Structure of Reality
“In a real sense all life is inter-related. All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. And you can never be what you ought to be until I’m what I ought to be. This is the inter-related structure of reality.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
Humanity resembles a tree whose trunks, branches and twigs are growing every second as the arrow of time moves incessantly. We have all seen normal trees, right? Have you ever seen branches of a tree fighting among themselves? If humanity is a tree, a gigantic one to be sure, why then do we humans fight and kill each other? Why do we treat each other with such cruelty?
An Indian American proverb says it like this: No tree has branches stupid enough to fight among themselves. I guess you get what I’m trying to communicate here. Do trees know better than we the people who claim to be the masters of the Universe? I guess getting kicked out of heaven has its consequences. Once we discovered how to tell the difference between the good and evil, we decided that we are right at any cost. We know best. Our philosophy is the only right one. In other words, I’d rather be dead than wrong! I wish we stayed in heaven, never having gained the knowledge of the good and evil. It would’ve been so peaceful. Well, I guess we can’t change the past, but we sure can do something about the future.
MLK, Jr. unlocked the mystery of humanity is one sentence. All men, and women, are caught in a network of mutuality means we are one people. It means if someone hurt one tiny piece of this tree the rest will suffer. You can relate this to when you have a simple paper cut. One miniscule member of the body aches, the entire body is restless. There is no way we can have peace on earth and beyond unless we fight against wars. There is no way we can have success in our lives unless we fight against poverty. No one ever achieved anything by opposing it. Force begets force. Hate results in hate. Opposing will only help the agony persist. I remember Mother Teresa was once asked to attend a demonstration against the Vietnam War and she responded, "I will attend when you have a demonstration for peace!"
If you read what MLK, Jr. is saying many times over, you will realize he says that my success comes from your success, my reaching my full potential comes from you reaching yours, my being joyous comes from your happiness and so on. There is no way out of this network of interdependency unless by mutual cooperation, friendship, caring, helping and peace. It is vital we think good thoughts, say good words and do good deeds. The rest will take of itself.
Sam Sadat
