A worldview that contemplates an essential unity in relation to the deep nature of human beings’ consciences and, at the same time, a great diversity of capabilities, is certainly not something new.
Millennia ago this same general notion, about the decisive importance of a clear perception, as well as a fair equation and a harmonization of the differences between human beings, was affirmed by the great classic of Chinese philosophy, the I Ching, which is considered one of the oldest known books. We read there:
I Ching: 10 – Lu (Conduct and the Level Differences)
“Heaven above, the lake below:
The image of CONDUCT.
Thus the superior man discriminates between high and low,
And thus strengthens the minds of the people.
The sky and the lake show a difference in altitude inherent to the essence of the two, which, therefore, does not arouse envy.
So, among men, there are necessarily differences in level. It is impossible to achieve universal equality. However, what matters is that the differences in level in society are not arbitrary and unfair, because in that case envy and class struggle would inevitably follow.
If, on the contrary, the differences in external level correspond to differences in internal capacity, and the internal value is the criterion for determining the external hierarchy, tranquility will reign between men and society will find order.” (Richard Wilheim. I Ching: Book of Changes, p. 56; emphasis added)
This view is present in virtually all major religious traditions, although even within those traditions it has been corrupted in countless ways, such as the caste system of Hinduism, or the stratified order of Christianity-related feudalism, among so many other examples.