Ismael P. Magadan Jr.

Student Being is One

Rev. Fr. Ronaldo Amora Instructor

The world is divided, and that everywhere around the globe there are divisions. Global televisions have set before our eyes successions of fortunate and unfortunate events. Among the many fortunate events, is progress: economical, political, and technological. But to conclude that everyone or that every nation has attained progress, would be precarious. Division here is thus presented. On the one hand, successions of unfortunate events outnumbered the fortunate ones. Clashing of ideologies paves way towards terrorism; incompatibility between various cultures and religious organizations establishes discriminations; variations in dialects and languages asunder one from another from snap understanding of terms; and social status delineates the common people from the dominant elites. These diversities are not only framed in the global but also in a particular scale. The Philippines, for instance, is suffering from divisions and complexities. The Filipinos are not only torn apart by topography, cultures, and dialects, but also by religious beliefs, ideologies, and social status. Popular among these conflicting issues is the gap established by social status. Not all Filipinos fall under the same socio-economic status: some live in luxury while others are still creeping in poverty. It really hurts knowing that some spend their riches luxuriously in non necessities and pure caprice, while others die for having not taken their meals even once daily. Bluer than this is an alleged that most of the influential

personalities have taken advantages over the poor by means of over pricing sales, and graft and corruption. Consequently, revolutionary movements and strife arise. Such conflicting issues prompted me to post my biggest queries: Are we really one? Because if we are, then how could we explain these diversities, and why is tracing a definite point of oneness difficult? Besides, why are there oppressions and injustices? But by looking sanely with the problems presented, heeding with a profound explanation of Being is One, I realized that oneness truly exists. Flashing back the events, I was enlightened that there would have never been divisions, varieties, or fragmentations without a priori integral whole: Cannot twenty sheets of paper come from a pad? Actually, from a distance, there is harmony: religions, for instance, aims for a union with the Infinite Good; languages and dialects thrust toward understanding; ideologies are groping for progress, equality, justice, and peace; and social status, for stability. Openness and willingness for unity would so likely mean attaining the primeval end. Rather than using cultures, religious beliefs, ideologies, languages, dialects, and social status as barriers, use them instead as bridges that would connect us to one another bridges that would promote oneness; rather than treating other people as subordinate, treat them instead as subjects with equal dignities. For to violate each dignity is the same as violating the unity of the whole. After all, we really have to feel a deep bond of affinity to the entire spectrum of all the things that really are, from the tiniest to the mightiest