# The Framework
- URL: https://www.petrikajander.com/the-framework/
- Author: Petri Kajander
- Date: 2004-09-28
- Language: en
- Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KffPuzVzmc0

Our culture, society, administration, political system, infrastructure, laws, processes, properties, possessions, and even money are just a framework. They are the setting, the means for the essence. These things change and evolve over time. Technology develops and we gain more knowledge and understanding, which is reflected in the world around us. Our collective knowledge changes through the decades and centuries. We call this development.

Still, a framework is not the essence. It only provides the raw material and the tools for the real action. It is easy to get confused with means and objectives along the road. The framework is not important even though it surrounds us. We need it but we should not get carried away by it.

The framework does not define who we are—it can only state what we have. Our real reference frame is not vis-à-vis the framework but relates to other living beings. *How we treat others describes who we are*. We cannot live in isolation and solely with the framework, we need the real point of reference that defines us. The essential things are universal and eternal. They are not dependent on the development of the framework or any particular condition or point in time in the framework. Throughout the centuries, the writings and advice about personal ethics and integrity have stayed the same in essence. They describe the issues about how to live together and in relation to other living things—despite the circumstances.

Our surroundings enable us to declare who we are. The framework sets us into different situations and positions. Sometimes life is hard and at other moments it is something else. The essence is that no matter the circumstances, we should still be the same—the person we declare ourself to be. Because how can we say we are one way when the circumstances are in our favor and yet appear as something else when they are no longer ideal? We should be able to be who we are in all cases and at all times—no matter what happens. We should be like the rock-solid ground that stays put in a storm as well as in the sunshine and on a beautiful summer day. The framework makes it possible for us to define and declare who we are—despite what we have or how we are.

Our challenge is to concentrate on the essence and use the framework as our means to declare who we are. We do this by living in the framework and for every moment, stating by our actions our real nature. The way we treat *all* other people, who are facing different circumstances and situations than us, is the real test onto which we should focus our energies, 24/7. So, who you are (in relation to other people) and on which issues have you been focusing today?