We Are All One Together

This is the story of how
We are part and whole
At the same time.
Co-dependent in co-existence.
Part of the universal one
The one taste, the one love
The one light, the one universe
The wholeness of it all.
And so it goes, like this
The seer perceives clearly that
A cloud is in the paper.
For without the cloud
There will be no rain,
No rain, the trees can’t grow
And without trees, no paper.
We see the sun in the paper,
For if the sun is not there
The forest cannot grow
The logger cannot cut the tree
To be brought to the mill
To be made into paper.
We can see wheat
Knowing that the logger cannot
Exist without his sustenance
Therefore the wheat that is in
His bread is also in the paper
As are the logger’s mom and dad
And his dog and cat.
Without all of these things
This sheet of paper can’t exist.
As we look at this paper
It is part of our perception
Your mind and my mind too.
Everything is here
In this sheet of paper!

Adapted as a poem from a story told

by Thich Nhat Hanh in his book Peace is Every Step