Us and Them

There can be no more “us” and “them” anymore, since every problem in the world affects everyone eventually. As the world seems to grow smaller due to the ease of travel, the internet, better communication, multiculturalism and international commerce, the problems that might have taken decades to reach you might now show up knocking on your door virtually overnight.

In years past, we used to observe problems and say, “At least it is not my problem”. Guess what? It is your problem or will soon become so. You might as well work to fix world problems with pollution, over-consumption, prejudice, war, poverty and disease now before they become real issues in your own life. You don’t have to “save the world” all by yourself. Just start becoming part of the solution, instead of being a passive or active part of the problem.

The ego loves separation. It loves to create enemies or at least point out how we are all so different:

Different race.
Different ethnicity.
Different language.
Different religion.
Different culture.
Different heritage.
Different beliefs.

The ego thrives when it can make itself into a fragment of the whole. However, this is not the reality of life.

We are all connected by being. We are all working towards the same spiritual awakening that will fulfill our primary purpose in life. We are all working on becoming more conscious. Understanding just how much the same we all are as humans is an important realization on every person’s path. The idea of separation by personal attributes and geographic distance might suit the ego, but it will destroy our planet and all life upon it. Embracing each other as a part of the whole is the only way that we can all move forward on our individual and collective paths towards personal enrichment.

One does not have to travel to understand this truth. However, visiting other lands and meeting a diversity of people are great ways of discovering the reality of sameness and an even better way of deepening the understanding that we are all brothers and sisters who are much more alike, than we are different.

It is for this reason that travel becomes a tool for the evolution of each person, as well as for our species as a whole. It is not enough that some people awaken to the reality that we are all equal and alike. In order to ensure peace and harmony in the world, we must learn to embrace and endear the small idiosyncrasies that make us different from one another and fully accept the much larger reality that we are all here with the same fundamental hopes and dreams. We all come from the same unmanifested origin of consciousness and will return there when our time here on Earth ends.

You are not different from us. You are not our enemy. You might have different views than us and may process information in your own way. Your outward goals might seem very strange to us, but your inner purpose is much aligned with our own. Learn to see past the differences and embrace the oneness that we all are. In essence, there can be no “us” and no “them”. There can only be “us”.

We have long said that travel facilitates understanding when performed with an open-minded worldview and compassion. It is great to enrich yourself with knowledge and experience when traveling, but always remember to enrich others on your path as well. This attitude of commonness will facilitate more sincere and positive interactions with people around the world. Be genuine. Be kind. Be understanding and be nonjudgmental. Remember that everything that exists is its own way for a reason. It is not up to you to decide if the underlying cause or condition is right or wrong. It is up to you to simply accept it like it is in its present state and see how the world can be objectively bettered through positive action. It is just important to have fun along the way and use this pure enjoyment of life to increase your present moment awareness.

If you can move abroad and live in another culture for an extended time, this lesson becomes all the more important and easier to learn. You might need to acclimate to very different conditions than you are used to in your new country. To this end, we recommend finding somewhere that is truly a world away from your usual living conditions in order to exponentially magnify the impact and importance of the many lessons you will inherently learn.

While this post sounds so serious, it is actually incredibly lighthearted. You do not need to work hard in order to understand people. You only need to work hard to misunderstand them. If you can calm your mind and disengage from unproductive thought patterns of assumptions, judgment and all things egoic, then your natural, effortless state will be one of understanding and acceptance.

To put it simply, hate and distrust take effort, but love is our natural state. Just be who you truly are in your soul and your life will reward you with countless blessings for yourself and the world around you. Go out into the world and make friends. Learn things. Teach things. Be eco-friendly. Live an extraordinary life. You will find it is all actually very simple and amazing!