The Universal Connection
Do you believe in random coincidence? Or, do you think that
there is some destiny involved when things magically 'come
together'?
I believe in a phenomenon I have been known to call a 'Universal
connection'. Yesterday one of these destined occurrences deeply
affected the mood I was in and took me from feeling pretty low
and depressed to feeling a joyous epiphany. Let me tell you
about what happened. You see, I don't believe in random,
arbitrary coincidences. My understanding is that life is a
combined relationship between humanity's freewill, and the will
of a higher power who I call 'The Great Spirit". I believe in a
paradoxical type of destiny that is both preordained by this
higher power, but also can be altered by our own decisions that
we make every moment of everyday. Opportunities and obstacles
are presented and then we are to decide whether or not to take
any specific action relating to the situation.
O.K. So yesterday I wasn't feeling very well; I have a history
of depression and anxiety and I perceived a few events that
happened to me as being quite negative. Well it just so happens
that the day before I had been sent an email from my Tai Chi
instructor that had some links that related to depression, as
they know of my problem. I looked at one site that was about
some new form of neurotechnology where listening to a certain
type of C.D. is supposed to send one's mind into a deep state of
meditation. I am admittedly skeptical about this sort of thing
as of course money is always supposed to exchange hands. The
good thing about this particular site is that they offer a free
sample C.D. of which I ordered.
Anyhow, I started to peruse over the information on this site
and I came across some quotes by famous people. One that struck
me was by a Rabbi Hillel and as my good friend at work is very
interested in Jewish culture and religion, I cut and pasted it
into Messenger for him to read. As I was feeling down, I left
work early and went home to read some more of a book that I've
really been enjoying lately. It's called 'Sacred Journey of the
Peaceful Warrior' and is written by Dan Millman. It's the sequel
to a book I really loved entitled, 'Way of the Peaceful
Warrior'. After reading for a chapter or two I came up to
Chapter 17: 'Courage of the Outcast'. The chapter began with
these words:
If I am not for myself, Who will be for me? And if I am only for
myself, What am I? And if not now, when? (Hillel, Sayings of the
Fathers)
This was the exact quote that I had sent to my friend earlier
that day! Out of all the quotes in the world, out of all the
chapters I could have read up to, out of all the days in my
life; this quote came up twice in one day! I knew there must be
a reason for it happening so with some help from my friend I did
a little research today on the Internet. This quote has been
translated from Hebrew so I have now come to see that it has
been interpreted in many different ways. This is the general
meaning that I have come to think that the words mean:
'If I am not for myself, who will be for me?' relates to
self-esteem. It means that if you don't believe in the spiritual
aspects of your Self and love yourself for your divine essence
and not just your ego, then others will only see you as someone
who hasn't truly formed an identity of your own. If you don't
love and have faith in yourself, then others will naturally find
it hard to love and have faith in you.
'And if I am only for myself, what am I?' To me this is about
then spreading your love and faith to others around you. It is
very important to do things that will make you feel better about
your own self-esteem, but just doing things for yourself is
selfish. The best way to become a strong and happy person is
through the service that we can do for others. We have to
realize that others are just another form of ourselves, the 'I'
that is intrinsic to all forms of life in the Universe (Great
Spirit), and their well-being is just as important as our own.
The last line, 'And if not now, when?' refers to action. It's
all good and well to have this knowledge, but it is the act of
putting it into action that is of greatest importance. Now is
the only time that is truly real. The past is gone and can never
be lived again, while the future has not appeared yet and for
some of us (while in human form) it won't ever come. Any second
could be our last, so now is the time to put our knowledge and
beliefs into work by integrating them into our every movement.
I believe that these 'Universal connections' happen all around
us everyday of our lives. We only have to focus our attention to
see them; though sometimes they are so profound they will just
jump right out and smack you in the face!