Week Twenty-five: More About Interbeing

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned Thich Nhat Hanh’s idea of interbeing– the concept that we are all interdependent and intimately interrelated in everything we are and do. Without one another, without Nature, we couldn’t exist. Alone, on our own, we would be nothing.

I first experienced the living reality of interbeing at a workshop with Thich Nhat Hanh, a day-long event in Washington, DC. We began the day with meditation and a meal eaten in silence. What impacted me so strongly was the way in which we ate the meal mindfully aware of all the elements that contributed to bringing that food to us. There were 400 of us, eating in silence, thinking about and honoring the people and natural resources that created the melon, rice, and vegetables on our plates. I had never before eaten with such mindfulness and awareness, and the flavor of what appeared to be plain food was intense and vivid. Afterward, I felt deeply nourished – filled on more than my physical level of experience.

For this week, I’d like to invite you to deepen your awareness of interbeing by doing the following experiment. As you move through the day, doing normal activities, using the conveniences you have in your home and community, take time to recall that many people, as well as elements of the natural world, were involved in creating the things we tend to take for granted. For example, when you go to the sink and turn on the water faucet, recall all the people involved in getting the water to you, and all the ways in which nature plays a role, as well. When you eat your next meal, pay attention to all the different ingredients and allow yourself to wonder about all the people and natural resources involved in bringing them to you. Remind yourself of all the steps involved in planting, cultivating, harvesting, and transporting food to you – all the people whose labor made your meal possible, all the natural resources involved in growing the food. When you get dressed for the day, pay attention to the many articles of clothing you put on to complete your outfit. Think about the people and resources involved in making clothing, and the many steps involved in getting it to you, from beginning to end.

As you move through the experiment, notice what emerges in your awareness, in terms of a sense of connection with the larger context in which you exist. Notice what emerges in your thinking when you acknowledge how many people and resources it takes to allow you to live as you do, and that the reality of interbeing shapes everything in your life, to some degree or another. Even when sitting alone, each of us is dependent on interbeing; when we’re out in nature somewhere, living in a self-sustaining way off the land, interbeing is also a fact of life. Notice what it’s like to recognize that there is not one moment when we are outside the web of interconnection that is interbeing. As always, be sure to allow mixed feelings, and invite curiosity to be your constant companion.

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