[UncoonsKala]

I really ignore about a sutta that teaches the doctrine of interbeing the way Thich Nhat Hanh does. It could be good to have one about this issue if there is one. The notion of "interbeing" (as interconnectedness) is not new at least in the field of Epigenetics, Complex Adaptive Systems and the field of Human Ecology. Suddenly Thich took that notion and gave it a kind of mystical approach convenient for the purposes of Buddhist Ethical behaviour and the new ideas of Social Engaged Buddhism. When I was a fan of Thich, before the books entangled with politics, the idea seem really romantic and beautiful but a little bit unpractical. Yes, a table has water and clouds and and air and depends on the carpenter and the seller and the woodland, etc...

Interbeing also gives us the clue to understand anatta and that a flower is made of elements that are not "a flower"; so a flower is not a flower because it is a flower... it is told in Zen.

Interbeing in some way tells we all are interdependent; that can be true, or not so. In Human Ecology we all know that some cultures are adapted to the environment in an "interbeing" way but we all know too, that in a highly complex network of interdependent beings some can disappear without any big disturbance of the homeorethic process of equilibrium while other elements are fundamental for the ecosystem.

I think that as an idea is beautiful and romantic. It can lead to be mindfull about our actions and how they can harm or help others. But this is neither a particular case for Buddhism nor a discovery of Thich. The fact of interconnectedness is evident in the way nature works and this has been known since the time of Ernst Haeckel, the father of Ecology, as the founder of a science with an interconnectedness approach.