In the last several posts, I expressed my deep concerns about the trajectory of our public discourse. In our public sphere, people are increasingly dividing within communities, families, and among friends. Dialogue dissolves into arguments fueled by anger, fear, and intimidation. We are becoming hate-filled. We can choose to remain isolated, or we can reach out to connect. 

I am using my voice in this blog to offer ways of moving toward wholeness, appreciation, and compassion. This post is the first of two called,  “Choosing to Connect.” Here in Part One, I focus on connecting with others. In Part Two, I will explore connecting with ourselves. 

Whether or not we choose to connect is not merely our “private” decision. The prevailing culture at any time and place affects what decisions we make and how we make them. For example, accepted scientific understanding is a powerful pressure on what we believe about how our world operates. 

For over 300 years, the Newtonian view dominated Western science. It promoted the idea of physical reality as a kind of machine, comprising individual, isolated, static parts. In the early 1900s, quantum mechanics turned Newtonian theory upside down by suggesting that reality is not machine-like, but a living organism where all elements interact within a whole. Quantum theory gathered momentum through the 20th century and is today accepted as a prevailing scientific perspective.

David Bohm (1917-1992) was a physicist and a leading proponent of quantum theory. He recognized that scientific theory profoundly affects the human sense of identity. He saw that human thought tends toward fragmentation. We separate ourselves into minds and bodies and fragment our minds trying to do multiple tasks at once. We divide our fields of study into an ever-expanding number of fields, each field breaking up into sub-categories. Most of all, we isolate ourselves from one another and from Life itself, distinguishing between life and death.

Bohm recognized that the quantum view of physics guides human perception toward a fuller human consciousness. The quantum perspective emphasizes the essential interconnectedness of all life. For example, quantum thinking highlights how our language’s basic structure (noun-verb-object) implicitly assumes individual, distinct elements. Take the simple sentence “I chop wood.” We assume that “I” is completely distinct from “wood”; and “chop” is what my separate “I” does to the separate “wood.”

Quantum theory challenges our assumptions about these distinctions, proposing that “I” and “wood” are deeply connected as living things, made of Life-energy. Interestingly, this scientific worldview draws close to the ancient Buddhist teaching that says the separate “I” is an illusion of human thinking. Buddhism emphasizes the interconnectedness of all beings, sometimes called “inter-being”. 

Bohm recognized that the illusion of separation leads us to nurture our worst impulses. When we separate from one another, we form into separate “camps”, and then pit one camp against another. In this environment, we nurture suspicion, competition, jealousy, and hatred of “the other.” The “other” happens within and between families, community groups, political parties, countries, and on and on. Welcome to where we are today, consumed with being “separate from.”

This takes an enormous toll on all of us. Bohm recognized that this pull toward separation inspires us toward violence, away from compassion. Violence takes many forms. Wars, criminal acts, especially using weapons, are obvious. The tendency toward despair can also result. We are moving against the life force that is rooted in connection, not disconnection. 

Bohm urged his followers to learn to re-orient toward and practice connecting with others. We can reach out to a neighbor, call an old friend, email or send a card to someone who is suffering. Or we may volunteer at a local food bank, library, or hospital. Whatever action we choose, we begin by recognizing each other as human beings, each of whom suffers, all worthy of love and care. One of the most challenging yet important practices we can intake is to learn to listen to those with whom we may strongly disagree.

I am inspired by the ancient wisdom of the Tao Te Ching. In English, the Chinese word Tao is translated as The Way, which refers to the spiritual path that is available to all human beings. Brian Browne Walker, a translator of The Tao, says that The Tao Te Ching  “… is less a book than a living, breathing angel.” 

“Tao is a whirling emptiness, yet when used it cannot be exhausted.

Out of the mysterious well, flows everything in existence.

Blunting sharp edges, untangling knots,

Softening the glare, settling the dust,

It evolves us all and makes the whole world one.”

(The Tao Te Ching of Lao Tsu, translated by Brian Browne Walker, published by St. Martin Griffin, New York, page 4)

Today, I’ll opt for the path of angels… as best I can.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

~ How much of your time and energy goes to connecting with others? When are your connections with others life-giving? When do connections feel draining? 

~ How do you relate to people with whom you have sharp disagreements? Do you avoid them, argue with them, or try to listen to their perspective?

~ What helps you connect others who hold very different views from yours?