Recognizing yourself in others is one of the deepest spiritual connections we can make. We all have moments of universal connections, moments where we can connect and say “yeah, I’ve been there.”   We use those to say we are more alike than we are different, and we feel proud of the connection we’ve made to our fellow human. Going a step further, when we can use others as a mirror and see ourselves, our own actions, our own thoughts, hidden or not-so-hidden beliefs, then we are getting to the real meaning of the Golden Rule. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” having on its flip side, “there but for the Grace of God go I.” To help because it is right and feels right is following the path with heart. To do because we see ourselves in the other or the other in ourselves is living the path with heart.

When we recognize what we do mentally and physically, in our hearts and minds, then we truly connect with humanity, with our higher Self and a greater awareness. It is the mindfulness of our individual actions and our connections to the whole that’s important. It is great to say that we love our neighbors as ourselves, but when we feel our Self standing in the other’s place as that person, once we have the felt the feelings of that person in that moment and recognize those feelings inside of us, we have gotten the under_standing needed to grow and change.

Recently, there was a great storm in the South, it caused much damage, and many people needed help. Masses of people, swathes of humanity sympathized with the victims of the storm knowing their neighbors as themselves, they felt the true intent of “there but for the grace of God go I,” that could be me. It is me. This is the point where the things that divide us disappear, and the understanding of our humanity begins. It is a moment when our differences make us the same. That is an absolute moment, a moment when we can look out at the world through the eyes of another and see the world as they see it, because in that moment we are the same.

The love and concern for your neighbor AS yourself is the true spiritual experience. Seeing neighbor in yourself is being for real.

Namaste