Awakening of a New Era
Social changes through compassion and collective growth
I bore his letters – back again I flew – Whatever secrets he divined I knew; A prophet loved me; God has trusted me; What other bird has won such dignity? For years I travelled over many lands, Past oceans, mountains, valleys, desert sands, And when the Deluge rose I flew around The world itself and never glimpsed dry ground; With Solomon I set out to explore The limits of the earth from shore to shore. (37)
—Farid Attar of Nishapur, The Conference of Birds
Ablaze with division and unrest, the world is fanned by flames that threaten death until embers finally relent, quenching a sanctuary within our dwellings—a hearth to humanity’s doorway—where, beneath the soaring doves and ravages below, the binding tug beneath the surface draws forth a dawn of reawakened truth, eternal to the ideals of our shared spirit.
Such ideal (where technology and individualism often overshadow true, meaningful connection) recalls the loving-kindness found in Chesed (Hebrew: חֶסֶד, also Romanized: Ḥeseḏ): a transcendent tenet exalting mercy, altruism, and steadfast fervor to clemency, called upon in a time forged in bond rather than barriers. chesed calls us to craft links in lieu of obstacles, to favor empathy over apathy, and to act in ways that cement our threads to each other.
By cementing our interconnectedness through acts of compassion and kindness, we move closer to a cosmopolitan ideal—where our differences become filaments that intensify the web of a mutual human experience, encouraging solidarity and empathy on a global scale.
Cosmopolitanism
Amidst the vast delineation of borders and beliefs abides a system, a subdued philosophy that surpasses the shackles of land, creed, and circumstance: cosmopolitanism1.
Far from being a newly stirred muse, cosmopolitanism touches upon a marrow inside ancestral heritage, of primeval hue long-forged in time’s counsel, where sages, poets, and travelers alike envisioned a world not enmeshed by geography but empathy.
Cosmopolitanism is the art of belonging universally, seeing oneself in distant lives and hearts, rooted in the belief that kinship arises not from closeness but from shared humanity.
Al-Andalus exemplifies cosmopolitanism through its historic fusion of diverse cultures—Muslim, Christian, and Jewish—that coexisted, collaborated, and flourished together in medieval Spain.
Al-Andalus, particularly during its peak in the 10th and 11th centuries, was a remarkable example of a society that fostered cultural, religious, and intellectual exchange among Muslims, Christians, and Jews, who coexisted under the principle of shared human kinship rather than strict divisions by faith or background2.
The translation movement in Toledo, where Arabic, Hebrew, and Latin scholars worked together to translate classical Greek and Arabic texts into Latin, embodies this spirit of shared humanity and intellectual kinship that transcended boundaries.
Scholars, poets, philosophers, and scientists from diverse backgrounds collaborated and contributed to fields such as medicine, mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy.
Such a model of coexistence showcases how social change can emerge through inclusive philosophies that prioritize shared humanity over separation.
Cosmopolitanism entreats us to face down earthbound tribulations—be it climate change, inequality, or health—as common ordeals that gird us, in lieu of untrodden afflictions, spurring us to espouse education, healthcare, and cultural preservation in sequestered spheres we may never see yet feel intimately, as if fastened to the braided filigrees of our unbidden bonds.
It is a steadfast fealty—fides sine finibus—to Mitgefühl, beyond borders sustained by devoir and gratia communis, as the unum corpus spreads across realms (gemeinschaft), bound by reverence to familia humana, each stride a testament, like un seul fil dans la grande tapisserie humaine, weaving belonging beyond lineage, time, or space3.
Scientia bonitatis
Our well-being is closely linked to the brain's neurochemical networks, where dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins shape mood, motivation, and resilience, profoundly affecting how we respond to life's challenges.
In 1948, Maurice Rapport, Arda Green, and Irving Page isolated serotonin, identifying its role in mood regulation.
In the 1950s, Vincent du Vigneaud synthesized oxytocin, with Sue Carter highlighting its impact on bonding and trust.
In 1957, Arvid Carlsson connected dopamine to reward and motivation, laying the groundwork for understanding pleasure.
By the 1970s, John Hughes and Hans Kosterlitz had discovered endorphins, showing how the brain’s opioids aid stress relief and well-being.
