Life is Whole, from Without and Within

Michal Arbel / translated by Jill Yonassi

Looking inwards and outwards:

Looking inwards –

at feelings, opinions, at our point of view

and our relationships with others –

looking inwards is not separate from the outside, far from it;

it relates to what's on the outside

and to our reactions to it.

Looking outwards –

at other people, at our sensory input,

at what is happening in the world at large –

looking outwards is not separate from the inside,

from our point of view,

from the position of the observer, looking and perceiving.

In light of this,

when we look inwards –

are we aware that life from the outside is reverberating within us?

Are we attentive to the world around us,

a world that is not separate from us?

And when we look outwards –

are we aware of our view point, our internal point of reference?

Are we aware of the observer, the one overlooking?

~~~

Inside and outside are points of view, the way we relate to life;

they are the line separating ourselves and others –

that's the separation between "us" and "them":

"'we"' are this color and "they" are a different color,

"we" have one religion while "'they" have another,

"our" nationality is superior and "their" nationality is inferior.

But where does this line of separation really lie?

Can we question all assumptions, opinions, beliefs and conclusions

about who are "we" and who are "the others"?

Can we question the fundamental positions and conceptions

by which we live?

Who are we really?

Who, really, are they?

Inside and outside only exist in our mind, in our thoughts,

they are boundaries that we create.

Yet life is not fragmented, not segregated;

life reverberates and entwines, life is whole –

everyone is inter-connected with all others,

each person is Life in its fullness.

We all breathe the same air,

we are all nourished by the same earth.

What we sow is what grows

as there is no escape from the consequences of our actions,

as we are all connected, inter-related.

Here and now we are all living together;

us and them, we are not really separate at all.