This is http://www.essayz.com/a8805241.htm Previous-Essay <== This-Essay ==> Following-Essay Click HERE on this line to find essays via Your-Key-Words. {Most frequent wordstarts of each essay will be put here.} ========================================================== %BEING ONE IN COMMUNITY COOPERATION CONFLICT 880524 We are all one in either community cooperation or conflict. We can not avoid being in relations with others; yet, we can choose what kind of relations to be in. If we regard other members of our own species as our mortal competitors, we are likely to be competitors in conflicts over scarce resources and opportunities. If we regard other creatures as expressions of the integrity of all being, we are likely to be integrated into one creative community of cooperative creatures who find their meaning in personal and communal integration. If the universe is regarded as an expression of a great unity, we find ourselves in different kinds of relationships than if the universe is regarded as an expression of a great battle between gods of good and gods of evil. In the former case we seek our fulfillment in honest intimate relationships with others. In the latter case we seek our fulfillment in winning battles against the powers which are set over against us by our conception of the universe. If the ultimate nature of the universe is conflict between good and evil, we must be careful not to be open and honest with any who might be an agent of the evil aspect of the universe. We are then in a universe where it is not safe to be open and honest in intimate and vulnerable relationships. If the ultimate nature of the universe has to do with Love and integration, then we are moved to be open and honest in intimate relationships characterized by both vulnerability and security. The universe we live in is to us according to our choices. The universe is flexible and is to us much as we conceive it to be. To a large degree our universe is born of our conceptions. In part we discover the universe to be what we choose to perceive it to be; but not always. We are interdependent in ways which are beyond our choices. We are not the ground of our own being. We can not survive in incoherent conceptions of what our universe is. We are as much the creation of each other's conceptions, as of our own. Thus, in part our universe is created by our communal conceptions; be they cooperative, gentle and integrative, or be they competitive, manipulative and violent. No community has the freedom to conceive the universe independent of other communities upon which it depends. Communities, just as individuals, are inter-dependent. If we try to conceive the universe as a set of independent realities, our conceptions are not viable elements of the whole universe. The significance and meaning which we find in our universe is highly dependent upon the context within which we as individuals and communities seek to discover and create meaning. If we seek to discover and create meaning within an exclusively objective context, we will discover objects which are devoid of human significance and meaning, and we will become as objects which are devoid of human significance and meaning. If we seek to discover and create meaning within a personally inclusively integrative context, we will discover and create relationships which are rich in human significance and meaning. As integrative observers we participate in creating our perceptions of what is real and meaningful. (c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in (On Being Yourself, Whole and Healthy) ==========================================================