18 Mar 2024
None of us exists in isolation. We come from our parents, who came from lines that stretch back to the origin of our species (and further). We grow by taking in matter that is not originally a part of us - water, plants and animals. According to astrophysicists, we are even made of multiple dead stars. Nothing about us is completely our own and when we die, we will become the basis for other life, in an ongoing flow of existence.
Within Buddhism, this focus on who we are is a central focal point. It is not just a focus on ourselves (although that helps with the death of the ego), but is a focus on the interdependency of all things. This concept is known as Dependent Arising and meditative practices involve the consideration of this idea.
As we focus more and more upon Dependent Arising, we start to lose our perception of ourselves as separate and distinct. We begin to see ourselves as part of a larger existence. With each in breath, we take new matter into ourselves - becoming part of us - and with each out breath, we expel part of who we are.
The cells that make up us now are different from the cell with which we were born. We have shed those and created more from our consumption of the matter around us. We are not as distinct as our minds like to imagine us to be. We are created from other matter constantly and we are dependent on this for our initial arising (existence) and our continuing existence.
Realising this is our nature, we begin to be more considerate of other lives, we begin to be grateful for those who help us survive - our lives become more inclusive, compassionate and filled with gratitude.
From the natural world we come and to the natural world we will return.
Aroha nui,
Lee Sturgis
leesturgis.eth
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