“Far away in the heavenly abode of the great god Indra, there is a wonderful net – Indra’s Net – which stretches out indefinitely in all directions. The artificer has hung a single glittering jewel at the net’s every node, and since the net itself is infinite in dimension, the jewels are infinite in number. There hang the jewels, glittering like stars of the first magnitude, a wonderful sight to behold.”

~ Francis H. Cook, Hua-yen Buddhism: The Jewel Net of Indra

Physical Distance is Irrelevant in Indra’s Net

These words may come to you across a great physical distance from where I am, and still the truth is that distance doesn’t matter. We are all connected at a variety of levels of mind and soul, and we are but a thought away from each other. To peer into the eye of any one jewel in Indra’s Net is to see the reflections of all other pearls, thus connecting all points of the net.

It feels good to understand this level of connection when it comes to those people whom we care about or readily related to. It’s a whole different ball game when it comes to those people we have judged to be less than in some way, those people we feel dislike or disdain for. You may even find it an uncomfortable truth to acknowledge the reality that you are but a thought away from each of those people as well.

There is no such thing as six degrees of separation in Indra’s Net of consciousness and soul. It’s ‘none degrees’ of separation, and just as you and I are intimately connected, so too are you connected to each human being that lives, no matter how distasteful you may find them.

Now, if you are on a path of personal and spiritual growth or transformation, then part of your inner work is to become deeply self-aware, which can bring discomfort when what we see is not pleasant. So let’s take a moment to really lean into this ‘I have disdain for others’ piece.

Connect With Your Disdain

Bring to mind a person in the world today for whom you have some disdain. Notice what happens within you as you bring that person and your disdain to mind. Notice your shift of energy, any change in your physiology, the inner emotional reaction. Sit with it for a moment, the discomfort of holding that person in mind. 

It affects you, doesn’t it, as you sit with that person’s presence or play out in your mind all that this person has done to incur your disdain? 

Yet you are not even one degree away from this person — that is how connected you are. And what does your disdain, your negative perception, your judgment do to you? To this person? It degrades both and diminishes the potentials of the relationship. 

Each relationship holds the promise to be a “holy” relationship, a sacred relationship. Why would we ever diminish that potential? And yet we do. 

Correcting the Mind

Okay, so what is the correction of mind you need to make, when you recognize that the relationship you have with every person has the potential to be a sacred relationship, one that benefits both the parts and the whole? 

This does not mean you accept all of their behaviors. It means you don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. The essence of that person, which is soul, seeks the very same life-breath you seek. Can you give the person that gift, from the depths of your soul to the depths of theirs, intentionally and unwaveringly?

When we do this we awaken the unawakened parts of ourselves and the whole. As always, it begins with us.