The great lost chord of mankind is forgetfulness of the fact in nature of universal brotherhood. Mankind—the body of humanity—is not a contrived, sentimental or political brotherhood. It is a spiritual or cosmic brotherhood of common ancestry, an integral part of the vast body of the universe, that likewise springs from a common root.

The body of humanity, like any body, is one. It is composed of individual units; each unit, that is, each human being, is a part of the larger body of humanity. The body, the multitude, is composed of individual units, connected in outer consciousness. As such, what affects one impacts all. The connections may not be obvious to mortal eyes gazing upon the surface that judge by appearances, but the reality is, we are all connected.

Just as an injury to one part of you, say an ankle or an eyeball, affects your whole body, you cannot curse, harm, or do wrong to another without injuring the whole. This simple cosmic law has been with us since time immemorial.

Why, then, do we insist upon acting as judge, jury, and executioner in relation to other units in the body? At some level we doubt the law of compensation for meritorious conduct and retribution for unmeritorious action and we step in to “settle the score.” This law is in effect always, everywhere. In fact, it is the law which obviates the need for judgment. Unfortunately, when we judge and act in the name of righteousness, we sink to the level of the adversary and do further harm to the body in the process.

Goodness and decency wrought to all people, not just those close to us that we’ve deemed “good” of “worthy,” invariably activates this karmic cycle. The universe is one, as is the body of humanity. There are no divisions or separations in reality. Remember: that which divides also connects. Those things which seem to divide us also connect us, be it political viewpoints, religious beliefs, or even the air between us.

We are one. If you let this sink in, truly register in the deepest part of you, it will become increasingly clear that loving one another, especially those whom we have previously written off or judged to be beneath us or to be a lost cause, is the wisest course of action. Anything less feeds into the causal loop, the vortex that has swallowed up more human potential and cosmic will than I dare describe.

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash.