Are All Beings One Single Family?

Are All Beings One Single Family?

From Jawaharlal Nehru to Narendra Modi, India’s politicians have often evoked the phrase ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, to elucidate the country’s global outlook. I used to think that it meant we are all part of the family of an ancient figure whose name was ‘Vasudev’  {Vasudev is a very prevalent name in India}. 

That was till recently when I found out what it really meant.  Turns out that ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’  are Sanskrit words, वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम and when translated it is:  “vasudha”, the earth; “iva”, is; and “kutumbakam”, family. The phrase comes from a verse in the Maha Upanishad which is part of the Samaveda. {one of the ‘Vedas’ which are ancient Indian texts}

Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam is considered to be a Universal and Unifying Principle: It is the essence and the core of the Vedas.  ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ emphasizes that all beings on earth are a family and are connected. This principle of the fundamental unity and interconnectedness of all life forms, which was encoded in Indian texts thousands of years ago, resonates with some of the most ancient spiritual traditions around the globe.

A Few Examples:

Prayers and phrases of oneness and harmony with all forms of life as in a family are a common thread in the texts of many cultures and religions. Take for instance ‘Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ ’. 

Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ is a phrase from the Lakota language. It reflects the world view of interconnectedness held by the Lakota people of North America. This concept and phrase are expressed in many Yankton Sioux prayers. In English, the phrase translates to ‘we are all related’. 

 Africans called it ‘Ubuntu’ or ‘I exist because you exist’.

In Christianity, we find the Golden Rule of ‘do unto others as you would have others do unto you”. 

Buddhism uses the concept of ‘Indra’s net’ to symbolize the interconnectedness of all life.

All reflect ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’: that all beings on earth are single-family and are also connected.

At this juncture, you are justified in wondering “So What?” “Where is this guy going with this?”

 

Recently, when I was with my friend, I was discussing genetics & how various cultures have tried to maintain the purity of stock. I think that pure stock is a myth and an impossibility. The arithmetic to prove this was beautifully demonstrated by Bill Bryson in his book “A Short History of Nearly Everything”. Here is that interesting bit.

I quote…

…….

“If your two parents hadn’t bonded just when they did – possibly to the second, possibly to the nanosecond – you wouldn’t be here. And if their parents hadn’t connected in a precise and timely manner, you wouldn’t be here either. And if their parents hadn’t done likewise, and their parents before them, and so on, obviously and indefinitely, you wouldn’t be here.

Push backward through time and these ancestral debts begin to add up. Go back just eight generations to the time when Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln {beginning 1800s} were born, and already there are over 250 people on whose timely couplings tour existence depends. Continue further, to the time of Shakespeare and the Mayflower pilgrims, {1600s} and you have no fewer than 16,384 ancestors earnestly exchanging genetic material in a way that would, eventually and miraculously, result in you.

Twenty generations ago, the number of people procreating on your behalf has risen to 1,048,576. Five generations before that, there were no fewer than 33,554,432 men and women on whose devoted couplings your existence depends on. By thirty generations ago, your total number of forebears – remember, these aren’t cousins and aunts and other incidental relatives, but only parents and parents of parents in a line leading ineluctably to you – is over one billion (1,073,741,824, to be precise). If you go back sixty-four generations, to the time of the Romans, the number of people on whose co-operative efforts your eventual existence depends has risen to approximately one million trillion, which is several thousand times the total number of people who have ever lived.

Clearly, something has gone wrong with our maths here. The answer, it may interest you to learn, is that your line is not pure. You couldn’t be here without a little incest – actually quite a lot of incest – albeit at a genetically discreet remove. With millions of ancestors in your background, there will have been many occasions when a relative from your mother’s side procreated with some distant cousin from your father’s side of the ledger. In fact, if you are in a partnership now with someone from your race and country, the chances are excellent that you are at some level related. Indeed, if you look around you on a bus or in a park or cafe’ or any crowded place, most of the people you see are very probably relatives. When someone boasts to you that he is descended from Shakespeare or William the Conqueror, you should answer at once: “Me, too!”.

In the most literal and fundamental sense,

“WE ARE ALL FAMILY.”………..

 

Why are there so many wars in this world? Why is it hard to live together in peace … Why does it seem difficult to say you are my family …

We are all so closely tied together that things like income level or place of birth shouldn’t have anything to do with how we treat one another. Who you voted for, should have no bearing on who you invite into your home. What God you believe in should not stop you from loving others wholly and completely  If you know me, you know that my family isn’t perfect; and I know the family can be a broken place to be. So perhaps saying we are all family doesn’t bring the best images to your mind. However, I feel like a family, in its most robust, best moments is a goal worth shooting for. People caring for each other, understanding that though you don’t think exactly like me, I am going to love you no matter what. We forgive each other, we defend each other, and we look out for one another. That is what a family does in its finest moments. It is a pack that makes sure everyone succeeds. 

What would our world look like, not if we could all be family, but if we realized we already are?!!