Among the countless beliefs and assumptions that make up our contemporary view of industrial life, there is one that is pervasive, and very common. This is assuming that we are separate from everything and everyone. This belief fundamentally determines all our thoughts and actions. There is a key fallacy, we are separate. But if there’s only one, then whatever I do to you, I’m actually doing to myself, my family and my kids.
Spiritual attitudes have long pointed out that division is an illusion. However, the past is consciously or unconsciously transferred to the modern world, and the world works like a huge machine composed of various parts, like a big clock. For the past four centuries, mainstream scientific practice has attempted to dissect the clock and figure out how it works so we can use it for our own ambitions.
This rigid aspect means that instead of seeing the relationship between things, we analyze and dissect those things. What is thus formed is a disintegrating view of the natural world. We have been so captivated by the capabilities this technology has produced, we have lost our relationship to each other; we have lost our connection to the mysteries of the universe.
While the modern worldview is far superior on Earth, it’s worth noting that it’s not the only worldview. Traditional native cultures are not so concerned with “progress” but with their health and community survival, seeing that all things are interdependent. They try to see that we are related to everything…animals, fish, plants, trees, birds and even microbes. The world’s indigenous peoples have a particularly important role to play at this moment in history. We need them to come forward and explain how they see things.
