Isolation and Connection

https://recoverydharma.org/wp-content/uploads/misc-content/Recovery_Dharma-v1.0.pdf Recovery Dharma Book, Page 57 Isolation and Connection The Buddha taught that nothing and nobody exists on its own. He said: "Since this exists, that exists, and since this does not exist, that does not exist." We’re connected to other people through the way we interact, through the air we share, through our existence together in nature. Trying to ignore or resist this interconnection is basically trying to destroy something which already exists. This doesn’t mean that we’re literally dependent on others for our life and our existence, but that the life and existence of everybody and everything develops through their relationships with things outside themselves: the food they eat, the environment they live in, the history and the circumstances of their world. It’s a great web of being that each of us is connected to without any effort of our own. And being aware of that connection gives us space to have meaningful and positive relationships with others. It is a choice that each of us has: to decide what we want to do with the reality of our connection. Sangha, in a very broad sense, means being willing to let other people in, to let them matter. To do that, we have to be willing for other people to let us in. When we can even consider the possibility of that happening, there’s the potential for us to move toward liberation. And the benefits are felt almost immediately.