Listen my children and
You shall hear,
That the British do not know whether they are coming or going andLook up into the chilled darkness
Toward the tower of the Old North Church
Where faint sparks of indefinite light with indiscernible meaning mock the night.Feel the guidance of the still, small voice and
Trust it.
Walk away from the demagogues clamoring for conflict.You can hear the fading murmuring
Of the zombies in their billions
Mesmerized by the darkness of their own soul— Roy Charles Henry
Perhaps the greatest challenge of all for those of us seeking detachment is to realize that virtually everything we formerly thought to be desirable or pleasurable is in fact a source of suffering. “Meister Eckhart says: ‘I came not upon earth to bring peace but a sword; to cut away all things, to part thee from brother, child, mother and friend, which are really thy foes. For verily thy comforts are thy foes. Doth thine eye see all things and thine ear hear all things and thy heart remember them all, then in these things thy soul is destroyed.” (1)
True freedom can only be possible when we internalize the truth that we are not an ephemeral human body, or the frantic content of a troubled mind nor an emotion-driven animal; but rather we are pure energy indestructible and existing in the eternal NOW beyond the confines of time and space, beyond suffering and anxiety. That is our true identity.
Insight # 45: The game is not about becoming somebody, it’s about becoming nobody.
Link:
Reference:
- Jung, C. G. The Portable Jung. New York: Penguin Books, 1971, page 373.
