Thank you for joining this experiment in generating more conscious community. Experiment because we’ll shape and iterate this together. That’s community.
First Wisdom Teaching
Tat Tvam Asi.
Thou art that.
This is a Sanskrit epigram from the Indian scripture Chandogya Upanishad. It can be translated as:
Thou art that.
That thou art.
That art thou.
You are that.
That you are.
This is a central teaching in the Vedic tradition. It contains the wisdom of you are that, you are everything. It’s repeated as a refrain in the Upanishad, so it is commonly used repetitively as a prayer, mantra, or koan. You simply repeat any version of the phrase in your mind and allow the layers of wisdom to arrive.
The Sanskrit is pronounced Tat T’vam ah-SI.
The Back Story
For quite awhile, I’ve been aware that I don’t have an original offering for the world. My creations are based on traditions, ideas, and works that already exist. I began to wonder if I would eventually think of something.
I was reading a compilation of lectures on Judeo-Christian ideology given by the mythologian Joseph Campbell called Thou Art That. In his introduction, Dr. Eugene Kennedy explains how this concept was a foundation for Campbell, who discovered the common themes and patterns in our human stories.
Campbell’s research reveals how we are more alike than different. He shows the deep spiritual power of metaphor, or correspondence—that we instinctively look for connections and meaning everywhere.
I began to think…maybe I will do something with community. Something to connect us in the shared wisdom of I am That.
So here we go. There certainly isn’t anything original in community groups. It’s in how we explore and create this, together. Thank you for being here.