The Interconnectedness of Life and Art

"When we are faced with destruction, idealism becomes the only practicality."
- Leroy Pelton, The Psychology of Nonviolence

Gandhi, when discussing Hindu scripture stated "God alone is, and nothing else exists." This poses an interesting question; what if we are all connected as one, manifestations of a supreme will, and understanding and reconciling those differences between ourselves as individuals, is the realization of the divine in all of us? As the global community gets smaller, the need for multicultural understanding becomes greater if we are to preserve and create peace and understanding for ourselves and future generations. This is best done not by drawing lines between the cultures of different peoples, but by celebrating that these differences are expressions of the same human condition, manifest from the same consciousness. This personalizes the affect that our cultures have on each other, as well as increasing our understanding of interconnectedness.

First I will discuss the differences between uniqueness and interconnectedness as two states of being, and how interconnectedness promotes peace and understanding. Then I will discuss how the experience of live performance generates interconnectedness through the communal experience. Finally using examples found in readings, personal experience drawn from a career in professional acting, and the experiences at the 2005 Gandhi conference, I will show how expressions of live performance and art can be used to promote multicultural understanding, social change, and interconnectedness.

Let us first examine the idea of interconnectedness vs. uniqueness. These are two very distinctly different ways of looking at the world when seeking to understand non-violence. The uniqueness point of view shows us that we are all different, and thus the same rules that apply to one can be justifiably blurred or erased when applied to another, for we are not the same. When we examine the countless conflicts on the planet right now perpetrated by one human being against another, we can very easily see that the justification of that conflict arises around the fact that the enemy is seen as a symbol of difference, not as being the same as ourselves, their enemies. We spend time dwelling on these differences of race, creed, color, religion, geographical location, and sex and these differences are used to generate conflict. This justification makes its appearance as 'us' against 'them'. Once the justification is satisfied, we then are open to greed or other motivations as the reason. I am once again brought back to an example put forth in our class stating that the best way to control a society is to draw lines between them and let them fight while the power structure takes the natural resources and taxation for their own greed and to promote the conflict, insuring its continuation, while stating that they are trying to stop it. This example can be applied to the conflict in the Middle East, colonialism, as well as the idea of 'Red' and 'Blue' states in our current political climate in the U.S.

Interconnectedness tells us that we are all the same. We see that the differences between us are just surface, and are merely manifestations of the same human condition. One of the chief problems that we first come to when discussing interconnectedness is that we also cherish our identities, and how can we posses an identity if we are all the same? It is more important to see that while we should cherish our identity, that at the core we are all trying to answer the same fundamental questions, satisfy the same human needs, and achieve the same end, though the specifics may be different. We see many human religions, but that the central message is generally the same. We see two different types of ceremonial movement based in the cultures of two different peoples and call them both dances. We see cave paintings of Homo-erectus and Matisse as two different manifestations of the same need both had, to communicate part of their souls, to give homage to a moment in history. These entire actions serve the same need that we all have…to be understood. When we buy into a state of interconnectedness, we see our fellow living things as being the same as us, we see the evil that we do on other living things is not justifiable, for it is evil done to us all. When we see ourselves as unique, in unique groups, families, nations, religions, sexes, sexual orientations, races, creeds, and colors, we do not see other human beings, we see 'us' and 'them'.

If as Gandhi stated, "Religion without compassion is a fraud", then we must also see that expression without education is equally a fraud, and we must remember to open our senses and our brains and see that all art is merely communication, and communication is inevitably education. The experience of live performance is a communal experience for all parties involved. For example, let's take for a live performance a play and our subjects the playwright, the audience, and the performers. The playwright creates the text based on personal experience and knowledge and this is affected both by the performance and the audience's reaction. The performer interprets the text based on the form of the text, the personal experience brought to the role, and the audience reaction. The audience interprets the performance of the text by the playwright, as performed by the performers, and their personal experience entering into the venue. Then when all these people are in the same room and the performance begins, something amazing happens. All parties are forced to see a central topic not only from their own experience, but analyze it through the perspective of two others. For example, if the play was dealing with the U.S. war for Independence and the personal loss of one solider that fought in that war, then each member of our group will see it differently, however they will experience it together. Each member brings in their own experience, but that experience is deepened by entering into it together.

