"We are here to awaken from our illusion of separateness."
— Thích Nhất Hạnh
I was reflecting in my time in Africa and that beautiful Nguni Bantu term "Ubuntu" often translated as "I am because we are."
So much pain is caused by our attachment to our "individuality" and how we imagine our "uniqueness" can only be experienced through "separation". But we can have autonomy without being separate.
The human condition moves through each of us in a unique way.
Everyone has fears, insecurities, and doubts. Everyone has pain, everyone wants to escape. Everyone feel helpless and desperate. Everyone makes mistakes….everyone worries about making new ones. Everyone’s doing the best they can, sometimes wondering if that’s good enough. Everyone wants to enjoy life more ….and stress about it less. Everyone hides. Everyone feels alone.
The misperception that these conditions are "me and mine" doesn't make us unique but it sure leads to feelings of separation.
Sometimes we need to separate ourselves from certain conditions, remove certain external factors so we can reorient and see the world correctly and understand the truth.
One of those truths that becomes immediately apparent is that we are all interconnected, completely dependent on each other. So we can each be unique, autonomous even special but never separate. Turns out our much beloved American notion of individuality is probably our greatest barrier to intimacy.
But awareness is pure intimacy....no subject and object....no separation.
May we all see and live through the eyes of awareness.
So much pain is caused by our attachment to our "individuality" and how we imagine our "uniqueness" can only be experienced through "separation". But we can have autonomy without being separate.
The human condition moves through each of us in a unique way.
Everyone has fears, insecurities, and doubts. Everyone has pain, everyone wants to escape. Everyone feel helpless and desperate. Everyone makes mistakes….everyone worries about making new ones. Everyone’s doing the best they can, sometimes wondering if that’s good enough. Everyone wants to enjoy life more ….and stress about it less. Everyone hides. Everyone feels alone.
The misperception that these conditions are "me and mine" doesn't make us unique but it sure leads to feelings of separation.
Sometimes we need to separate ourselves from certain conditions, remove certain external factors so we can reorient and see the world correctly and understand the truth.
One of those truths that becomes immediately apparent is that we are all interconnected, completely dependent on each other. So we can each be unique, autonomous even special but never separate. Turns out our much beloved American notion of individuality is probably our greatest barrier to intimacy.
But awareness is pure intimacy....no subject and object....no separation.
May we all see and live through the eyes of awareness.
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