Some people value their connection with significant others. Some value their connection with “nature.” Some value their connection with the universe. And some simply value the concept of connection.
Connection has value! I question, WHY?
According to Google, a connection is “a relationship in which a person, thing, or idea is linked or associated with something else.” The concept of connection infers two or more separate individuals or things in a relationship.
Between people, connection takes on a much more profound anthropomorphic meaning. Beyond rapport, in which each person in a relationship realizes one or more shared interests and conditions, connection invokes a much more deeply realized awareness in which two or more become one. And yet, their connection is only the beginning…
No Connection Necessary?
Perhaps a realization of that kind of connection – union – connects us to a much broader and more universal awareness – that none are separate at all. A sense of connection with someone or others, although existing within a framework of an illusion of separation, may offer those so connected a tantalizing invitation to awaken to what is beyond…
Consider the symbolism in my body –
“Humans are not unitary individuals but superorganisms. A very large number of different human and non-human individuals are all incessantly struggling inside us for control.” – Peter Kramer, University of Padua.
Worlds within worlds… dimensions within dimensions… life – connected.
For some time scientists have known that microorganisms in my gut can exert quite a bit of influence over my emotions and thoughts. Other researchers have shown that human parts of my body are outnumbered by non-human parts. And still other scientists have shown that some people are actually multiple people sharing the same body – chimerism, a condition that affects a significant percentage of the population.
Even my biome is not one separate being. It consists of cells of MANY species, including others of my own! I am not an individual, per se – I am legion! Connected by common interest – survival!
An Illusion of Oneness?
And yet, I don’t think of my body as a group of connected individuals – though, clearly, WE ARE. Rather, I think of my body as one single entity – ME! Further, although my mind actually consists of the thoughts of many, I BELIEVE there is only one person doing the thinking – ME!
Although I am many, I believe I am one!
So, why do I find it so difficult to extend that same belief to everyone and everything else in my world? Why do I find it so difficult to embody the concept of unity when I’m experiencing it all the time right here at home in my own body?!!
Although I consider my body as one single entity, it clearly is not! Even my “mind” is not one single entity. The concept of unity is, therefore, not foreign to me – it is who I am.
Further…
Although I tend to consider “myself” a separate entity from you, we are not separate! Just as in the symbolism of the bacterial superorganism that I consider ME, within the context of the universe…
ALL IS ONE! No connection necessary!!
We’re still working on noticing and fully accepting this… 😉
Sources:
- “Humans Carry More Bacterial Cells than Human Ones” – You are more bacteria than you are you, according to the latest body census. Melinda Wenner, Scientific American, November 30, 2007.
- “Is another human living inside you?” You may think your body and mind are your own. In fact, you are a fusion of many organisms – including, potentially, another person. By David Robson, photography by Ariko Inaoka. BBC Future, online, 18 September 2015.
- “Male DNA in peripheral blood stem cell apheresis products of female donors.” Adams KM, Lambert NC , Heimfeld S, Tylee TS, Pang JM, Erickson TD, Nelson JL. Blood 120:3845-7, 2003. Abstract.
