Give a little, Get a little

I just finished reading "The Universe in a Single Atom" by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. In the second to the last chapter of the book he is talking about the ethics of genetic manipulation and cloning. There are obviously benefits and downsides to both issues. For example, the cloning of an organ to save a person's life seems like it should be okay. But then the issue is raised: are we meant to save lives, or meant to just let nature take its course? Of course, we've already moved well beyond letting nature take its course. But anyway.... I think the biggest issue regarding cloning and genetic manipulation and ethics lies in cloning entire people, or creating a person that we see to be acceptable to society, having no perceived "defects." As the Dalai Lama points out, a "defect" now may not be a "defect" when the child grows up, and who are we to "correct" it? He also states that he feels that such genetic manipulation implies that we are beginning to have a lack of appreciation and understanding of what it means to cherish humanity.

I think this is a great book. It addresses the issues of science and spirituality and makes an attempt at understanding both sides. It also outlines a major concept, though it seems basic: at the core of everything, we are all one family. We are one humanity living in one house. We may have different religions, colors, sizes, shapes, cultures, what have you...but underneath all of that, we are all human. We are all capable of having compassion, and we all have value. Our value should not be measured by how much money we have, or how we look or speak, or how fast we can run. Our value as human beings can be observed with how we live our life and how we treat ourselves and others.

I think that there are a lot of different ways of being alive. There are certainly people out there who do very bad things. There are people who do very good things. There are also people who are tunnel-visioned and see one thing to work towards, and people whose vision is so broad they don't know where to start. And then there are people who are able to see the big picture along with all the little pictures. I'm sure you've all heard the phrase "can't see the forest for the trees." I think that we should try to pay attention to the forest and the trees. I'm not sure how to do that because I'm not very good at it....I tend to focus on the trees and then look back and see the forest when I'm out of it. I think one of the keys to living a good life is being able to see the forest, and to see all the trees that make up the forest, and see how they connect and survive with one another. I think that should be in a person's mind....but in terms of doing, I personally prefer to do things from the tree level instead of the forest level. For example, if I'm looking for a way to be happy in my life, I don't think that I should start with the people around me. I need to start inside me. Then I can work outside and make not only my life better, but possibly help make other people's lives better as well. Then perhaps the other people will help the people in their lives be better and so on and so forth.

If we look at a tree in a forest, as we travel down into the soil, we see a strong root system, or base that is supporting the tree. As we travel further down the roots, they get thinner and wispier and eventually run into other roots belonging to other trees. These roots are forming a network, but a respectful network. A root that gets too over-zealous and decides to grow everywhere could end up killing other things by slowly choking the life out of them or stealing nutrients from them. In order for a forest to survive, the trees have to recognize the value of a network, but also the value of individuality. As we travel the opposite way and go to the top of the tree, we see again a strong trunk, or base, but then we see all kinds of different branches, reaching out to different trees, and helping to provide shade and growth opportunities for other vegetation or animal life. So no matter where you look, although a tree can be separated and identified alone, the tree is still part of a network....and happy to be so, because it knows that without the network, it probably wouldn't survive.