Quotes About Interconnectedness

We are related to each other. By taking care of you, I take care of myself. By taking care of myself, I take care of you. Happiness and safety are not individual matters.

The world is not a problem to be solved; it is a living being to which we belong. The world is part of our own self and we are a part of its suffering wholeness. Until we go to the root of our image of separateness, there can be no healing. And the deepest part of our separateness from creation lies in

When we hug, our hearts connect and we know that we are not separate beings.

When you touch someone who authentically represents a tradition, you not only touch his or her tradition, you also touch your own.

Thích Nh?t H?nh

We must lead all beings to the shore of awakening, but, after these beings have become liberated, we do not, in truth, think that a single being has been liberated.

Harmony and One-ness with all living beings.

truth. Avoid being narrow-minded and bound to present views. Learn and practice nonattachment from views in order to be open to receive others' viewpoints. When we look into the heart of a flower, we see clouds, sunshine, minerals, time, the earth, and everything else in the cosmos in it. Without clouds, there could be no rain, and there would be no flower. No

To see one in all and all in one is to break through the great barrier which narrows one's perception of reality

This is, because that is. This is not, because that is not.

The one contains the many and the many contains the one. Without the one, there cannot be the many. Without the many, there cannot be the one.

One included all, and all were contained in one.

Martin Buber, who studied the reality of humankind's connectedness, observed that there are basically two ways of being with others: we can be in the world seeing others as they are, as people, or we can be in the world seeing others as they are not, as objects.

We can be connected to others as with people or connected to others as with objects, but we are always connected. Separation is an abstraction. Together is our reality.

With Buber's observations in mind, we can see that both of these leaders are connected with others rather than split from them. It's just that one of them—the Isolated leader—is together with others as with objects, while the Together Leader is together with others as with people.

Man ist nicht bloß ein einzelner Mensch, man gehört einem Ganzen an, und auf das Ganze haben wir beständig Rücksicht zu nehmen, wir sind durchaus abhängig von ihm. (S.199)

Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole cosmos — the trees, the clouds, everything.

If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work.

If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people.

If you touch one thing with deep awareness, you touch everything.

The Three Kinds of Pride are: (1) thinking I am better than the other(s); (2) thinking I am worse than the other(s); and (3) thinking I am just as good as the other(s).

If a child smiles, if an adult smiles, that is very important. If in our daily lives we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. If we really know how to live, what better way to start the day than with a smile? Our smile affirms our awareness and determination to live in peace and joy. The source of a true smile is an awakened mind.

Breathing in, I see all my ancestors in me: my mineral ancestors, plant ancestors, mammal ancestors, and human ancestors. My ancestors are always present, alive in every cell of my body, and I play a part in their immortality.

The leaves that remain are only a very small part of the tea. The tea that goes into me is a much bigger part of the tea. It is the richest part. We are the same; our essence has gone into our children, our friends, and the entire universe. We have to find ourselves in those directions and not in the spent tea leaves.