Seeing this and understanding this I took the process of asking questions, then seeking the true answers, as my model of mental discipline and mind development. My first consideration was the most important consideration of all: life and death. Yilanè live and die as all creatures live and die. With a single major exception. A Yilanè abolished from her city by her eistaa will fall and die without a blow being struck. Yet this same Yilanè when obeying a benevolent order by her eistaa to leave the city, and then return, will not die. Why? What is the special control over life and death that the eistaa have? What could it be?

It could not be physical, for only communication is exchanged. But it had to be something shared by all Yilanè. Could it be that there is a higher or more basic force, invisible, unseen, yet universal? If so, what must this force be like? Is it unique to Yilanè or is it a force that unites all forms of life, even though we have never sought for it or attempted to examine it before? Is there a unity of some kind on which all depends, something that all forms of life have in common that is much more significant than our apparent differences? If one could know such a source, become consciously aware of it, would one not then become better able to affirm life and the strength of life, and thus be better able to understand the reality behind or within the various appearances of everyday life, existence and struggle?

SIX

There is an Order of Interdependence within and sustaining all living things, an Order that is more than those living things themselves, but also an Order in which all living things participate, knowingly or unknowingly—an Order that has existed since the Egg of Time.

With the new vision of mind, we see the Order of Interdependence of all things. When seen in its entirety and observed to be functioning correctly, this Order is a coordinated totality of parts functioning in harmonious relativity.

In this harmonious relationship within the Order, competition occurs only as the result of ignorance of the complexity of interrelationships, as well as from seeing only a part of the totality and one’s self as a distinct, separate part—as if one were the whole and independent of others and other parts. In all truth, in this interdependent order, one’s own worth is achieved and realized by helping others to realize their own worth.