ARA Review by Martin Nguyen of In It Together
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Martin Nguyen
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ARA Review by Martin Nguyen of In It Together
[Following is an OnlineBookClub.org ARA Review of the book, In It Together.]
I really love the poem at the beginning of the book and the image of "the fish trap" of Chuang Tzu. How profound the ideas are! We are really living in a world of problems, as the author said, especially as the author describes children starving today. When Hughes speaks of children starving—physically, emotionally, spiritually—he is not merely referring to malnutrition but to a global crisis of disconnection. In his eyes, every hungry child is a mirror reflecting the moral failure of a world that has forgotten its own heart. The image of a child crying out for bread becomes a haunting symbol: not only of economic injustice but of a deeper hunger for presence, love, and dignity. He challenges the reader not to look away, not to numb the conscience with distractions, but to allow such suffering to pierce the soul and awaken a sense of shared responsibility.
In today's world, he writes, we face a surplus of information but a deficit of wisdom; we build towers of technology but ignore the crumbling foundations of human empathy. Hughes critiques a system that rewards greed and punishes vulnerability, that glorifies personal gain while millions are left behind. He sees this not just as a political failure but as a spiritual one. The starving child is not “someone else's problem”—it is the wound of the collective, and we are all part of the body. His words echo the idea that true healing begins when we re-humanize the forgotten, when we recognize our interconnectedness not as a poetic idea but as a lived, daily truth.
In the face of so much pain, Hughes does not preach despair. Instead, he calls for a radical return to simplicity and solidarity. He insists that even the smallest acts of kindness—feeding a neighbor, listening without judgment, showing up for someone in need—have cosmic weight. These moments, he says, are where the sacred enters the ordinary. Through his reflections, we are reminded that the solutions to today’s crises are not merely economic or political, but deeply human. They begin with a change of heart—one that sees in every child, every stranger, and even every enemy, the fragile yet divine spark that unites us all.
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes, in his book "In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All" gives a philosophy that focuses on the unity of all people. It is great to understand the surface differences, which connect people together in unity. This unity is the "true conscious love," which Hughes explains as an unifying force.
I am very interested in the words "two yous": the true self and the false self. It is great as we realize one's true self so that we can get wholeness and inner peace. We are born into a network of social support and love, as nature binds us closely to one another. If we seek true peace, we must actively nurture love and cultivate self-discipline.
It’s clear that he immersed himself deeply in philosophy and psychoanalysis to bring this book to life. I hope all individuals in the world will become a Templum. As such, there will be no hatred, war, anger... on this planet. This vision of each person as a sacred space—a Templum—invites us to look within, to cultivate inner peace so that we may radiate it outward. When one understands oneself as a dwelling place for compassion, awareness, and healing, then the very act of living becomes an offering of harmony.
Aurelius Hughes' philosophy is built on the radical idea that we are in it together, and therefore, healing must be collective. I can see that the message is both poetic and practical: if we begin to see ourselves and others as fragile-yet-sacred beings, then our interactions will shift from judgment to care, from fear to understanding.
We are encouraged to live with conscious intention—to create environments where love can flourish and where wounds are not hidden but held with dignity. In this way, his work is a beautiful connection between the inner world and the outer one. I give this book a rating of 5 out of 5.
Thank you Eckhart.
***
View In It Together on Bookshelves
I really love the poem at the beginning of the book and the image of "the fish trap" of Chuang Tzu. How profound the ideas are! We are really living in a world of problems, as the author said, especially as the author describes children starving today. When Hughes speaks of children starving—physically, emotionally, spiritually—he is not merely referring to malnutrition but to a global crisis of disconnection. In his eyes, every hungry child is a mirror reflecting the moral failure of a world that has forgotten its own heart. The image of a child crying out for bread becomes a haunting symbol: not only of economic injustice but of a deeper hunger for presence, love, and dignity. He challenges the reader not to look away, not to numb the conscience with distractions, but to allow such suffering to pierce the soul and awaken a sense of shared responsibility.
In today's world, he writes, we face a surplus of information but a deficit of wisdom; we build towers of technology but ignore the crumbling foundations of human empathy. Hughes critiques a system that rewards greed and punishes vulnerability, that glorifies personal gain while millions are left behind. He sees this not just as a political failure but as a spiritual one. The starving child is not “someone else's problem”—it is the wound of the collective, and we are all part of the body. His words echo the idea that true healing begins when we re-humanize the forgotten, when we recognize our interconnectedness not as a poetic idea but as a lived, daily truth.
In the face of so much pain, Hughes does not preach despair. Instead, he calls for a radical return to simplicity and solidarity. He insists that even the smallest acts of kindness—feeding a neighbor, listening without judgment, showing up for someone in need—have cosmic weight. These moments, he says, are where the sacred enters the ordinary. Through his reflections, we are reminded that the solutions to today’s crises are not merely economic or political, but deeply human. They begin with a change of heart—one that sees in every child, every stranger, and even every enemy, the fragile yet divine spark that unites us all.
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes, in his book "In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All" gives a philosophy that focuses on the unity of all people. It is great to understand the surface differences, which connect people together in unity. This unity is the "true conscious love," which Hughes explains as an unifying force.
I am very interested in the words "two yous": the true self and the false self. It is great as we realize one's true self so that we can get wholeness and inner peace. We are born into a network of social support and love, as nature binds us closely to one another. If we seek true peace, we must actively nurture love and cultivate self-discipline.
It’s clear that he immersed himself deeply in philosophy and psychoanalysis to bring this book to life. I hope all individuals in the world will become a Templum. As such, there will be no hatred, war, anger... on this planet. This vision of each person as a sacred space—a Templum—invites us to look within, to cultivate inner peace so that we may radiate it outward. When one understands oneself as a dwelling place for compassion, awareness, and healing, then the very act of living becomes an offering of harmony.
Aurelius Hughes' philosophy is built on the radical idea that we are in it together, and therefore, healing must be collective. I can see that the message is both poetic and practical: if we begin to see ourselves and others as fragile-yet-sacred beings, then our interactions will shift from judgment to care, from fear to understanding.
We are encouraged to live with conscious intention—to create environments where love can flourish and where wounds are not hidden but held with dignity. In this way, his work is a beautiful connection between the inner world and the outer one. I give this book a rating of 5 out of 5.
Thank you Eckhart.
***
View In It Together on Bookshelves
