existence... if it were the effect of a yet finer cause... it could not be the starting point of all creation, something else would be... because...

1. You cannot make something out of nothing... all effects have a finer cause and
2. You cannot keep going into the cause of an effect forever in an endless circle and so
3. You must eventually arrive at a birthless self-existent reality that
4. Has created the Cosmos within it's Self because
5. Nothing existed before or apart from it... therefore everything that was created after could only exist within it

This indivisble original birthless cause of creation is known by many labels such as Allah, Brahman, Wahe Guru, Christ, Spirit, Buddha nature, Creator, etc.

And yet there are others who refer to this origin and foundation of all existence simply as the Creator, whilst from the standpoint of the scientific community, physicists and biochemists refer to this origin of all creation as the Unified Field Theory (although they're divided upon whether it initially had intelligence or consciousness).
This original birthless cause of ALL - which we'll label as the Absolute for simplicity sake - instead of 'having' intelligence must 'be' pure intelligence itself due to the principle that you cannot get something from nothing (just as the sun is not a reflection of light but is light itself).

The Law of Conservation states that we only get out of something exactly that which was there in the first place, no more nor less. As a result in reality it's impossible to get something from nothing, something has to pre-exist for something else to exist thereafter.

Similarly you could not get a tree later if the blueprint of the tree were not in the seed. Similarly you cannot get intelligence later in the universe if it wasn't there from the very beginning.

This Absolute does not have love, but must be love itself because again you cannot get something from nothing. And this Absolute must be conscious because you can't get consciousness later if it didn't exist in the beginning.

If what pre-existed can't be readily perceived by our limited instruments of perception, it doesn't mean that it didn't or doesn't exist. We can't quantify and bottle love in a lab, yet few would argue it doesn't exist.

Again if in the beginning there was nothing but the Absolute Itself (the Word), then everything that emerged later had to do so within the body of the Absolute Itself, because where else could it be placed if the Absolute alone existed? And if we accept this Absolute is divine, then every form of creation that exists within it must also be divine (since the underlying source substance is divine).

MANY WAVES IN ONE OCEAN
Looking at this from a different angle, for simplicity hereon we may use the analogy of an ocean and waves whereby the Absolute is an Infinite Ocean and Its forms of creation are infinite waves upon its surface. Just as an Ocean permeates every particle of every wave, in the same manner the Absolute at the subatmic level permeates every particle within it's creation.

As waves upon an ocean's surface may be perceived to be separate and distinct, their larger reality is still always that of the ocean alone, without whom they can never exist. From our angle of vision, the waves exist only to the extent that we think of them with a name and form, and yet they have a temporary existence.

From a lower viewpoint individual waves are perceived, which from a higher viewpoint only one ocean is seen.

When an individual wave is perceived, the Ocean is not seen, however when the origin of the wave is recognized, only the Infinite Ocean is seen everywhere.

Just as the Ocean is the source substance and hence the real Self of each wave, similarly the Absolute is the source substance and real Self of each soul.

Its then self evident that just as the Ocean is the real Self of ALL waves everywhere, one's real Self is recognized is also the real Self of ALL others. In reality there is no separation between waves, they're all united in the one ocean since they are all a play of the ocean alone within Itself.

Hence the concept of "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" or "Love thy neighbor as yourself" are not contrary to one's highest Self interest once one self is recognized as ocean (the divine) rather than as wave (individual soul).

It is inaccurate to say that one wave is the Ocean. In truth the ocean has manifested part of itself to become you. You as an individual could not exist if not for the ocean within you which is your very life force and real Self. The Ocean exists without your current personality, but this personality cannot exist for a moment without the Ocean within.

The 'I' consciousness that one perceives does not exist except for thoughts of the mind which form an ego and hence a feeling of indviduality. When the illusion of the 'I' feeling is diluted, the Ocean alone is felt within and as everything. From this the concept that "The Absolute is in everything and that everything is in the Absolute" becomes self evident.

The failure to recognize this larger reality is in part due to the limitations of the senses of perception which are only able to perceive a small part of the whole picture of 'reality.' Dogs for example have a wider sense of smell, eagles have a wider range of vision, sharks have radar, to some degree the perception of reality even in animals is broader and to some degree obviously more limited than ours, but it is a fact of life that via the 5 senses and due to the coloring of info presented to the mind according to one's prejudices, it is not possible to get the whole picture of ALL reality purely from the mind and senses.

Again this reality is difficult to recognize due to the ego, limited senses of perception, seminal intellect and endless desires to possess or enjoy other transient waves on the surface of the Ocean - a surface which is inaccurately thought by most to be the sum total of all reality in complete ignorance of the infinite depth below the impermanent surface.

