Universal Love

There is a philosophy embraced in South Africa, known as Ubuntu. Ubuntu sees humanity through the lens of divine love and celebrates that we’re all divinely created. We are bound together in ways that are invisible to the eye. There is a oneness to humanity that we achieve by sharing ourselves with others and caring for those around us.

Ubuntu: “I am because you are.” It embraces and shines a light on the fact that humans cannot exist in isolation. We depend and even thrive on connection, community, and caring. Simply put, we cannot be without each other. Ubuntu requires a conscious shift in how we think about ourselves and others, especially at a time when our nation is more divided than ever.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu said Ubuntu is not, “I think therefore I am.” It says rather: “I am a human because I belong. I participate. I share.”’ In essence, I am because you are. Tutu wrote “A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, based on a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.”

Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first democratically elected president, described as an African concept that means “the profound sense that we are human only through the humanity of others; that if we are to accomplish anything in this world, it will in equal measure be due to the work and achievements of others”. These two amazing African men were shining examples of Ubuntu. We truly are all in this together.

I have personally witnessed this having just returned from a blissful week in Costa Rica with a group of beautiful souls for my Yoga and Ayurveda retreat. Ubuntu recognizes that we exist on the planet to be in communities that connect and care. I observed these strangers form deep bonds of trust and friendship. Just by taking time out of our busy schedules to connect with the earth and each other acts of kindness naturally flowed. As each participant opened, unfurled and moved outside their comfort zone the others were a sweet safety net of support and encouragement. They were meaningfully saying I love you to each other by the end of the trip. Ubuntu was in abundance, and it was beautiful to witness and be wrapped in.