Love your neighbor as yourself; Your neighbor IS your self

"Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’[d]  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’[e]  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40

Love your neighbor as yourself. Well, in John 17:11 Jesus prayed: "Holy Father, keep in Your Name [[a]in the knowledge of Yourself] those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We [are one]."

If Jesus is Logos, He spoke and the heavens and earth were formed, then this prayer is already done. Everything in the universe is interconnected. We are all one. If you lie to somebody, you're lying to yourself. If you betray somebody, you're betraying yourself. If you love and bless somebody, you're blessing yourself. Your neighbor IS your self. Meditate upon this. The unity of all mankind.

This is why we treat others as we would like to be treated - because what we are doing to others we are doing to ourselves. Why do we hear all of these mantras all the time? Because your neighbor IS your self.

And just as important to all of this is that you must love yourself. If you do not love yourself you cannot love others. If you're having trouble loving yourself, find find out how God sees you. The entire universe is His love song to YOU. We are one with Him. Jesus was madly in love with God the Father because they saw each other in one another's eyes. God is madly in love with you because He sees Himself in you. It's the divine dance of the universe. Learn the nature of God. This is your true nature. And "God is love" (1 John 4:7).

UPDATE 13 January 2014:

Upon further reflection about this, I've realized something even more profound. Those around us, even the whole universe, is US. Our perception is our reality. We do not see truth, we interpret what we perceive and it becomes our reality. Yet my reality is different from yours. Your reality is different from that of everybody else. Reality, the world around us, is simply US. It's the way that OUR minds interpret it. So when you see someone, you're not seeing that person. You're seeing your mind's interpretation of that person. When you love yourself and understand this truth (our reality is US), then it is only natural to love the entire universe - because in loving it we are loving ourselves. If a person is angry at you, know that they are angry at themselves.

My daughter baked some brownies the other night and left them in the pan over night. The following day, while she wasn't in the kitchen, I put the brownies in a container and began to wash the pan. As she came by the kitchen I showed her the pan and didn't say a word. Her immediate reaction was: "You ATE them??? You threw them away???" She was very upset. I didn't say a word.

After a few seconds I asked, "How do you feel right now?'

She told me, "I'm mad!"

I asked, "Why?"

She replied, "Because you threw away all of the brownies that I made!"

I explained, "You're mad because that's your reality, but it's not truth. Had you known truth you would not be mad. The truth is, they're right here in this container."

Peace, love, and blessings be upon you who read this. May your spirit comprehend if your mind has difficulty.