When we think of containers, we often overlook the ways in which the contents can affect the container itself — warming or cooling it, staining or bleaching it, stretching or strengthening it and even breaking it. The word used in Tibetan for “contents’ in this analogy also literally means “nutrients”, such that we ourselves are like the nourishment for the world that contains us. Indeed, as I have mentioned, the carbon dioxide we exhale nourishes the trees and plants, and our bodies also return to the earth and nourish it after we have died. The natural environment, in turn, nourishes us and provides us with the conditions we need for life. What this signals is that the connections of interdependence between us and the world we live in are far closer and more reciprocal than we normally envision.

17th Karmapa

from the book Interconnected: Embracing Life in Our Global Society

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Further quotes from the book Interconnected:

• The workings of interdependence
• An important source of closeness and love
• Webs of interdependence
• Enjoying the goodness of what you are doing
• Bringing about real change in the world
• Experiencing connection rather than isolation
• Touching the core of our equality
• Acting against self-serving impulses
• We hold nothing back
• A genuine sense of affection
• The power of our senses
• Delight in positive thoughts
• Opening up to the view of interconnectedness
• Remaining indifferent to the suffering of animals
• Self-discipline
• Our life is like a vast net
• You exist in connection with others
• The ability to experience genuine closeness
• Dismantling the walls that separate us
• Being an interdependent individual