Different beliefs tend to divide us and draw lines between us — in politics, religion and intimate relationships. But we can use these same differences to remove the blinders that keep us narrow-minded.

“Buddhism divided over the questions that have always divided people,” says Huston Smith in “The World’s Religions.”

He goes on to identify the questions:

~ Are people independent or interdependent?

~ Is the universe helpful or indifferent toward its creatures?

~ What is the best part of the human self, head or heart?

You can, in the light of these questions, assess differences in your personal, professional, spiritual, political and civic relationships.

Now, consider this: The “right” answer to each of the three questions is “both.” Our binary thinking (it has to be one or the other) is a trap, a trap that leads to division of home, church, country and planet.

Perhaps you are afraid that if somebody else is right, you must be wrong. Perhaps you cling to an outcome you can blame on the universe, or perhaps you cling to one you can control — “If it’s up to me, I can make it happen.” Maybe you are complacent or weary of thinking. Maybe you are broken-hearted.… More

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