“We do not exist independently” — Thich Nhat Hanh
“We do not exist independently” (Thich Nhat Hanh 14). This quote summarizes what Thich Nhat Hanh preaches in chapter one of his book The Art of Living. According to him, the self is not an independent entity, but rather a reflection of our education, ancestry, and social environment. We are made of things that are not us. Without them, we would not exist and without our existence, those things would not exist. We are all interconnected (cf. 11–15). I agree with him on this because it is true that our environment influences our way of being. The way our parents raised us, the education that we received in school and our social environment all contributed to the development of our identity. And we live with and continue to pass on the values that we were taught to those around us.
Consequently, this means that our existence influences other matters. As the saying goes Even the smallest stone makes ripples in the water. Similarly, even the smallest decisions affect the way of the world. As an example, we can choose to work in construction. For us it might just be a job, but for other people it means they have a house that will be there for many generations. Or we can choose to become teachers. Some might interpret a teacher’s job as teaching only a specific group of students. However, those students will grow up to raise their children with the values that they’ve been taught in school and those children will teach their children with the values they have been taught by their parents and school. Both examples show that our words and actions have long-lasting effects that we cannot even imagine.
That’s why it’s important that we live in a way we believe contributes to the greater good. We cannot live a good life if those around us don’t have the opportunity to do the same. As Thich Nhat Hanh said, “suffering is not only individual; it is also collective” (19) and it “can be transmitted to us by our ancestors, or it can be there in the society around us” (19). However, nothing has to be set in stone. We can always try to change something if we are unhappy with the way things are. The state of the world is constantly changing, and we can contribute to that change. A student in a cartography class once said that she was unhappy and that she felt no purpose in her life. But after learning about the ways with which social issues in her community could be changed, she said that she had gained orientation and hope in life again. All in all, I think that we should help the people in our social circles and remember that our past, present, and future are intertwined and not separate.
