Ubuntu

It is always very uplifting for me when what I think, or what I know, is affirmed for me in unexpected ways, and without me seeking for it.

And one of these of late is ubuntu.

Of course I didnt know it by that name - its an African word - but to me I have known the same thing conceptually, for some time by now, and arrived at independent of any external influences, ie nothing from what I read, or hear, or what someone tells me, but entirely from internal construction from fundamental truths that I have accumulated.

And this is the analogy of the jigsaw puzzle.

Each of us, as an individual, on our own, is like a jigsaw puzzle, oddly shaped, strangely coloured, and entirely meaningless on its own. It is only when it is fitted with other similarly odd-shaped, and strange-coloured pieces, does it make sense why we are what we are. Then our oddness disappears, and all the colours make sense. And this apply too for every other piece to whom we are attached.

But just as our purpose and meaning hinged on being part of the big picture, the big picture in turn need every single piece to be in place and not missing. It may be a million piece jigsaw puzzle, but yet every single piece is equally and crucially significant. No piece is unnecessary or redundant. Without everyone fitted in place, there is no big picture.

So thats ubuntu for me: others define who you are, just as much as you define who they are. And Bill Clinton puts it, in what I think, equivalent terms, "I am because you are."

And there is an interesting parallel here: When Moses asked God what is His name, God said, "I am I am".