The Purpose of the Other

Why would we be afraid of the other? We are afraid because the other reveals to us the duality between existing and not existing. Since the universe is one, if an other exists, we will come to question our own existence. If this other is similar to us, we risk losing your individual selves in the shared togetherness. If this other is different from us, the insecure parts of our identity will struggle to maintain our validity to exist. If this other is better or worse than we are in any way as defined by our human systems, we will compare our worthiness to exist according to the other’s level of greatness. So, deep down, we ask ourselves, if someone else already exists, why do I need to exist as well?

While the other does not exist in the realm of universal oneness, the other in an embodied Earthly form presents to us the question of our existential purpose. Why do I, in this exact form, need to exist? And thus, the other leads us to seek and discover a sacred knowing within ourselves that we, indeed, do have a purpose here on Earth that is uniquely ours.