The senses and mind are by design pointed outwards, to the surface of the ocean as it were for the sake of experiences. Yet if both are quietened and the focus is turned inwards to the source and origin of the surface reality, below the surface to the depths of the ocean itself, one's awareness becomes that of the Ocean and not merely that of one wave.

At this level one perceives the Ocean as one's real Self, and that all other waves are NOT separate from one's own Self.

As a result, all hatred of other waves is really hatred of one's own true Self...
All harm to other's is in truth harm to one's own true Self.....
All love towards other's is in truth love of one's own true Self....

Since this real Self (the Absolute) has made everything out of itself, it is in truth the whole Cosmos, the endless galaxies, the countless stars and planets, the sun, the moon, the Earth itself, the sky, the gentle air, the immense oceans, the beautiful rivers. It is this Absolute alone that has become the gigantic mountains, the sublime beauty and fragrance of the flower, the strength and pride of the young man, the beauty of the woman, the innocence of the child, the speaker, the speech itself and the listener of the speech and the countless thoughts of all. It is this Infinite Self which has projected all these endless forms of creation within its infinite Self. Everything exists and moves within the infinite Self, and so at the deepest level there is absolute unity within all this diversity.

Mystics of all paths throughout the ages have always known the real source of life and have shared their recognition as follows:

'The One Lord is within thy home (body) and the One without. He Himself is found within all places.' (Sri Guru Granth Sahib 45:67)

The world is essentially the manifestation of God to Himself. (Ibn 'Ata'illah al-Iskandari, in his Hikam)

All pictured forms are reflections in the water of the stream; when you rub your eyes, indeed, all are He. (Jalaluddin Rumi)

'Know that the Father and I are one, and I am in you and you are in me.' (New Testament - John 14:12)

"One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." (New Testament - Ephesians 4: 4 - 6)

Luke: "For in him we live and move and have our being"... (Acts 17:27-28)

"The ocean is the same ocean as it has always been of old; the events of today are it's waves and it's rivers." (Sayyid Haydar Amuli - 14th century)

'Amongst all there is light, and that light art Thou.' (Sri Guru Granth Sahib 13:75)

Though we speak much we cannot reach the end, and the sum of our words is: "He is the all." (Ecclesiasticus 43: 27-28)

"And when he sees me in all - and sees all in me, then I never leave him, and he never leaves me." (Krishna's counsel to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita - Chapter 6, 30:31)

And He is with you wherever you are ... (Qur'an 57:4)

Wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah (Qur'an 2:116)

28. "And when a man sees that the God in himself is the same God in all that is, he hurts not himself by hurting others." (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13).

'And this Self, who is pure consciousness is Brahman. He is God, all gods: the five elements - earth, air, fire, water, ether; all beings great or small, born of eggs, born from the womb, born from heat, born from soil: horses, cows, men, elephants, birds; everything that breathes, the beings that walk and the beings that walk not. The reality behind all these is Brahman who is pure consciousness. All these while they live, and after they have ceased to live, exist in him. (Aitareya Upanishad)

'Within thee abides God. (Sri Guru Granth Sahib 33:25)

As the rays of the sun differ not from the sun, so matter differs not from God. (Avadhut Gita, 2.7)

"This universe is nothing but the Self-experiencing of the Infinite." (p. 329 of the Concise Yoga Vasishtha)

You are Brahman (God), I am Brahman, the whole universe is Brahman. Whatever you are doing realize this truth at all times. This Brahman or the Self alone is the reality in all beings, even as clay is the real substance in thousands of pots. (Yoga Vasishtha, 6.1.49)

We and our existences are nonexistences. Thou art Absolute Existence showing Thyself as perishable things. (Jalaluddin Rumi)

"The One Mind (Universal Soul/infinite consciousness) alone is Buddha, and there is no distinction between the Buddha and sentient things, but that sentient beings are attached to forms and so seek externally for Buddhahood. By their very seeking they lose it, for that is using the Buddha to seek for the Buddha and using mind to grasp the Mind. Even though they do their utmost for a full eon, they will not be able to attain to it. They do not know that, if they put a stop to conceptual thought and forget their anxiety, the Buddha will appear before them, for this Mind (Universal Soul) is the Buddha and the Buddha is all living beings. It is not the less for being manifested in ordinary beings, nor is it greater for being manifested in the Buddhas." (From - The Zen Teaching of Huang Po).

