Rethink Everything: The Truth Runs Much Deeper Than You Think.
Imagine a classroom of children sitting eagerly on their first day of school. The teacher stands at the front of the room, smiling warmly, and begins the lesson:
“Children, you must know something very important: you are entirely independent beings. Each of you brought yourself into existence by your own power; you exist in and of yourselves. Your bodies are not the result of anything your parents gave you. In fact, your parents played no role in your existence. The DNA and cells in your body didn’t come from them, nor did the food they or you eat. In fact, food has no part in producing or sustaining your body. Your bodies were created entirely by your own will and power. Every cell, every heartbeat, every breath is a product of your own independent nature. And each of you has a unique nature that is entirely different from everyone and everything else.”
The children look surprised and confused. One child hesitantly raises their hand. “But teacher, my parents told me that they came together to create me. And isn’t it the food my parents eat and feed me that makes me grow?”
The teacher laughs gently. “Oh no, that’s just a comforting story people like to tell. Your body exists entirely on its own. You created your body and mind. The Earth, the sun, the water—they have nothing to do with you. Even your past thoughts, inclinations, fears, and desires have nothing to do with the present moment of your mind. You’re completely separate from everything else and exist independently. Your inner nature is yours alone—unchanging and self-contained—and it will remain as long as you wish.”
Now imagine how bewildered and disoriented these children would feel. They would go home, look at their parents, the food on the table, the sunlight streaming through the window, and the vegetables growing in the garden, trying to reconcile the teacher’s words with the obvious truth of their lived experience.
This scenario sounds absurd—because it is. Yet this is precisely how we live when we believe we are separate from the universe, separate from one another, and that our existence is self-contained, self-generated, and entirely unique.
Would you believe a child who denied they were a product of their parents? Would you accept someone claiming their body was not fueled by food, water, air, and sunlight? Such claims would be laughable. But isn’t it just as ridiculous to claim that we, as human beings, are somehow separate from the universe that birthed and sustains us?
Our bodies are woven from the elements of the Earth, fueled by the energy of the sun, grown by the rain and soil, and shaped by the endless chain of cause and effect stretching back to the beginning of time. There is no “you” apart from the cosmos—just as there is no child independent of their parents, their food, or the planet itself. In fact, there is nothing in the entire universe that exists in and of itself. Not a single being or object possesses some permanent, independent nature that generates or sustains itself. Every being is a product of the same universal nature.
This universal nature is both the producer and the produced—a dynamic, ever-unfolding reality capable of infinite expressions. What we call “differences” between people—skin color, language, culture—are not possessions or inherent traits. These differences belong to no one. They are simply reflections of the infinite potential of the universe expressing itself in all its possibilities.
Take a moment to reflect: the cells in your body are not “yours.” They are borrowed from the Earth, the food you eat, the water you drink, and the air you breathe. Your thoughts and emotions are not self-generated; they arise from countless causes, from your environment, experiences, and even the inherited tendencies of your ancestors. You are not an island. You are the universe in motion.
And yet, humanity clings to the illusion of separateness. We fight wars over arbitrary borders, label others as “different” or “other,” and live as though we are distinct from the world that created us. But this is like arguing over the ripples on a pond, forgetting that beneath the surface, all the water is one.
To see through this illusion is to recognize a profound truth: we are not separate beings but expressions of the same boundless whole. The differences we cling to are not ours; they are the universe exploring its infinite potential through us.
The idea that we are self-contained individuals, independent and distinct, is as absurd as telling a child they were not born of their parents. Just as a tree cannot claim independence from the soil, water, and sunlight that nourish it, we cannot claim independence from the universe.
It’s time to rethink everything. To see that nothing exists in isolation, that we are not just connected to the universe—we are the universe itself, expressing and experiencing its infinite potential. In recognizing this truth, we dissolve the illusion of separateness and open ourselves to the boundless beauty, creativity, and unity of existence. Shouldn’t our schools teach us facts about ourselves that free us from fear, competition, hate, jealousy, mental illness, conflict, and war? Shouldn’t education reconnect us to the truth of our oneness, to the deep interconnectedness that defines every aspect of life? Why do we continue to disconnect our children from the whole that they already are? What is the advantage of perpetuating the illusion of separateness? Isn’t it time we stopped passing down these harmful delusions and instead taught them the profound truth that could set them free?
