Albert Einstein called the inability to discern the ways in which we depend on one another an optical illusion. He wrote “A human being experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restriciting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task is to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature of beauty.