Interbeing

"Interbeing" is a word that is not in the dictionary yet, but if we combine the prefix "inter" with the verb "to be," we have a new verb, inter-be.
If we look into this sheet of paper deeply we can see the sunshine in it.  Without sunshine, the forest cannot grow.  And so, we know that the sunshine is also in this sheet of paper.  And if we continue to look, we can see the logger who cut the tree and brought it to the mill to be transformed into paper.  And we see wheat.  We know that the logger cannot exist without his daily bread, and therefore the wheat that became his bread is also in this sheet of paper.  The logger's father and mother are in it too.  When we look in this way, we see  that without all of these things, this sheet of paper cannot exist.
Looking even more deeply, we can see ourselves in this sheet of paper too because when we look at a sheet of paper, it is part of our perception.  Your mind is in here and mine is also.  So we can say that everything is in here with this sheet of paper.  Everything co-exists with this sheet of paper.  We cannot just be by ourselves alone.  We have to inter-be with every other thing.  This sheet of paper is, because everything else is.

Wisdom from PEACE IS EVERY STEP - Thich Nhat Hanh