The human condition is an interesting one in a sense that we often forget, or more accurately – overlook, the fact that we are human beings, undergoing life in a human body with a human mind.

The myths underlying our culture and common sense have not taught us of our connection to one another and the world around us; instead, they have trained us into seeing ourselves as isolated beings wandering the planet, confronting the world.

The view of the Earth being a big rock floating in space, infested with living organisms, isn’t as precise as one may think. Instead, I believe the Earth is to the solar system as organs are to an organism.

Just as the skin grows hairs, the Earth grows people. Our existence on this planet is a symptom of the solar system and its balance, just as much as the solar system is a symptom of our galaxy and its balance.

What prohibits us from this view is a common issue that has existed throughout time: the lack of awareness of the fact that we are not separate from one another and the universe, but one in the same, with connections running much deeper than we can imagine.

We cannot really define something without its relationship to another thing. For example, to describe someone walking, we would also need to describe the space (floor, room, etc.) in which walking is happening. We cannot describe walking on its own, as just feet dangling in empty space; there needs to be a space where walking happens.

In just the same way, we cannot really know ourselves, without knowing about the other.

The only way we’re able to define ourselves is with the relationship to the other; we know who we are in terms of other people.

I’m tall and you’re short; you’re skinny and I’m fat; I think this way, you think that way. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be I; and if wasn’t for I, you wouldn’t be you.

It’s like having two sticks leaning on each other; they stand up because they support each other. If you were to take one of the sticks away, the other would fall; they inter-depend – just like we do.

In other words, we’re not separate; we’re all backs and fronts to each other. We, and our environment, are all interdependent systems, coming together to form the one entire system – the universe.

We didn’t come into this world, as many of us have been raised and conditioned to believe. Just like a wave grows out of the ocean, we grew out of this world.

Now, the wave is both separate and a part of the ocean; it grows, rises, then collapses into itself. In the same exact way, humans grow out of the universe like separate waves, manifesting itself as you and me.

Being human is a truly remarkable thing; it means that we experience life in a very specific way – the human way.