Others and Enlightenment

[kokopelle]

The blog of a LJ friend got me thinking about enlightenment and the role of other people in its attainment.

I believe that others are necessary for enlightenment. This statement is prefaced on a Eastern/shamanic foundation that I will summarize in bullet form below. The statements begin with a shamanic foundation I firmly believe in: that all things are connected. The list ends in a statement of divinity.

• The sum of "we" are all connected


• Each person has their own experience of the this connection


• Within the framework of universal connection, each person is completely alone in the world


• The aloneness allows a person to connect to others


• People have finite abilities to experience the world, and hence cannot easily experience their aloneness


• People chase enlightenment because they realize their vision is finite


• Others are the reminders of the universal connection


• Others portray those parts of ourselves that we cannot see due to our finite vision


• The terms of inward and outward only have meaning in the finite vision


• The turning outward is a passing illusion


• The interpretation of others are only necessary to pull aside the curtain of finite vision.


• The remembering of the "we" connection strengthens the ties of love and compassion with others as the separation between outward and inward is removed.


• Others are us


• We are them


• Enlightenment is a word for remembrance


• Divinity is remembrance of connection