Unitary Caring Science
Unitary caring science has as its starting point a relational unitary ontology that honors the fact that we are all connected and that we belong to the source – the universal consciousness, spirit, infinite field of Universal Love – before and after the human plane of worldly experiences. Unitary caring science makes more explicit that unitary and connectiveness exist among all things in the great circle of life: change, illness, suffering, death and rebirth. A unitary caring science orientation moves humanity closer to a moral community, closer to peaceful relationships with self and other communities- nations, states, other worlds, and time. Unitary caring science also unites us with the non- physical, the spirit work, the soul of self and science alike.
Unitary Caring Science – Ethic Of Belonging
The starting point for Unitary Caring Science is based on the Ethic of Belonging, beginning with the belief and personal perennial wisdom of universal humanity dash that our human experience and journey through life and death are shared with all humanity across the globe. Human beings and the planet are united across time and space, belonging to the great sea of humanity.
An Ethic of Belonging comes before the ontology of separate being; it acknowledges ethically, morally, and practically that we all belong to the infinite field of Universal Cosmic Love. We all come from the source of infinite Cosmic Love, and we all return to the infinite source, Cosmic Love- the mystery of life. This locates our world view of unity within the sacred circle of life- death.
Science and spirit unite in Unitary Caring Science. This world view applies to all of humanity as we awaken to the emerging worldview necessary for the survival of humanity and Mother Earth.
Humanity is entering a new consciousness of unity, a reality that we are all connected with on mother earth. Without preparation in the unity caring science paradigm to address our phenomena and reason for existing, no progress is made in fulfilling its social, moral, and scientific responsibility to humanity.
The background for this emerging worldview includes greater awareness of the metaphysical, the unexplainable phenomena -the ineffable. When we enter Unitary Caring Science, we are reminded that data are not information, information is not knowledge, knowledge is not understanding, understanding is not wisdom. Information alone does not lead to knowing or wise knowing. This view highlights our need to unlearn the outdated paradigms of previous eras of thinking and human evolution.
In the Buddhist philosophy, there is the notion of ‘the don’t know mind’ – a very good place to be. If we think we know- there is no space to learn anything new, there is nothing there. This view of knowing and non-knowing, emptying out, allows for unknowns and mysteries. We can call this experience non-local, mystical or the spiritual beyond the physical empirical ways of knowing and being in this world. This form of slash ‘nonknowing’ exists in higher domains of awareness of evolution and directly embraces experiences such as love, compassion, beauty, identity, reality, self, truth and meaning. This higher domain way of knowing is based on many years of experimental inspection and communal verification.
In fact, we can never truly know reality because we are limited by (and cannot go beyond) the input of our sense perceptions, as well as our cognitive processes that have evolved to individually accommodate and service that input. Our conscious perception of the world is a filtered and selective process, rather than a complete and accurate representation of everything happening around us. While our senses constantly gather information, the brain actively chooses what to focus on and process, resulting in a subjective and incomplete experience of our surroundings. The brain brings to bear its prior expectations about what is in the external environment to interpret the massive, constant, and ambiguous sensory information that it encounters. When we consider how much of our surroundings we can perceive, it becomes clear (after confining analysis to Earth and its immediate environment) that we usually capture only a small fraction of our surroundings and when we account for the vastness of the visible universe, that fraction shrinks much further. Therefore, it is reasonable to say that we only perceive a small fraction of the totality of physical reality. Therefore, the knowledge and wisdom of Not Knowing or Emptiness is the highest form of knowing possible to us.
Thus, the “mental manifestation” is a transformation of the objects in the outside world into a mental representation. On the one hand, there is an objective reality; on the other hand, we can only create a picture of that reality, and the structures in the pictures are different from the external reality they are intended to represent. This ties in with the Transcendent or All and echoes the Buddha’s resistance to search for and answer metaphysical questions.
Reference: Unitary Caring Science: Philosophy and Praxis of Nursing by Jean Watson, University Press of Colorado, 2018
The Non-Duality of Emptiness, or Sunyata,
According to Thanissaro Bhikkhu, the non-duality of emptiness, or Sunyata, is a mode of perceptional way of understanding experience. It adds nothing to, nor takes anything away from, the raw data of physical and mental events. This mode is called emptiness because it is devoid of the presuppositions we typically impose on experience to make sense of it: the stories and worldviews we construct to explain who we are and the world we inhabit.
It represents the underlying reality—the fundamental space or potential from which all things arise and into which they eventually dissolve. However, this “ground” is not a thing but rather the source and condition for all phenomena, including existence, perception, and even the concept of nothingness. In fact, existence is a profound mystery that cannot be fully explained through human language or thought. When we fully recognize that we live in an observer-dependent reality, we can adopt a more creative, inspired, innovative, open-minded, and accepting attitude toward a complex world. As theologian Rudolph Otto stated; The experience of the divine is a mysterious and overwhelming encounter with the numinous.
This involves the realization of non-duality, where distinctions and dualities dissolve, leading to a sense of unity, wholeness, and the loss of the perception of a separate self. This profound understanding of non-duality dispels the illusion of separation, revealing the inherent unity that underlies all existence. It transcends the habitual identification with a distinct, isolated self and instead unveils an essential interconnectedness that binds us to everything. This realization fosters a deep sense of belonging to being intimately woven into the fabric of reality and connected to the single, unified source from which all things arise. We are all connected and belong to the source of universal consciousness, spirit, and the infinite field of Universal Love.
Therefore, Sunyata is not a belief system; it is neither a matter of faith nor adherence to a doctrine. Rather, it is an experiential awakening to the realization of one’s true nature. This awakening brings transformative benefits, enhancing our personal well-being, deepening our fidelity and interconnectedness with others, and illuminating our overall understanding of life’s inherent nature.
Reference: CHAPTER 8 from the book THE GARDEN OF EDEN—IN THIS LIFE Copyright Rodger Ricketts Psy.D.,2025.
