It might help to understand the interdependence of our inner emotional or mental conditions through an analogy of how our internal organs work. Here, too, we see interdependence at work. Having two strong lungs is not sufficient. Our lungs must function in close connection with the rest of the respiratory system, our heart, our liver, and all the rest of the interdependent internal organs. Each needs to have a certain level of health, although if one is slightly compromised, others can compensate to a certain degree. But no one organ can keep us alive on its own.
17th Karmapa
from the book Interconnected: Embracing Life in Our Global Society
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Further quotes from the book Interconnected:
- Self-discipline
- The full vividness of direct contact
- Dismantling the walls that separate us
- Inner conditions of interdependence
- You exist in connection with others
- Extend yourself and connect
- The opportunity to love
- Remaining indifferent to the suffering of animals
- Time to act
- Our life is like a vast net
- The air we breathe
- Extending gratitude in all directions
- The imagination to see the other as free and happy
- An important source of closeness and love
- Knowing more is not a substitute for feeling more
- Self-reliance
- The interdependence between us and the world
- Acting against self-serving impulses
- Webs of interdependence
- Noticing the collective effects of our individual actions