Serotonin: The mood stabilizer
Produced in the brainstem (primarily synthesized in the raphe nuclei), serotonin influences mood, social behavior, and impulse control, modulating emotional responses and contributing to a stable mood.
Low levels are linked to depression, while balanced levels support calm and contentment.
[For more information about serotonin, see Serotonin and Prefrontal Cortex Function: Neurons, Networks, and Circuits and The serotonin theory of depression: a systematic umbrella review of the evidence]
Oxytocin: The bonding hormone
Generated in the hypothalamus and released by the posterior pituitary gland, oxytocin promotes bonding, trust, and social connection.
Known as the "love hormone," it lowers stress and enhances attachment, fostering community and belonging.
[For more information about oxytocin, see Oxytocin can help us bond with loved ones and can be released through touch, music, and exercise and Roles of Oxytocin in Stress Responses, Allostasis and Resilience]
Dopamine: The neurotransmitter of reward and motivation
Dopamine, originating in the brain's reward centers (substantia nigra and ventral tegmental area), drives pleasure and motivation.
In the brain’s mesolimbic pathway, dopamine release in response to rewarding stimuli facilitates pleasure and reinforces behaviors, while increased dopamine activity in the nucleus accumbens enhances feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction, contributing to overall happiness and motivation.
[For more information about dopamine, see From Prediction to Action: Dissociable Roles of Ventral Tegmental Area and Substantia Nigra Dopamine Neurons in Instrumental Reinforcement and The nucleus accumbens in reward and aversion processing: insights and implications]
Endorphins: The body’s natural painkillers
Endorphins are endogenous opioid peptides that bind to opioid receptors in the brain, reducing pain perception and inducing euphoria.
Released in response to physical exercise, laughter, and stress, endorphins contribute to the “runner’s high” and general mood enhancement, mitigating pain perception and elevating mood to foster resilience in the face of challenges.
[For more information about endorphins, see The Science of Euphoria: Neurotransmitters, Hormones, and Senses and Exercise for Stress and Anxiety]
Desiderata
Life often nudges me along familiar patterns—a rush of excitement, then a return to routine, keeping me in a loop of seeking the next high point.
This “hedonic treadmill,” as some may call it, seems designed to pull me into a constant search for what’s next, what’s brighter.
But I’ve realized that lasting contentment lies not in the peaks but in a steady sense of purpose rooted in intrinsic motivations, those values and pursuits that endure long after external validation fades.
I found a language in the trees and open sky that I couldn’t quite translate into words but felt in my core.
It turns out there’s something real to this: the biophilia hypothesis speaks of our inherent connection to nature, how the simple act of immersing ourselves in green spaces can dissolve stress, sharpen clarity, and slow the pulse of a busy mind4.
I began to see beyond the sea, those moments outdoors when mere escape returns to a steady baseline, as the vagus nerve’s stimulation through intentional breathwork anchors my body’s soul, rewiring the surprises of life calmly.
With such a foundation, grounded in breath, I find the polycontexturality of adaptation unfolding in new ways, essential to shift perspectives across different social and cultural landscapes.
This isn’t about adjusting to change, but about broadening a perspective to resist the pull of “right now” thinking, especially hyperbolic discounting to impulse the prioritized rewards in the immediate tendency over future growth.
This vision, veiled and unhurried, humors the holdfast stewarding—both creators and destroyers of life—yonder to protracted patience’s umbra, evanescent over urgency’s blaze, alluring an undertaking import to eclipses that lure cursory laurels.
It was a gradual, almost imperceptible blossoming—an unsung tally with the sinews and marrow of a life hewn not for softness, but for mettle.
Each step bore the weight of an inarticulate testament, wrought into the wild soil and ageless stone of this feral land, as intent cast off its gloss and donned the adamant might of iron within.
Triumphs and defeats softened, giving way to a quiet, firm-fixed solace—a joy spun not from fortune, but of endurance, sewn in temperance and resolve.
Neither conquest nor surrender, it was the abiding cadence of existence hewn in truth, bearing inviolate scars as emblems, of a spirit earnestly unblemished.
The universal ethos
The Japanese ideas of amae and omoiyari remind me of the strength in communal empathy, to share discernment reciprocal in reverence to mainstay concordance5.
