“Interconnectedness — interbeing in Nhat Hanh’s usage — is central to the understanding of the Beloved Community. Interbeing is learned in practical ways by living within the Order of Interbeing, by absorbing Nhat Hanh’s teachings through his books and dharma talks, and by attending retreats at his various communities. However, Nhat Hanh in all of the previous is not only simply passing on what he received about interconnectedness and the Beloved Community from King. In fact, Nhat Hanh possessed his own — Buddhist — understanding of interconnection and community building that brings a new dimension to the lineage teaching from [James] Royce to King and then to Nhat Hanh.
“The fundamental Beloved Community concept of interconnectedness may be explained like this: all of us are connected, as if each of us has a cord around our waist and from that cord an innumerable set of other cords radiate outward, connecting to all other beings. Nhat Hanh brought the idea of interpenetration to that of simple interconnectedness …
“True compassion … is much more than just knowing that I’m connected to you. Self-interest alone can govern my behavior in a world that is interconnected but not perceived to be interpenetrating. Compassion literally means ‘feeling with,’ and my capacity to feel with you — or with a caribou, or with a dying star — stems from the reality that the caribou is calving in me, that the star is flinging its elements into the space around it in me. As the idealistic Mr. Emerson exclaims, in Forster’s A Room with a View, in response to the issue of having a room in the hotel with or without a view: 'I don’t care what I see outside. My vision is within!' He continues, hitting his chest over his heart: 'Here is where the birds sing! Here is where the sky is blue!' ”
