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A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Dr Steve Taylor, author on psychology and spirituality.

Good morning.

At my university, I teach a course on Positive Psychology. We have a session on altruism, and as homework, I ask my students to perform as many acts of kindness as they can. When they report back the following week, they always talk about how great they feel. They feel more emotional and empathic, and more connected to others.

In my view, one of the most pernicious ideas of our modern scientific culture is that human beings are genetic robots, who live in separateness, trapped inside our minds and bodies.

I don’t think this is true. In my view, all human beings – and all living beings – are interconnected. At the deepest level, we share the same essence. We’re expressions of the same universal consciousness, which flows into us, like channels of the same river.

This is why we can empathise with one another. In its deepest sense, empathy is the capacity to sense other people’s emotions and experiences. Empathy is only possible because we are fundamentally one. And empathy is what gives rise to altruism.

So today, let’s remember that we are interconnected and perform as many acts of kindness as we can. Here are some thoughts to reflect on:

We’re not ghostly entities
marooned inside our mental space
with our personal pain and suffering
that can never be shared or understood.

We’re not machines full of selfish genes
who are always scheming to outdo each other
and only ever show kindness
if there’s some benefit to ourselves.
We are each other.
We feel compassion because we’re connected.
We sense each other’s suffering
because we share each other’s being.

We help and heal and love each other
because we are each other.

Blessings.

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