Interconnectedness

Let's take a look at another teaching from Buddhism - interconnectedness. This is the concept of everything being connected and relying on something else for it to be, well, what it is. Let's look at an example.

You're going to the cinema with your friends. Many people go to the cinema as a social activity with others, so the mere fact that your friends are there makes it more enjoyable. But you wouldn't be going to see the movie if the actors, director, script writers, producers and so on hadn't made the movie.

You'd also have a pretty difficult time going to the cinema without the guys and gals who serve you popcorn and sell the tickets. And you don't want to stand up for two hours, do you? So what about the chairs in the cinema, and the people who made them, and the people who made the fabric for the chairs? For that matter, what about the cinema itself, and its bricklayers and architects? How did you get to the cinema? Did you drive yourself? What about the car and what it's made from, the people who put it together, the people who designed it?

I could go on and on about just this one scenario, but you get the picture. What this means for us is that nothing can exist on its own, without relying on anything else. Everything that you are has been influenced by something or someone else. So why should that make us happy? Well, once we realise that everything is connected, we can be more grateful for everything and everyone, and also be more accepting of things changing and being more fluid than we sometimes think, and this can help us let go of attachments.

Interconnectedness is also related to the Buddhist term "emptiness". More on this tomorrow.