We Are All One
Have you ever thought about racial, ethnic, linguistic, etc. diversity in the world? However, what matters is that, despite the huge growth in the world population and the diversity of races, skin colors, nationalities, and other characteristics, we are all one in the spirit.
That is to say, God created man from one truth and made him the best of creations. The spirit, shared by all of us, is meant to exist forever and will not be destroyed after death and the decay of our physical bodies; in other words, that single spirit God breathed into our physical bodies is everlasting and eternal.
Therefore, given that we all share a single spirit, if we harm someone or make him happy, we actually harm or make ourselves happy. Here “him” which refers to anyone we interact with is actually “us.” Following the principle of “he is you” makes one like for others whatever he likes for himself, and dislike for them whatever he dislikes for himself. In fact, when you stop being selfish, wonderful things will happen in your life.
According to this principle, man sees others through the lens of his own personality traits. What he sees in other people is a reflection of himself: a person of goodness sees goodness in others and a person of evil sees evil in others.
As a result, one cannot expect to be loved, honored and valued while he makes others feel small and humiliated. Simply put, insulting, humiliating, ridiculing, oppressing and blaming others are the defining characteristics of worthless people of low character.
Now, in parallel with the principle of he is you and the fact that we should not see ourselves as separate from others in intention and action, we should also follow the principle of he is the messenger of God. It means you begin to see others, whether they are your wife/husband, children, parents, or friends, as prophets sent by God. That is, if you make someone happy, you please not only him but also the Prophet of God.
Although our prophet is not physically present, he observes our actions on a daily basis, getting happy with our good deeds and unhappy with our bad deeds; therefore, for love of the Prophet, one should show respect and affection to his fellow human beings. The point is, if we can make others and our Prophet happy by positive thinking and acting, can we also please God by doing so?
Obviously, when we make others and our Prophet happy, we please God too. This is the third principle, i.e., he is the manifestation of God. That is, man acts as God’s vicegerent by becoming the mirror in which all God’s attributes are made to manifest in the most comprehensive manner. Therefore, we can honor God by honoring others. It will be really rewarding to respect others for the sake of God and to acknowledge Him as the Observer.
When we see others filtered through our own weaknesses, grudges, impurities and limitations, we tend to magnify their weaknesses and think they deserve to be criticized, deprived and punished, so we find it hard to forgive them. However, when see people through God’s eyes, they are deemed worthy of mercy and forgiveness; this is exactly what God wants us to do.
In a nutshell, as we are all one, when we forgive others, make them happy or tolerate their unacceptable behavior, we do it all to ourselves. In fact, annoying and irritating people can enrich our lives if we treat them the right way. They can provide us with the training we need. For example, if we want to be patient, we cannot just suddenly be patient. To be patient, we must go through situations that make us angry. These situations train our patience muscle. If we handle such situations the right way, we will be more patient.
As Rumi says,
“The world is a mountain,
Where voice of your acts seek you.
Everything you do or say,
They’re all echoed back to you.”
To wrap it up, the three principles of he is you, he is the prophet of God, and he is the manifestation of God are lifesaving guidelines, which, if we believe in them, will make us more mindful of how we treat others and make it easier for us to tolerate their bad behavior. This way, we will get happy and peaceful and spread this positive attitude to those around us. Others will in turn feel happy and at peace and begin to feel safe with us.
