In some of my yoga classes, we work towards a goal pose—a pose that might be challenging or new to students. We do postures to precede the goal pose by linking together a sequence that helps get us to where we are going. In this way, we can start to appreciate the work that goes into getting us to the other side or new opening. We begin to understand that our ‘goal’ is really just the sum of parts all linked together. They are not independent of one another, rather they are critical to both the integrity and the outcomes of our practice.
I was reminded of this when I was with a friend yesterday who noted how often we can operate as though our actions or our beliefs happen in the microcosm of our immediate world. We miss how linked things are in life. That what we do, think, or believe does not take place within a vacuum, rather our actions link with reverberating effects.
When we decide that our one extra plastic bag from the grocery does not constitute a link back to the petroleum products that created it, or to the garbage that is will create, or to the sea animal that may wind up with it in its belly, or our child who we desire to inherit a sustainable earth then we are missing the link that ties us into the reality that the sum of our actions effects the whole of the parts of our world.
While the environment is an example that we have all heard before, we sometimes fall short of making the link that runs between all of us. The link that connects us as creatures who more often than not have similar desires—to be well, happy, safe, and at peace. When we forget that commonality, and perhaps think that one uncharitable thought or deed will have no consequence on the whole of our living, then we are ignoring that we are a critical link to others and to the universe. In a world sometimes short on compassion and understanding, it seems like a good part of our practice in life is to remember we are linked.