Treasure Trove:

Thursday, February 7, 2013

“We are here to awaken from our illusion of separateness.”

― Thich Nhat Hanh

Distinction

The master was strolling with some of his disciples along the bank of a river. He said, “see how the fish keep darting about wherever they please. That’s what they really enjoy.” A stranger overhearing that remark said, “how do you know what fish enjoy” You are not a fish.” The disciples gasped at what they took for impudence. The master smiled at what he recognized as a fearless spirit of inquiry. He replied affably,” and you, my friend, how do you know I am not a fish? You are not I.” The disciples laughed, taking this to be a well-deserve rebuff. Only the stranger was struck by its depth. All day he pondered it, then came to the monastery to say, “Maybe you are not as different from the fish as I thought. Or I from you.”

~ Anthony de Mello

“This life of separateness may be compared to a dream, a phantasm, a bubble, a shadow, a drop of dew, a flash of lightning.” Buddha

“The question, “Who am I?” is, therefore, a tremendously important question. Identity matters. In Spirituality and the Awakening Self, I argue that the renegotiation of identity at the boundary of self and non-self is right at the center of anything worthy of being called transformation. It is possible to know our self to be fundamentally one with God and with all that is held together in Christ. Our sense of separateness – with all the pain that comes with this – is fundamentally an illusion. That illusion is at the core of our dysfunction as individuals, communities, civilizations and humanity. But the deepest reality and the truth of our existence is that we are one with God. All that is missing is our awareness and response.” ~Dr. David G. Benner

“The meaning of our self is not to be found in its separateness from God and others,but in the ceaseless realization of yoga, of union.”- Rabindranath Tagore