Most of us live with a narrow view where we do not often think beyond our immediate environments and situations. We do not usually bother to see the total context of our being and knowing- the whole of it- barely giving any thought to the time or space outside our limited surroundings.

We may read in news about what is happening halfway across the world and feel disturbed by the events somewhere in a country we have never been to. Or we may be horrified by certain events in history that seem too far away from our immediate reality, but that still does not mean that we see the whole context of our lives.

We are rarely ever in a mood to contemplate our origins, who we really are, where we are going or why, the meaning or purpose of our being in this world, on this planet, in this universe.

Even less do we wonder about the fact that we are here at all, as conscious beings with a body-mind at our disposal to experience and know stuff!

We may even perceive ourselves as different, separate, insignificant, isolated and suffer with insecurity, fear or loneliness. Rarely do we experience ourselves as connected with everything that exists, in harmony with everything that is, as a part of the one whole just as a leaf is part of the tree.

Perhaps on a clear dark night, when we look up and see a million stars twinkling above, or when we come upon a magnificent sky bathed in colours of a spectacular sunset, we are seized by a sudden wonder and in those awesome moments, we may have a glimpse of the whole.

The whole, of which we know ourselves to be just a small part, integrated completely into a fathomless unknown mysterious reality, that extends through, all around and beyond us!

For a moment, we may lose the grip on our individual separate limited identity as an insignificant fragment and fill the whole universe with our expanded being, as an inseparable part of what is.

We may in those special moments realize, that we are fortunate to experience every moment that we are alive. Our life is too precious and too short indeed, to experience all the mystery and magic of this wonderful existence that remains beyond all comprehension!

This realization should transform fundamentally the way we live, the way we conduct ourselves and the way we choose, to spend our limited time and energy.

Do we compete, fight, get into emotional, material, ideological, social or political conflicts with the people around us? Or do we instead, choose to share, accept, let go, forgive, move on, love, admire and cherish all the amazing wonders of life and existence that are available to us?

All our differences are just like the million waves in one ocean shimmering in the sunlight. We are an inseparable part of one life, one existence, one whole reality of all that is. This magical blessing that existence is with all its wonders of nature, the mountains, rivers, forests, oceans and a sky with billion stars, it’s myriad colours and beautiful life forms!

We are integral to what is, our essence is the same essence of all that exists, we are the miracle of being and knowing! We are the whole. We are all of that, and this is the most significant truth, of each and every one of our lives.

Can we really see this fact, and live our short lives completely aligned with the appreciation that comes from this understanding? Then perhaps, we will not waste this immensely precious chance of being and knowing that we are, in an array of ludicrous engagements such as competition, aggression, jealousy, violence and so on.

Knowing that everything is and that we are, is not as mundane as we have come to accept in our mindless daily lives. If we really think deeply about it, we will come to realize that it is the most extraordinary, tremendous sublime truth, that makes our being-knowing existence mind-bogglingly miraculous!

For in the time scale of eternity, we humans, just as all other forms of life, come forth into existence for mere brief moments as bursts of tiny conscious sparks, that glow momentarily before going back to the eternal darkness of the unknown. These brief moments, span our whole physical lifetime.

If we sincerely think about our short lifespan in this temporal context, does it not change our perspective? Does the emphasis not shift, from all that is mundane and unnecessary to the really important and significant truth of our existence?

If we can see the futility of wasting this tremendously incredible, valuable life in the pointless concerns of our narrow-sighted fragmented living, then perhaps we could transform into living with an attitude of appreciation for the totality.

We need not achieve extraordinary things to honour this gift of life, for every breath we take, every sound we hear, every glance, every whiff of smell, every touch is astounding in itself. By mere virtue of our existence, we are extraordinary!

At every instance, we are free to live with the whole context before us, with an attitude that values, honours and appreciates the enormous gifts and blessings that we have received from the unknown. We can honour this life and our conscious being, by meeting every experience with this appreciation.

Then, every ordinary moment and every humble experience of our lives in this world is accepted with a gratitude, that we indeed are blessed-  not just to exist, but also to be able to know and appreciate that we are!  This being-knowing is our reality, our essence, our true identity and to live as the whole, is always our choice and freedom.