It’s a cry that’s communal in the Andean concept of Minga, where collective labor reinforces community ties, metrifying personage to imbursements apportioned to a ipseity succors twain as idiosyncratic and societal ideals, in tandem with Ichi-go Ichi-e invitation to savor the present6.
The sentience whereby life’s uttered ephemerality is discerned to clasp the unfettered dominion, adroit amid submersion to firming connections—much like Norwegian Friluftsliv—is austerity, in ourselves, forgetting to beget an abysmal inkling of oneness.
In reflecting on these diverse cultural philosophies, I see how values from different societies bind us to each other and to the natural world, forming a universal ethos that celebrates both our individuality and our shared responsibilities.
Each tradition—be it through compassion, shared labor, or mindful presence—reveals that a life of meaning transcends personal triumphs, finding harmony in offerings that uplift both self and kin.
Empathy, fortitude, and purpose entwine as threads, weaving us into a vast tapestry of grace, unity, and profound interconnectedness.
They remind me that by valuing both the self and the collective, I’m part of an enduring commitment to the flourishing of a world that holds space for all.
Interconnected conclusions
This synthesis of ideas reminds me that bona fide fruition is naught unaccompanied, but an sojourn communed throughout humanity’s sundry vistas.
As we homage to precepts of commiseration, contrivance, and euphony, the imparted devoir we beget in dominion—whence assemblages waxes conjointly the personage endeavored to pregnant gravitas—endows the consecration to benevolence, enriched to rectitude the mettle of cultural philosophies.
We are not compeers in a sui generis purview, but co-creators of a patrimony, in unison to a perennial attestation yoked to consociate existence, drawn from variegated eruditions, brought forth in eclipses naught just singular enterprises.
It calls us to be present, caring for one another in respect to the natural world in celebration to shared humanity.
How will you answer the call to embody these enduring values today?
For more on the subject, read Immanuel Kant’s Towards Perpetual Peace
The term Al-Andalus refers to the Muslim-controlled regions of the Iberian Peninsula.
From the 8th to the 15th century, Al-Andalus transitioned from the flourishing Umayyad Emirate and Caliphate, known for its cultural achievements, to the fragmented Taifa kingdoms, which were weakened by Christian advances, then passed under the rule of the Almoravid and Almohad Berber dynasties, who brought renewed stability, until finally, the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, the last Muslim stronghold in Spain, fell to the Catholic Monarchs in 1492, ending Muslim rule on the Iberian Peninsula.
[For more, see Josef W. Meri (edit) Medieval Islamic Civilization, An Encyclopedia]
Fides sine finibus (Latin) translates to "faith without boundaries," symbolizing a commitment that transcends divisions.
Mitgefühl (German) denotes "compassion" or "empathy," a deep, shared feeling toward others.
Devoir (French), meaning "duty" or "obligation," conveys a moral responsibility, while gratia communis (Latin) or "shared grace," embodies a spirit of mutual kindness.
Unum corpus (Latin), "one body," suggests unity in purpose or identity, while Gemeinschaft (German) reflects a close-knit, cohesive "community" of personal bonds.
Familia humana (Latin), meaning "human family," speaks to a universal kinship, and un seul fil dans la grande tapisserie humaine (French) translates to "a single thread in the great tapestry of humanity," evoking the individual’s place within the interconnected fabric of human existence.
For more information about biophilia hypothesis, see The Experience of Nature and Biophilia (Harvard)
Just as Ma'at embodies cosmic harmony and justice, and Ahimsa calls for compassionate non-harm, Amae and Omoiyari foster a cultural framework of trust, belonging, and shared emotional labor.
Satyagraha aligns closely with Omoiyari in that both pursue truth and understanding through empathy and nonviolence.
Jugaad mirrors Minga, as each are pragmatic in resourcefulness and cooperative labor that elevate both individual worth and communal identity.
They encapsulate the ethos that individual efforts contribute to a shared strength—a sentiment that also finds kinship in Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft’s exploration of community vs. society, where individuals merge idiosyncratic needs with collective ideals.
Have you read The Gnostic Tales? It is a beautiful collection of writings found in the Egyptian desert thousands of years ago and the daily meditations are quite useful in everyday life, especially now. I find the wisdom calming during this chaotic time we face in the states.