The Concept of “Moine”
I hear this all this time. The little finger points at some random item usually my phone, or some other electronic device and then it comes, the emphatic ” moine !” Followed by a cute smile. This is what my little son says to me all the time when I am at home. I know he is saying “mine” with an innocent sense of belonging, but phonetically it sounds like ” moi-ne.” He says it with conviction and such sweetness, dare I reveal to him the truth that what is his is his, and what is mine will also be his? !!
Where do we get this concept of mine and yours? Is it at school while playing with other children and some other child takes some thing from our hand and says ” mine!!” and runs away with it and then we have a sense of loss? Is that when we identify separation of inanimate object with ourselves? Or is it that it is learned earlier than that when we are still infants? Perhaps as we are learning about our own identity we learn how we relate to all other objects and people around us and in an effort of self preservation we start making connections for the rest of our lives at the deepest levels that remain with us. This concept of mine and yours, and the separation of the two, holds true at many distinct hierarchies of emotional and intellectual development. Right from simple and complex inanimate household items to emotional attachments in relationships, idealogical fundamentals, religious beliefs, to finances, material wealth and land ownership.
Unfortunately lawsuits, divorces, fights, murders, and even wars have taken place of many a dispute, and yet continue daily in all walks of life and parts of the world from back alleys to corporations and governments. How do we prevent the devastation that is a bi-product of a concept so simple that if rationalized simpler solutions can be sought. The Ego rears its ugly head all the time in these cases and invariably provides the wrong answer. We come into this world with nothing, we leave with nothing, and all that we choose to keep eventually we give away before we die. It is interesting that what we choose to hold on to, or give away or even share tells a lot about who we are as an individual and the life that we choose to live.
Granted my little fledgling is too young to fully grasp these concepts, but one day he will, and I think if I keep making a conscious effort in not taking things away from him like the phone, but instead explain to him that the phone is not a toy and let him explore the device safely with me next to him, then his insatiable childish desire can be allowed to be ignited and directed. I try this with him frequently and he then happily redirects his interest onto something else ( usually now my wife’s phone ) having had his “thrill” with my phone. He will learn and he will explore. We all do it, have done it, and continue to do it, but if we are constantly being told “NO” or let each others’ egos get in the way, we can not allow the concepts of sharing to coexist. Once this flame of sharing is lit, all peaceful possibilities can be entertained.
Imagine a world if ideals, ideas, beliefs, possessions, food, good health and technology are shared and the concept of “moine” is replaced what a world that would be. I believe it is the world right here, right now, and it is not all “moine !!”
