The Most Important Thing: Realizing That We Are All One

<p>Let’s take a second to meditate on this observation from John Cage, the experimental musician and student of Zen philosophy:</p><p>“That one sees that the human race is one person (all of its members parts of the same body, brothers—not in competition any more than hand is in competition with eye) enables him to see that originality is necessary, for there is no need for eye to do what hand so well does.”</p><p>It is a particularly beautiful and necessary insight for two reasons. The first half reminds us of something the Stoics believed very deeply as well—that we were made for our fellow humans and are part of the same collective being. “What’s bad for the hive is bad for the bee,” <a href='https://el2.convertkit-mail.com/c/preview/dpheh0hz/aHR0cHM6Ly9kYWlseXN0b2ljLmNvbS9tYXJjdXMtYXVyZWxpdXMvP3V0bV9zb3VyY2U9Y29udmVydGtpdCZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPWNvbnZlcnRraXQmdXRtX2NhbXBhaWduPWFsbC1vbmU='>Marcus wrote to himself.</a> He wrote like this constantly. “The universe made rational creatures for the sake of each other, with an eye toward mutual benefit based on true value and never for harm.” “All things are mutually woven together and therefore have an affinity for each other.” “Revere the gods and look after each other.” In fact, we made our <a href='https://el2.convertkit-mail.com/c/preview/e5uph7h9/aHR0cHM6Ly9wcmludHMuZGFpbHlzdG9pYy5jb20vcHJvZHVjdHMvc3ltcGF0aGVpYQ=='>Sympatheia medallion</a> precisely because this theme was so important to Marcus. We wanted our own physical reminder of it.</p><p>But it’s the latter part of Cage’s observation that is so timely, as it disputes and refutes a lot of present day’s knee jerk resistance to community and altruism. No, caring about other people doesn’t hold you back. No, the warm fuzzy feeling is not the only benefit. See, when you start to respect your fellow humans and see that each one has intrinsic value and purpose on this planet, it helps you understand those very things about yourself. When you encourage someone else to be their best self—to be hand or eye or arm or stron