At a time of division in America, we must all decide if we favor ‘e pluribus unum,’ creating one out of the many, or if we want to work to split apart ethnicities and cultures and turn them against each other in a manner that so many immigrants sought to escape in their native lands. Living in this city teaches us that all human beings are essentially the same regardless of color or culture. We all have similar hopes and dreams and the same need for love and connection. In fact, we New Yorkers are privileged to live in an environment in which we can meet people every day whose backgrounds are profoundly different from our own. With a healthy holistic worldview, our appreciation of our shared humanity across racial and social lines can evolve joyfully over time. That’s part of what personal growth means.

So The Open Center, as our name suggests, heartily endorses Albert Einstein’s statement that our task must be ‘widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.’ We happily describe ourselves as a Center of Holistic Learning and World Culture. We delight in the endlessly diverse spectrum of peoples that America, and New York, in particular, is home to.  We are fortunate to be able to embrace such an unprecedented array of different cultures and find common cause in our commitment to freedom, equality, and justice.

We must all find our own path to truth and wisdom, one that resonates with our own deepest being. It’s a blessing that never in human history have we had such an extraordinary spectrum of cultures, spiritualities, and practices to learn from. Let’s celebrate this, and turn away permanently from any dark suggestions that we find ourselves in hatred of the other. Openness and tolerance are, in fact, as history tells us, the path to enlightenment and wholeness.