What is, is the sole reality - which is neither created nor destroyed. It is that infinite consciousness that is perceived by the ignorant as the universe. (Yoga Vasishtha 3.52)

"There are three classes of devotees. The lowest one says, "God is up there," and he points to heaven. The mediocre devotee says that God dwells in the heart as the "Inner Controller." But the highest devotee says: "God alone has become everything. All things that we perceive are so many forms of God." (From The Gospel Of Sri Ramakrishna p. 292-293)

The Tao gives birth to One.
One gives birth to yin and yang.
Yin and yang give birth to all things...
The complete whole is the complete whole.
So also is any part the complete whole...
But forget about understanding and harmonizing and making all things one.
The universe is already a harmonious oneness; just realize it. (46)
(Hua Hu Ching)

"Everyone who has insight into the matter will understand clearly that everything created and having being is as absolute naught with regard to the Activating Force, which is in all created being. (The teachings of Rabbi Schneur Zalman)

One in All, All in One - if only this is realized, no more worry about your being perfect!" (Sosan - Korean Son/Zen Grand Master 1520-1604)

The fact that all ceated things seem to have existence and being in their own right is because we can neither conceive nor see, with our physical eyes, the Force of God which is in the created world. Were the eye able to see and conceive the vitality and spirituality in each created thing, which flows through it from it's divine source, then the physicality, materiality, and substantiality of the created world would not be seen at all; because apart from the spiritual dimension it is absolute nothingness. There is really nothing in existence besides God." (The teachings of Rabbi Schneur Zalman)

"Here from the very beginning, there is this One Thing, constantly lucid and mysterious, it has never been born and it has never died. It cannot be named or depicted" (Sosan - Korean Son/Zen Grand Master 1520-1604)

This essence is not born and can never die. It exists eternally. Some call it energy; others call it spirit. But what is it? No one knows. Any concept we have of what it is can only be an analogy... (p.93 The eye never sleeps: Striking to the heart of Zen)

The hidden God in the aspect of Ein-Sof (formless spirit) and the God manifested in the emanation of the Sefirot (created forms within Himself) are one and the same, viewed from two different angles. (Kaballah p. 98)

... we and all sentient beings fundamentally have the buddha nature as our innermost essence... (p. 59 The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying - Dudjom Rinpoche on the Buddha Nature)

The Buddha and all sentient beings are not two. (p. 28 The Unfettered Mind)

'He, as the Self, is infinite, indivisible; he is consciousness, bliss. In him are merged all the three states of consciousness. From him are born mind, life, and the senses; earth, air, water, fire, and ether. He is the reality behind all existence. He is the Supreme Brahman. He is in all, He is the foundation of all. Subtler than the subtlest. He is eternal. Thou art he ! Thou art he !' (Kaivalya Upanishad)

"When one has awoken to the sameness of everything, there is great enlightenment." (Vairocana - Mahayana school of Buddhism)

"That Self is empty like space; but it is not nothingness, since it is consciousness. It is: yet because it cannot be experienced by the mind and senses, it is not. It being the Self of all, it is not experienced (as the object of experience) by anyone. Though one, it is reflected in the infinite atoms of existence and hence appears to be many. This appearance is however unreal... But the self is not unreal. It is not a void or nothingness: for it is the Self of all... (From The Concise Yoga Vasishtha)

The Tao is supreme goodness. It has no form and is limitless. It is formless because there is no visible trace of its existence. The Tao is that energy that has existed from the beginning when there was neither structure nor differentiation. It is the source of life in heaven and on earth. It creates and nourishes all things. (p. 4)
(Cultivating Stillness: A Taoist Manual for Tranforming Body and Mind)

"Mind, Buddha and living beings do not differ from one another." (Hui Hai - Chinese Ch'an / Zen Master 720 - 814)

That Self or infinite consciousness is, from the ordinary point of view, the creator, the protector and the overlord of all; and yet from the absolute point of view, in reality, being the Self of all, it has no such limited roles." (From The Concise Yoga Vasishtha)

'Lord Himself is the Relisher, Himself the Relish, and Himself the enjoyer. He himself is the Bride and Himself the Couch and Bridegroom. My Master is dyed with love and is fully pervading everywhere. He himself is the fisherman, and the fish and Himself the water and the net. He Himself is the metal ball of the net and Himself the bait within.' (Sri Guru Granth Sahib - 23:36)

(The Tao) is always present and always available...
If you are willing to be lived by it, you will see it everywhere, even in the most ordinary things. (22)

Worlds and particles, bodies and beings, time and space:
All are transient expressions of the Tao. (33)
(Hua Hu Ching)

'Thou art the river and all are in Thee. Beside Thee, there is none else.' (Sri Guru Granth Sahib - 11:51)

All forms of creation are the divine, and this birthless Self as the source substance of ALL existence is whom you always have been and forever shall be. In truth therefore all love and service to others is the giving of love and service to your real Self, and those who realize the oneness of existence will never harm themselves by harming others. Ultimately from the absolute viewpoint, the highest truth is always that....

The whole of creation is the Self-experiencing
and Self-expression of the Divine to Itself within Itself.

(by Pardeep Singh)