Draft
ARE WE ALL ONE AND NOT SEPARATE?
Philosophers say we are all one. Buddhists say that it is a source of suffering to think that we are separate from others. New Age people say that we are connected and it is an illusion that we are separate.
Well, to me, all that matters is what I see. I see that I am individualized and different from each other person, who is also individualized. We are all survival seeking mechanisms - and seldom do we rise to the level of being selfless in sacrificing for the greater good.
So, indeed, we are, in fact, separate
WE ARE "THE SAME"
And, of course, we are connected, remarkably enough. We have learned that cooperation allows us to specialize and to coordinate so that we can live better lives. We are all "in the whole", though we are separate.
And we are virtually exactly the same, although we note the differences and think that we aren't. Our DNA is 99.9% the same. We almost never came about on this earth, as humans dwindling down to about 10,000 adults, almost becoming extinct.
We are "brothers" and "sisters" in the true sense of the word (99.9% is good enough for me).
BUT WITH A SLIGHT DIFFERENCE
The greatest difference is the opportunity we have had to become aware and to learn how to function in life at a higher level. That's it, period.
If a person is misinformed or illinformed, they are just misinformed or ill informed - and nothing more. They are not bad. They are deserving of compassion - though they may not be aware enough to benefit from it.
All persons deserve our good will and being served for the better. And some people are so ill informed that they are not in a receptive state or a state where this will work. The wisdom is in knowing the difference and going elsewhere if the individual is just not suitable for being in your life - no judgment about them, but an assessment of what will benefit you and what is not a good use of your time.
If that other person were adequately informed, somehow, then that person would function as you do and then we could beneficially interact with that person.
Our challenge lies in seeing that it is not the person that is "bad" - but that it is only the lack of being informed (aware) that is the problem. And the solution lies in informing them where possible and practical. And to do that, we need to enter their world at their thinking level - and a part of that is giving them respect and recognition, having them be a potential friend but letting them know that while we desire that it is their choice as whether to do that.
