A Harmonious Self

   Can the self harmonize with all phenomena, no matter how disharmonious life can sometimes seem? My reflection is that if there is no solid sense of "self" to defend, and if a person takes all the phenomena around them to be the same as themselves (with no conflict), then harmony can result. This might be analogous to a garden full of flowers, where each flower does not cancel out the rest, as long as the flowers can be seen as equally worthy of love. I wonder if perhaps Christianity is very good at articulating this by suggesting that all creations under heaven are worthy of respect and love insofar as God created them. Leibniz was yet another philosopher who suggested that because each being has its own unique mechanism and reason for existing (referred to as a "monad"), this makes them eternally valuable. If we look at all beings in this way with a spirit of respect and knowing things to be inherently worthy, then our attachment to self will diminish over time. Metta meditation is also a way of fostering this kind of respect for all creation, and wishing that things are well and peaceful because they are unique creations.

   There is another way of putting it, and that is to suggest that because everything is interconnected, everything should be equally loved, lest we suffer the consequences of not tending to these interconnections. This is also a viable way of looking at things, but it sounds too much like "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine". Yes, we're interconnected, but there needs to be an intrinsic sense of generic respect for all being as a whole. There needs to be a basis for respecting all people for their uniqueness without the utilitarian attitude of what we can get from others. And that is why I feel that respect needs to come from a sense of seeing the uniqueness of all beings. In some ways, harmony can only arise when each appearance and unfolding moment can be seen as inherently perfect and not in need of improvement or change.