Diversity and Unity

  If everything is part of the mind, is there any sense talking about diversity? I was recently reading a book on Hindu mysticism where it talks about the idea that all consciousness is the same consciousness, whoever possesses it. It's a bit like saying that even though my form might be different from yours, the way "I" see "you" is through the same consciousness. I almost want to say the same 'substance', but here it is not so appropriate. Under this view, it may not necessarily matter who possesses what consciousness, but the essence of the consciousness is pretty much the same.
    This concept of 'unity' in consciousness seems useful in some cases, whereas the concept of diversity seems more applicable to others. In other words, it depends on the context in which a person applies the principle of either unity or diversity. To take one example, if I say that everything is just one thing, or one experience, then I express over-confidence in my ability to know what is really there to be experienced, in all its variety. It is as though in that moment in time, unity is a concept that prevents me from seeing the world in its variety. On the other hand, too much emphasis on variety and diversity can soon enough lead to identification to one form or another. It reminds me of how, when I was very young, I used to read these children's books called "Mr. Men", and each one of the characters in this series possesses a particular defining characteristic, such as Mr. Messy, Mr. Nosey, Mr. Smart, and so on. The idea behind the book is that kids would learn to see which personality traits most fit with who they are. As a person gets older, the idea of difference becomes more sophisticated. People start to organize themselves around cliques, and later the defining characteristics of a person are legitimated through various psychological tests and classifications.
   But if a person persists in enjoying and indulging in these differences, there eventually comes a point where flaws start to arise in any classifying system: messy people are sometimes clean about some thing, while it is impossible for a clean person to always be ''fully clean". So we start to experience these exceptions and realize that it is best not to cling to systems that are bound to change over time.
    I suppose that the right kind of diversity has to contain an element of unity, and vice versa. Knowing that diverse elements might have similar ways of being and feeling can give a person more confidence when they are trying to dialogue with another culture's experiences. I like to think of it as 'relaxed diversity' where differences don't 'become' a person but only mark off the contours of a body and situation that are always shifting in time. In this way, I can be fully available for diversity without thinking that I am either with or opposed to the diverse elements.