‘No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main’
John Donne (1572-1631)
Sometimes I wake up with ideas in my head. They come in the form of a single word, a phrase, an image. Today, I saw a field of golden wheat dancing in the wind under the sun.
A spark of thought-feeling sprouted with the word ‘seed.’ I was left with the feeling that, however fragile they may be, like all seeds sprouting in search of sunlight, they multiply their strength a hundredfold when exposed to that light together. Visualising the harmonious dance of the wheat stalks, I felt that the multitude of seeds knew their strength.
I imagine that the core of our being only survives when it seeks its transcendent energy in a harmonious way, when it connects with the core of the being of others we meet in our daily lives. “Namaste!” In this way, the God in me greets the God in you.
As the metaphysical poet John Donne said, ‘No man is an island!’ His contemporary, William Shakespeare (1564-1616), challenges us when he proclaims in Hamlet: ‘To be or not to be! That is the question.’
Then I understood that we are truly ourselves when we realise our transcendent interaction with other beings. It is an essential connection: an exchange that makes the Light of our essence grow.
Bringing this feeling-thinking to the here and now, in these times of social networks and light and quick interpersonal contacts, I imagine that the Uber driver, with whom I have a very brief contact, contains an essence that converses with mine. Together, we are seeds in the Sun. And in the Sun, our essences – brilliant – grow, happy, exchanging sparks that enrich us with every word or silence. In these moments, we are truly Human Beings.
