when we understand

When we understand -- deeply and truly understand -- that internal reality and external reality are the same reality, the world transforms. When I drop my bombs over there, I am killing and maiming myself. When I poison the Grand Canyon with my uranium mining and with the building of a huge Theme Park city at its gateway, I desecrate, eliminate forever a wild, unspoiled part of me. When profit is my god, I walk on the faces of the impoverished, of that portion of me that refuses to give up its open heart and stern dignity to my relentless tread. When I see that my soul and the world soul are the same soul, I tremble with fear and anticipation. For the world to change, I must change, for I and the world are the same.