Do you recall the childhood game of looking for objects and images in the clouds? You might see a dragon, while your friend sees a ship. As you keep looking, the cloud images shift and change, blending and merging. Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh says if we practice looking deeply, we can see a cloud in a sheet of paper. Without the clouds, there is no rain, and without rain there are no trees, and without trees
there is no paper. If the cloud doesn't exist, the paper doesn't exist. Keep looking deeper yet, and you will ultimately see that everything and everyone is interdependent and "interbeing." Separation is an illusion; oneness is Reality. Reflect on how you see other beings---human beings and animal beings. Are you fooled by outer appearances? Or can you look deeply enough to see beyond the outer forms and into the true essence of beings, which is the very same true essence of your own being?