Awakening is an often clumsy, arduous, and occasionally amusing journey. It can be difficult to see that we are all connected, all one being as many wiser persons have tried to tell us. It is hard to wrap our heads around the idea that we are one with the murders, rapists, pedophiles, and the perceived enemies that we share our planet with. Still, we all breathe the same air that is continually recycled. Our bodies have been recycled from stardust and from the soil of our decomposed ancestors.
It has helped me to think about our own bodies. Our heart, our lungs, our blood, our bones, our eyes, and all of our other organs are separate; yet they must all work together in order for us to have a living body. There are many examples in Nature of individuals working together for the good of the whole: ants and bees, flocks of birds and schools of fish. Even different species require the presence of other species in order to survive. Monarch butterflies need milkweed. Flowers need pollinators. We need each other.
Quieting our own egos is necessary in order to understand the greater whole. When I was young I wanted to believe, along with Simon and Garfunkel, that I was an island. Like many loners, I wanted to feel the safety of my alone-ness. We can live solitary lives and convince ourselves that we do not need others. Barbra Streisand sang that “people who need people are the luckiest people in the world.” In actuality, it is those who realize that we need others, who benefit the most.
Our individual organs are made up of individual cells; but each cell must divide and multiply in order for life to continue. Everything can be broken down infinitely into something smaller, but all things are part of something larger. All of the living organisms on our planet make up the one organism we call Earth. Earth is one of many planets that make up our solar system. Our solar system is one of several others that make up the universe, on into infinity. A friend of mine used to say, we have all of eternity and infinity in which to grow.
We each grow at our own rate, in our own time. A few individuals have awakened almost spontaneously, but for most of us, understanding is a gradual process. Throughout our lives we will know all kinds of people, each at a different stage of their journey. And as they say, it is not the destination, but the journey itself that matters. As we travel our individual paths, seeking to understand that we are one organism, may we walk with ease and grace; and allow love to light our way.
