December 17

That we recognize ourselves as beings separate from others, and other beings separate from ourselves and from each other, is a notion that flows from the conditions of living in time and space. The more this separateness is destroyed, the more we accept our unity with all living beings and the easier and more joyous our life becomes.

1

For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot would say, “Because I’m not the hand, I’m not part of the body,” it is not therefore not part of the body.

If the ear would say, “Because I’m not the eye, I’m not part of the body,” it is not therefore not part of the body.

If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the smelling be?

The eye cannot tell the hand, “I have no need for you,” or again the head to the feet, “I have no need for you.”

No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.

When one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. When one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

— 1 Corinthians 12:14–17, 21—22, 26

2

A branch that is cut from its bough is separated from the whole tree. When a human being is in discord with another, he becomes separated from the whole of humankind. But whereas a branch is cut by another’s hand, a human being alienates himself from his neighbor by his own hatred and anger, not realizing that he is severing himself from all of humankind. But the Deity who has called human beings to live together as brothers has gifted them the freedom to make peace with each other after a quarrel.

— Marcus Aurelius

3

God, having created the heavens and the earth, which do not feel the joy of their existence, wanted to create beings which could perceive this happiness and would compose a body of sentient limbs. All human beings are the limbs of this body; in order to be happy, they must conform their will to the general will which controls the whole body. And meanwhile, a human being often thinks that he is everything; not seeing the body on which he depends, he thinks that he depends only on himself, and wants to make himself the center and body. But in this case, a human being is akin to a limb that has been severed from its body, which, lacking the source of life within itself, merely wanders around aimlessly, surprised at the incomprehensibility of its existence. But when a human being finally grasps his purpose, he returns to himself so to speak, he realizes that he is not the whole body, but only a limb of a general body, that to be a limb means to live only through and for the life of the whole body, that the life of a limb separated from its body results in death and ruin, and that one must love oneself only for the sake of this body, or rather, that one must love only this general body, because by loving it, one loves oneself, since one can only live in it and through it.

In order to define the love which one should feel for oneself, one must imagine a body composed of sentient limbs, because we are the limbs of everything, and decide how each individual limb should love itself.

The body loves the arm, and the arm, if it had a will, must love itself as the body loves it. Any love greater than this is wrong. If arms and legs had their own particular will, they would be in order only if they obeyed the body; without this, they are in disorder and distress. If they desire the best for the body, they attain the best for themselves.

The limbs of our body do not feel the happiness of their connectedness, their wonderful concord, they do not know how much effort nature spent to inspire them with the spirit of concord, forcing them to grow and exist. And if, having acquired reason, they used it to keep for themselves the food they received, without passing it on to other limbs, they would not only be unjust, but also unhappy, they would most likely not love but hate each other, because their bliss is just like their duty—it requires harmony with the activity of the general soul to which they belong and which loves them more than they love themselves.

— Pascal

The consciousness of our unity with all other beings manifests in us as love. Love is the expansion of our life. The more we love, the broader, fuller and more joyful our life becomes.