The reactions from the other members be it a gasp from the audience or a cheer, an unexpected interpretation from an actor, or a plot twist that sheds a new perspective. Each member of this group is allowed to understand the perspective of two others subjective to their own without being on the defensive as if they personally were being questioned. It is a symposium that all enter with the same to gain and the same to lose. One members personal experience might be that of being from a culture that has recently or currently is engaged in some kind of warfare on their home front, and this adds a real face to the realities of warfare, while in U.S. History classes in the public schools we only learn of Washington crossing the Delaware, not of some unknown soldier that lost his arm on some countless hill in some countless battle. These different types of experiences being thrown into a performance helps bring perspective to all involved and thus each member leaves changed in some way. So we begin to see how differences of opinion, of culture, and of experience are not only addressed but also reconciled with each other promoting multiculturalism and interconnectedness.

At the 2005 Gandhian Non-violence conference, I had the privilege of taking part in two workshops that promoted multiculturalism and interconnectedness through art and using the same techniques as employed in performance to promote understanding. The first was a workshop by Indira Johnson and the Shanti Center for Peace, which is located in Chicago, IL. The purpose of this exercise was to understand symbols both for practical and artistic needs employed by cultures around the world. We first examined all types of symbols used in cultures, and found that there were many that were universal. Next we formed small groups and discussed our personal goals in non-violence and by attending the conference for ourselves as individuals, and found what common themes that we all shared. Then we used universal symbols to create a series of symbols that could accurately describe the group's common threads. This is a perfect example of how multiculturalism and art can come together through positive communication to show how all parties are connected without paying any special attention to how we seem to be different. It was only a single example, but I was quite touched by its significance, how easily I went from being surrounded by strangers to people that I had a lot in common with.

The second example that I would like to bring up from the conference is the workshop I attended with Pace e Bene, a Christian based group that is doing workshops in schools. The workshop that I attended we broke into several groups of five people and each person was given a sheet of paper with an individual or groups name and then we were posed a topic for discussion. The object of the exercise was to enter into the mind of the person or groups that was listed on your piece of paper and then argue the point from their point of view, not as a symbol you agree with or disagree with, but as a human being with a logical agenda. Then at a specific time interval, the papers moved around the circle and then each person had to adopt a new point of view. This allowed for a great amount of perspective from all those involved. Our example was a discussion on the War on Terror, and the participants took on the personas of George W. Bush, Cindy Sheehan, a non-violent activist, an Iraqi citizen, and a U.S. solider. The challenge would seem to be to get each person to adopt all the characters without bringing in their own personal bias; however I found that even our own personal biases could be useful in understanding that all those people have more in common that they do not, for we begin to see that the sins of those we do not agree with are found also in ourselves. The urge for a student to take on judgment and prejudice when adopting a rival persona often points to the fact that judgment and prejudice are often what they are basing their rivalry on in the first place.

The worst trick we have ever played on ourselves is the belief that we are all alone and separate and not connected to our world. It is the curse of humankind, and therefore we must see it as our blessing and our purpose to understand this thing about us that we believe, that makes us unique and that was an illusion all along. It is my belief that the only true change that has been lasting in our history has been completed through non-violent means. Rome always falls. But the teachings of peace and interconnectedness always seem to pop up, be it through prophet, civil leader, or through simply the connection of two individuals. It is my belief that through the exercises such as those that I experienced at the conference, through mindful execution of live performance and peaceful communication, and through a belief that we are all much more similar than we are different, we are promoting interconnectedness and multiculturalism, and thus non-violence. And it is through non-violence that we can best and truly bring about social change and personal transformation in the most efficient and only lasting way. When we as individuals ask of ourselves the ability to promote and bring about change, when we look in the mirror, we try to see the prophet in ourselves and often we do not, we only see a person who wants to do better. But interconnectedness, again the belief that we are all the same, beings beyond good or evil individually, we realize that we must not forget that civil leaders and prophets are not born, they are made.