Daily Meditation: Thursday, April 16, 1998

If you are asked to work for unity, to live in harmony with …

04/16/1998

If you are asked to work for unity, to live in harmony with one another, the intention is not that you should let yourself be absorbed by the collectivity. No, on the physical plane you each have a body which belongs to you and which allows you to lead an autonomous life. But while maintaining your own individuality, you must strive for unity in the emotional and mental world, in the spiritual world. Consider the cells of the body: they are not identical, they do not perform the same functions. A heart cell is not a stomach cell. Each keeps its individuality, but their affinity, the bonds between them, create the state of harmony which we call health. Is this so difficult to understand? You cannot ask a black person to become white, nor a Muslim or a Buddhist to become a Christian. It is true that the Christians sent missionaries to convert the Indians, black Africans, Orientals and so on, but for the most part this did not produce good results. This is because everyone must retain their own particular characteristics, their differences, but at the same time there must be an understanding between them so they form a whole, a unity in the divine world.