Dr. Martha Beck

The meaning of life, your purpose in life, is what happens between people. So it's in the meeting. You have a home in South Africa, so you know about Ubuntu, yeah?

Well, the concept of Ubuntu I think is dominant throughout a lot of Africa. And there's no English translation. And it is completely the opposite of our cultural individualism. And the meaning of Ubuntu is basically I am me because we are us. I am fundamentally different because I know you and you matter to me.

Well, the concept of Ubuntu I think is dominant throughout a lot of Africa. And there's no English translation. And it is completely the opposite of our cultural individualism. And the meaning of Ubuntu is basically I am me because we are us. I am fundamentally different because I know you and you matter to me.

And I used to be confused in South Africa because I knew there were a lot of AIDS orphans and I never saw them on the streets or anything. And then I realized that Ubuntu is a real practical thing there and that the children who are left are absorbed into community by people who may have nothing except Ubuntu. And Ubuntu, there's a Chinese proverb that says, if you want to go fast, go alone.

And I used to be confused in South Africa because I knew there were a lot of AIDS orphans and I never saw them on the streets or anything. And then I realized that Ubuntu is a real practical thing there and that the children who are left are absorbed into community by people who may have nothing except Ubuntu. And Ubuntu, there's a Chinese proverb that says, if you want to go fast, go alone.

If you want to go far, go together. So we've been going really fast in this culture, fast toward our own destruction.

If you want to go far, go together. So we've been going really fast in this culture, fast toward our own destruction.

Because I am because we are is the closest thing you can say to it. But conceptually, it means the space between us. So that's another thing you can do, an exercise you can do to get into your right hemisphere. So we're looking at each other. But if you look, without moving your eyes, look at the distance between us. Look at the openness between us.

Because I am because we are is the closest thing you can say to it. But conceptually, it means the space between us. So that's another thing you can do, an exercise you can do to get into your right hemisphere. So we're looking at each other. But if you look, without moving your eyes, look at the distance between us. Look at the openness between us.

Do you feel how it changes your gaze?

Do you feel how it changes your gaze?

How it changes your heartbeat? This is how people like Carl Jung, the psychologist, had a dear friend who was a Pueblo Indian, and he said, what do you really think of us Anglos? And he said, we think you're insane. And he said, why? And this guy's name was Chief Mountain Lake. He said, you're always staring at things, and yet you never see each other. You never see what's between you.

How it changes your heartbeat? This is how people like Carl Jung, the psychologist, had a dear friend who was a Pueblo Indian, and he said, what do you really think of us Anglos? And he said, we think you're insane. And he said, why? And this guy's name was Chief Mountain Lake. He said, you're always staring at things, and yet you never see each other. You never see what's between you.

And our eyes are soft and yours are hard. And when you and I just did that, my whole body went into a state of, it's like the light, you know? It's like that light is more, I'm more conscious of it when I'm looking at the space between us. And I feel you. I don't just see you.

And our eyes are soft and yours are hard. And when you and I just did that, my whole body went into a state of, it's like the light, you know? It's like that light is more, I'm more conscious of it when I'm looking at the space between us. And I feel you. I don't just see you.

Yeah, so did mine.

Yeah, so did mine.

So I'm trying right now to start building communities of Ubuntu. I started one online just to foster people's creativity and help them move into this state of being. And it's called Wilder because when we were wilder, that's how we looked at each other. That's how your dog and your cat look at you.

So I'm trying right now to start building communities of Ubuntu. I started one online just to foster people's creativity and help them move into this state of being. And it's called Wilder because when we were wilder, that's how we looked at each other. That's how your dog and your cat look at you.

That's why we love being with them because they look at us and they look at the space between us and their eyes are soft. And if there's a fly that goes by, they'll get sharp. And that's the hunting instinct. But then when they're looking at something they love, they're looking at the whole space and feeling each other.