Integritus Prime

As I reflect on a few recent activities, including reading a book about human civilization and watching a show about festivals, I am inspired to share these thoughts. I think a lot about unity between people, and how destructively differences are treated: conflict, the toxic patriarchy, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, sexual and other kinds of abuse, and more. So, this post contains a few of my reflections on how similar we pesky humans are:

1. Religious themes: when we look across the major religions, we find similar stories or mythologies about a savior (Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohammed), sacred meaning of moon cycles to mark important occasions (Eid, Diwali), and teachings about good and evil, such as treating others as we wish to be treated, the Golden Rule, which is common to many religions.
2. Festivals: I was struck recently by the commonalities in festivals marking the beginning of spring or spring harvest. These, around the world, include Holi, Pongal, Easter, Baisakhi, Passover, Ramadan, Sham El-Nessim, and Songkran. These point to the significant human transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture.
3. Reliance on Nature: Humans rely on Nature for resources to live and work. We need food, water, shelter, and livelihood, and these all are sourced from Nature either directly or indirectly through agriculture, water and mineral extraction, oil mining for transportation and industry, using sand and other materials for infrastructure, using and killing animals for food and clothing, and so on.
4. Unique Destruction: Sadly, more often than not, our reliance on Nature creates damage and threatens life for other living beings. We have a unique ability to control and disrupt natural cycles through industrialized agriculture and other activities, often eliminating competition for resources in ways that harm less fortunate humans, and other species. This tendency, coupled with our penchant for violence through unhealed trauma (see #6) leads to significant damage to the planet.
5. Birth and Death: We are mortals who go through a cycle of life: as helpless babies who need a lot of support, we learn directly through our senses. Then, by the age of 7, we’ve internalized cultural norms and become stunted in our creativity and joy. As teenagers we go through emotional instability, often struggling with relationships and livelihood until we begin to wake up to who we really are (see #8) by releasing trauma (see #6). We produce our life’s best work if we actualize our true selves, and then age and die. We all bleed the same, and grieve, and love.
6. Trauma: We all suffer trauma in some way, due to deep wounds whose effects linger in our minds and bodies. Physical, sexual, emotional and psychological abuse are rampant in our societies, prompting us to face our pain or continue to live in ways dictated by our triggers and neuroses.
7. Relationships: We all enter into relationships from the moment we are born, with parents and guardians, siblings and eventually friends, romantic partners, and colleagues. We must interact with others, and we often depend on them to survive and thrive.
8. Learning: We all have great capacity to learn and grow to our highest potential in the right circumstances and with the right effort and dedication. We can create new knowledge through scientific research and create systems and invent new ways of living and working.
9. Awakening: We all carry in us a spiritual capacity – we have the ability to awaken our higher selves, to discover that consciousness as inextricably linked to Nature, and to heal ourselves as a pathway to healing the planet, if humanity is to survive. Herein lies our special purpose: sustainability of our behaviors to nurture all life.

These reflections lead me to feel that humans are much more alike than we are different, and yet we see senseless conflict all around us. It’s time to rise above differences to embrace similarities, and work through the differences that might be harmful, while celebrating the differences that bring resilience.