As we remember those that we have lost on this holiday, it is equally important to remember those that are still here, human, animal, and plant and how we treat them. The mistreatment of other human beings, the planet and animals can be seen everywhere these days.

My heart is heavy now with those that I have lost in recent years, but today I mourn those that still live on this planet with me. I hope that each one of us will take a moment to let go of our pain, bias, misguided and conditioned thinking. To look deep within and connect with our hearts, the true spirit of our religious and spiritual teachings, and to let go of our conditioning long enough to see that we must widen our circle of compassion. We must awaken to the oneness of all things through that which connects us all.

“A human being is part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. We experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest. A kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.

Our task must be to free ourselves from the prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. The true value of a human being is determined by the measure and the sense in which they have obtained liberation from the self.

We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if humanity is to survive.”

~ Albert Einstein, 1954.