Arthur J. Deikman

This unity of all human beings, their interconnection and interdependence, is the primary vision of mysticism. It says that the virtue mystics practice is necessary not only because of its functional utility but because it is realistic. One should treat the other as oneself because below the surface we are all aspects of one being; the Golden Rule is not an arbitrary, culturally determined morality but an expression of the actual nature of the world.

Our continued existence as a species and our further development depend on our capacity for recognizing this reality despite the compelling influence of the object self.