Every human being born into this world is real, just as real as every other human being. When we look at a group of kittens or puppies, we don't see a couple of them as real, and a couple of them as stuffed animals or blocks of marble, or a new pair of gloves. (Some sociopaths might, but not a person with a healthy functional brain.) We see them ALL as REAL kittens, or REAL puppies. When we look at babies in a maternity ward, we see a group of REAL baby human beings. We don't see some of them as "real" as some of them as some kind of android, servant-robot, non-human. They're all EQUAL in their realness, in their beautiful, wonderful, newborn personhood.
So how is it that when humans grow older, we become more and more comfortable with the belief that some of us are "More Real" than others? Why don't we buy into that when we look at and hold infants, but as those infants grow, we start to see some of them as "more important" than others?
We KNOW that we are holding a precious, wonderful miracle when we look at and hold a newborn child. And yet, we allow ourselves to let that knowledge become sullied and obscured when we see a newborn who has grown older.
We allow ourselves to let that happen when we look at others, and also when we look at ourselves.
STOP IT! We are all just as real as we were when we were born, and we are all just as real as any other human being on the planet. We're not a species that spans a spectrum from Gods to Gollum! That's our enormous imaginations at work! We are only ONE species, Homo Sapien Sapien, and we belong to the family of Great Apes. Other Apes don't have Gods to Gollums, and neither do we. We are much, much more similar to one another than we seem to want to believe; our abilities are NOT "god-like". NONE of us can fly, NONE of us can melt anything with our eyes, NONE of us can turn water into wine, or raise the dead. NONE of us can lift a delivery truck and throw it. None of us have Lion's fangs or retractable claws, none of us can run as fast as most other animals bigger than a mouse, and none of us can swim as fast as the average aquatic animal, or breathe water. Some are a little smarter, a little wiser, a little kinder, but the actual span between us is not like GOD vs. a salamander!
NONE of us are Great Wizards, or Super Heroes, or Winged Angels, or The Hulk. There aren't REALLY any humans that innately deserve Royalty, or innately deserve Poverty. We are ALL THE SAME SPECIES. Just like Orangutans are like other Orangutans, and Chimps are like other Chimps. There aren't God-like Chimps who have God-like abilities, ruling over "idiot", SERVILE Chimps, they're all just CHIMPS. Just like Cheetahs are all Cheetahs, and Wolves are all Wolves, and Dolphins are all Dolphins.
Let go of the illusion that some humans are "MORE REAL" than others. Look at the newborns and remember that they grow up, and who are they then? Who am I; who is the owner of the skyscraper down the street; who are you? We're ALL "REAL". We always were, and we'll always be.
So how is it that when humans grow older, we become more and more comfortable with the belief that some of us are "More Real" than others? Why don't we buy into that when we look at and hold infants, but as those infants grow, we start to see some of them as "more important" than others?
We KNOW that we are holding a precious, wonderful miracle when we look at and hold a newborn child. And yet, we allow ourselves to let that knowledge become sullied and obscured when we see a newborn who has grown older.
We allow ourselves to let that happen when we look at others, and also when we look at ourselves.
STOP IT! We are all just as real as we were when we were born, and we are all just as real as any other human being on the planet. We're not a species that spans a spectrum from Gods to Gollum! That's our enormous imaginations at work! We are only ONE species, Homo Sapien Sapien, and we belong to the family of Great Apes. Other Apes don't have Gods to Gollums, and neither do we. We are much, much more similar to one another than we seem to want to believe; our abilities are NOT "god-like". NONE of us can fly, NONE of us can melt anything with our eyes, NONE of us can turn water into wine, or raise the dead. NONE of us can lift a delivery truck and throw it. None of us have Lion's fangs or retractable claws, none of us can run as fast as most other animals bigger than a mouse, and none of us can swim as fast as the average aquatic animal, or breathe water. Some are a little smarter, a little wiser, a little kinder, but the actual span between us is not like GOD vs. a salamander!
NONE of us are Great Wizards, or Super Heroes, or Winged Angels, or The Hulk. There aren't REALLY any humans that innately deserve Royalty, or innately deserve Poverty. We are ALL THE SAME SPECIES. Just like Orangutans are like other Orangutans, and Chimps are like other Chimps. There aren't God-like Chimps who have God-like abilities, ruling over "idiot", SERVILE Chimps, they're all just CHIMPS. Just like Cheetahs are all Cheetahs, and Wolves are all Wolves, and Dolphins are all Dolphins.
Let go of the illusion that some humans are "MORE REAL" than others. Look at the newborns and remember that they grow up, and who are they then? Who am I; who is the owner of the skyscraper down the street; who are you? We're ALL "REAL". We always were, and we'll always be.
