Our connection to the rest of the universe can be viewed on similar lines. We are an integral part of the whole. Any action, which causes harm to any part of the universe, cannot be beneficial to us in the long run as a consequence of this unity. A simple example is the use of pesticides to help human survival through greater food security, but by destroying ‘pests’. Though these help in the short term, they pollute our water and soil, cause disease, malformations and even deaths.

All things are connected like the blood that unites us all.
Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it.
Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.  – Chief Seattle

A human being is a part of the whole, called by us the ‘Universe’, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security. – Albert Einstein