Look again. Do you see any borders disfiguring the striking jigsaw puzzle of the landmasses, black lines across the verdant land? Do you see any fences separating the blue seas from the emerald forests? Can you sense any discord or a cacophony of jarring colors in this canvas of life called ‘Earth?’ Do you now see the magical harmony created from the miracle of diversity and differences? Do you now realize that diversity and differences are to be celebrated rather than grudgingly acknowledged? Good, you have now glimpsed the life that is Earth!
Earth does not have borders, whether national, religious, or ethnic. Why should she try to keep the diversity of life, which is itself the essence of creation, separated and imprisoned, preventing her from fulfilling her divine right to blend and add another layer of life to the heavenly canvas? Then why are we humans trying to keep ourselves separate and divided? Why are we trying to prevent ourselves from fulfilling our own role as part of life? What’s so important about ethnicity, nationality, and the various religions that force us to overlook our inherent right to truly live in the deepest meaning of the word?
If we can all experience the reality of the Earth as we have just done together, we will realize that a simple shift of awareness is all that’s needed to solve the seemingly intractable problems facing us today. All we need to do is to allow our awareness to break through the prison bars of false and negative information. They are not real anyway.
When Earth becomes our collective source of life values, then we will realize that the boundaries that we have set for ourselves are unnecessary, that the endless competition driving our society is juvenile, and that our relentless anxiety arises from denial of our true life. When Earth becomes the center of our values, then politics, economics, and even religion will take their rightful place as tools, not masters, of our lives.
This shift of awareness is the most important key to the road to peace. Peace sought by a single nation or a religion will inevitably generate conflict. Only peace centered on and encompassing the whole Earth can lead us to the ‘promised land’ of ancient, wise lore.
Brain respiration guidelines by Ilchi Lee.
