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Each being is its own universe
The world – the universe, for all I know – is reduced to a single being, and that being is you or I, or, for that matter a king or a pope, a lion or the smallest insect that creeps upon the earth. Every being is the center of his or her own universe. And while we are so busy being the center of the universe, we seldom, if ever, realize that so is everyone else.
To any being's sight and hearing and understanding, every other thing in the universe revolves about him or her. How could it seem otherwise? From inside that being's head, he or she regards everything else as outside, existing only to the extent that it affects himself/herself. What he or she believes is, to him or her, the only necessary truth. What she/he does not know is not worth knowing. What things she/he does not love or hate are of no concern whatever. His/her own wants and complaints deserve the most immediate attention. If she/he awakes with an aching head or a sore shoulder, it is of more moment to him/her than another's dying or losing a limb. Her or his own impending death means the veritable end of the world.
Can you conceive of the grass growing when you can no longer feel it springing under your feet? When you can no longer smell its sweet aroma after rain? When the grass has no other reason for its existence but to cover your grave – and you not able even to look upon and admire it? I believe that the grass grows, the world exists only because this person lives. His or her concerns are the most pressing that have existed from the beginning of the world. And then, I must remember that whatever this center of the universe does, or thinks, or says, will, in some way, affect other centers of the universe.
Carmel, February, 2022