Sitting 11,000 feet above sea level I realized how people affect me. Perched in front of a Buddhist monastery in the village of Upper Pisang, along the Annapurna Circuit Trek, in the Nepalese Himalaya I found my collectivist agenda.
While I sat at this ramshackle monastery thousands of feet in the air, two Russian travelers sat beside me. Sasha (Aleksander) and Borris talked about the scenery and the lives of the Nepalese peoples, we discussed Putin and Trump and through this came to the question of our earth. Then Sasha said, in a thick Russian accent, “I think the key to saving this earth is for everyone to be good to each other.”
I think to an extent Sasha changed the course of my life in that moment.
For me the question of, who are we? gives an answer in itself. “We”. We are not purely individual, we are collective. Collective with each other, our species, this earth and every life form out there. We do not walk through this alone, we are charging a path as a species. Not only do I see life this way, but systems theory walks us through similar realizations. When studying keystone species within ecosystems we see proven to us that the fate of any living creature depends on the prosperity of the creatures around them. While technologically advanced, humans are not excluded from this rule. We see the loss of species from over-fishing, deforestation and many other man made factors negatively effect our lives every day. Our food sources are dying, the quality of our air is decreasing, we are ruining our own lives. So whether you think humans are individualist or collectivist by nature, there is no excuse for lack of progressive action.
I cannot say enough how grateful I am to have the space and time put aside in this class to reflect on how we fit into this master plan that is earth. I have found more grace, passion and fulfillment in the past two weeks of deep thought, mindfulness and contemplation than I ever would have expected from a meditation retreat let alone a college course. Looking at my experience so far I would say I am left with excitement for the soul searching still to come.