TO SEE AND TO BE SEEN IS UBUNTU

TO SEE AND TO BE SEEN IS UBUNTU

 

In the movie AVATAR the Pandorains greeted each other with the phrase, “I see you.” I felt that resonate deeply within me and wondered why that might be. Then one day, many months later, I came across what I feel may be an explanation for it.

 

The Zulu People of Africa use this same greeting. The article broke the meaning down into 4 parts and I will examine them here. The first part of the greeting is for the people to look deeply into the eyes of the other. This is a difficult thing for us in the west to do because we seem to avoid eye contact as often as we can. Looking directly into the eyes of another creates a very deep and intimate contact, closer to a contact between souls than just between the surface of two people. Because of this, the deeper, clearer and more honest the communication will be.

 

The second part is the response to the initial greeting, it is “I am here to be seen”. This is a calling for the inner spirit of the person, the bare “I am” of the individual to come forward and be in the moment. To take an active and responsible part in the verbal exchange. Not on the surface but deep down inside, where it truly matters. Sort of a statement of intent to be honest, naked before you, nothing between us, no judgment.

 

To announce that you actually see the other person is deeply powerful for both parties, It allows and offers the ability to see the other person as they are, as they were intended to be, as the Creator made them, that they exist in a world that is usually rather narrowly focused on the self rather than on those around us. This simple statement: “I see you” denotes respect and equality; authenticity and dare I say it? Love. Love and acceptance that they too belong on the earth with us and have the right to voice their truths too? It also seems to invite us, all of us, to be here now, to be present in our lives with conscious awareness and honest, open, clear intent.

 

Here is where ubuntu comes into play. It is a Zulu word that speaks to the Zulu doctrine of belief. The word ubuntu closely means “humanity toward all.” this includes a support system that edifies everyone, that creates a coming together of people as equals and important in their own right. It bestows value and worth of everyone, it requires that each truly see the best in both themselves and in the other. This is true unconditional love. Love is, after all, the driving force of the universe. It also invites us to be. To be in our own lives, the lives of others and to participate in all that entails. You can't live your life if you aren't in it and now, right now because “I see you”, step up and “see” those around you and live.

 

Love, Light, Laughter, Bright Blessings and Ubuntu Chessie

© Chessie Roberts 2011, all rights reserved.