A Simple Explanation of "The Great Commandment"

Known as "The Great Commandment" in Judaism, Leviticus 19:18 states: “ Love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.”  This commandment is reiterated by Jesus and Paul several times in the New Testament, as here when Jesus counsels the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:19, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Commentaries on this commandment usually focus on its Golden Rule aspect--to treat others as you would wish to be treated.

The Simple Explanation puts it this way: "In order for units of consciousness to join and work together for the greater good, they need relevant information (including shared meme chords), they need to be willing to channel coherence from the metaverse, and they need to love one another." 

While we human-level UCs often struggle with loving others, many of us also struggle with loving ourselves, so how do we accomplish the Great Commandment?

In the article "My Self, The Governor of Whoville," I explain that my governing UC is associated with a veritable galaxy of aggregated UCs hierarchically distributed below it. "I" am not alone in this body of mine, but coinhabit this material space with countless other UCs devoted to instantiating "my" body. The commandment to "love myself" is a reminder to be kind and wise in the governance of the UCs that make up my Self's body. I am the ruler of their galaxy--I am the "Governor of Whoville" to borrow from Dr. Seuss. When I ignore the information coming "upline" from my aggregated UCs, my physical body may suffer emotionally and physically. If I ignore my aggregated UCs altogether, they are like sheep without a shepherd, and my emotional and physical body will surely suffer. I must be the wise ruler of this body, as it is my governing Self UC that is responsible for this little galaxy. This can be considered the essential rationale for loving myself. It is not my Ego I am loving--it is the Whoville galaxy.

If my Self UC cannot act with wisdom and love toward its own "mud" and meat, then how can it act with wisdom and love toward other UCs at the lateral level--its "neighbor"?

The "neighbor" that I am commanded to love is any unit of consciousness that occupies the same level of complexity as my UC.  It is the job of every UC, no matter its hierarchical level of complexity and sophistication, to reach out laterally to others of its level, working together for the good of all.  A sub-atomic particle's neighbor would be other sub-atomics. A liver cell's neighbor would be other liver cells. A human's neighbor would be other humans, but also other complex life forms. My dog is not a citizen of Whoville. My dog is my neighbor.

All of creation is called upon to work together with others of like kind for the survival and benefit of all. This is a Simple Explanation of The Great Commandment.

My Self, the Governor of Whoville

My body is a veritable galaxy of Units of Consciousness working to instantiate "me."

As you can see by the above diagram, the simpler the UC, the more of them there are. While there is only one "me" (represented by the blue triangle), my body is comprised of 11 organ systems made of 78 organs, which are in turn comprised of 50 trillion specialized cells made up of such a large number of atoms and molecules that I don't know how to read or write the numbers. The more organized and complex the UC, the fewer of them there are. Note that the "Mind" or ordinary consciousness, as well as the subconscious, are artifacts of the organ systems, organs, and cells that make up my body. In other words, the mind is the meat's thought process, not the Self's. 

My Self UC sits atop this hierarchical mountain of countless UCs, all working to instantiate my body. While I may believe I am the only conscious entity inhabiting this body of mine, my physical body is actually home to all of these aggregated UCs, each with their own jobs to perform, each laying down their own karmic record. Lucky for me, their job is to hold me together and facilitate this life of mine, and they generally go along with the program and do a good job. 

Another basic trait of my aggregate UCs is this: "The more UCs of the same level of complexity that are laterally linked, the greater their shared perception of here and now." This means that when you add all of those UCs together that make up my body, their aggregated consciousness is about as aware as my singular Self UC. And those aggregated UCs (my "mud" and "meat") are everywhere I am! No wonder I can get around so well without my conscious Self paying attention!

The "Ego" is my subjective sense of who I am, and it is largely a reflections of my Self UC's choices (karma) and the memes I cling to (my beliefs and narratives). My Ego also reflects my body's aggregates and their karmas and meme choices. Ego is not identical to the Self, as the Self UC is the immutably perfect soul that exists independent of material instantiation.