All is one.

One day, during my time as a monk with my teacher, I was asked to clean the small pool in the garden. As always, I was very happy to assist my teacher in any way and this day as the sun was shining it seemed like a good opportunity to be outside for a time.

I began by gently catching the many small fish that lived there and re-housing them temporarily in a bucket of water. Next was the situation with the frogs – wonderful creatures for me, and having put them to one side I began to clean the pool. Not difficult and so it didn’t take too long. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and I was happily focused in my small work.

Soon I had replaced the water and gently again put the fishes back one by one. But now something happened.

As I sat there with my shaven head and monks' robes watching these small creatures finding once more their freedom I had a tremendous insight – the insight of ‘Oneness,’ the interconnectedness of all life.

This intuitive understanding brought with it an immense sense of peace and completeness and I sat gazing into the water watching these small creatures, now no longer beings outside and separate from me.

My teacher arrived and saw me sitting quite still just looking into the water.

‘Paññadipa (my monks name) what are you doing? You don’t have to sit there all afternoon’ he said.

‘Yes Bhante, I know, but I have just understood the reality of oneness. There is no separation between me, these fish and everything else that exists.’ I replied.

He looked at me for a moment, smiled and went back inside.

Such an obvious truth needs no comment and it had only taken ten years of his teaching for this truth to finally arise in me.

When the heart is truly open everything is seen to be the way it is, and spontaneously has equal value.

The intellectual discriminating mind can always find space to explain and justify the cruelty and killing of every life form, from the biggest mammals to the smallest insects, and everything in between.

Interconnectedness is the intuitive manifestation of unconditional and limitless love and the understanding of the inherent ‘oneness’ of all things.

One Zen master was asked what it was like when he became enlightened. He replied, ‘Everyone I met had my face.’

In other words, I saw me in everyone, and everyone in me. Beautiful!

This understanding stays with me always and here in our forest our cats, the wild pigs and deer, the mosquitos and every other insect, all have my face.

This life is blessed.

                                                       

All beings fear pain and death.

                                                   Remembering that we are one of them,

                                                            we will neither hurt nor kill.

(Dhammapada Verse: 129)

May all beings be happy.