-ity

We assign superiority, priority, & authority. To ourselves, others, & things. We evolved these frameworks to address situations of scar(e)city: crisis, shortage, conflict. They are tools for developing & implementing solutions, for the greater goals of saving & bettering lives. They allow groups to efficiently work toward a common purpose. They empower us to unite behind a common good.

Wisely applied, the assignments are situational: we endow (self, others, things) with superiority, priority, & authority solely to address a situation, we respect the assignments solely out of respect for the situation, & we dissolve the assignments promptly once the situation resolves. Afterwards, we bestow gratitude & accolades to honor sacrifice, we share stories & legends to enshrine memories, & we use truth & reconciliation to heal wounds.

In sum: the wise approach is to assign the -ities for a common goal, apply them for that limited purpose, discard them upon completion, & deploy our virtues to both honor the experience and put the episode - and our roles therein - behind us.

Too often, we misinterpret situational roles for essential truths. In so doing, we confuse ourselves and each other, and cause tremendous suffering.

We start to think, I am/s-he is a superior person, you are/this is the ultimate priority, we are/that is the absolute authority. Believing we know who & what's better and more important - not just for a particular situation, but in the grand scheme of things, on the order of essence & absolute truth - we develop pride, arrogance, entitlement, condescencion, & the other sins of spiritual confusion. We justify inequity & oppression, thinking, that's just the hierarchy, that's just the order of things. We grow callous toward the suffering of those who, by our accounting, just drew a bad hand. We indulge schadenfreude toward those who, in our judgement, deserve it. We take what we want, and deny others what they want, because we think our situational might endows us with an essential right.

What a towering mountain range of bullshit.

On the grandest scale, on the level of essence and absolute truth, we are Oneness. We individuals are unique manifestations emerging from a single Whole - call it the Universe, Totality, Atman, God, Universal Consciousness, whatever. On this scale, there is no superiority, priority, authority. What do those concepts even mean, on that scale? What would that even look like? How can Oneness be superior to Oneness? How could Oneness assume priority vis a vis Oneness? How does Oneness have authority over Oneness?

On the grandest scale, the only -ities are un, dei, and divin.

Un-ity is our relationship: we are, each of us, and every thing, a unique manifestation of Oneness.

Divin-ity is our nature: we are, each of us, and every thing, a mysterious synergy of physicality & spirituality.

Dei-ty is our author: we all come from Oneness, are Oneness, & to Oneness we shall return.

When we address worldly situations from the divine perspective, we maintain sight of the essential truths of Unity, Divinity, & Deity; we remember our nature as unique manifestations of a common Totality; and, so edified, we can creatively & enthusiastically & soulfully adopt assignments to pursue common goals and thereby save & better lives. We form teams, embrace roles, do the work, process the outcomes, and move on, remembering that the ultimate goal is helping each other, and the ultimate truth is we are each other.