The Impersonal View

The Impersonal View T here is nothing personal about any aspect of your personal experience. Dare to become aware of the fact that every aspect of your personal experience is a completely impersonal affair. If you want to be free, I encourage you to look, to see and discover for yourself the ultimately impersonal nature of every single aspect of your personal experience. For some this may be obvious. But for most, to come to terms with the actuality of the fact that every single aspect of their personal experience is ulti- mately impersonal is very challenging indeed. If you look deeply enough you will discover for yourself that in the end there is very little that is unique or special about any one of us. It is important to understand that ultimately there is only one body, there is only one mind and there is only one heart. It can be a very shocking experience to find out that so much of what it means to be alive is no more than a mechanical process. When you have the courage to penetrate beneath the surface and peer deeply into the impersonal dimension of life, you will be amazed at what you will find. What creates so much of the conflict and chaos in our world is the staggering fact that almost every human being is convinced that they are unique, that they are special. Because so many of us have not penetrated beyond the superficial layers of our experience, we unwittingly cling onto the idea of being unique to find an identity, to locate a sense of self. What is discovered in the spiritual experience that allows us to rest, that makes it possible to stop struggling against life, is the knowledge that every aspect of our personal experience is an impersonal affair. Indeed, the individual who has transcended the need to see themselves as being unique or special is instantly released from the tyr­anny of separation. It is this necessity to see ourselves as being unique or special that always takes us away from the truth of our ultimate nature and in that, away from everyone else. As long as we allow ourselves to be captivated by the emotional and psychological need to see ourselves as standing outside of and away from the whole, it will be impossible to truly come together with another. The more we are able to perceive the simple truth of the ultimately impersonal nature of all personal experience, the less we will feel compelled to see ourselves as being separate. It requires an extraordinarily mature human being to bear the overwhelming implications of the revelation of impersonality. The individual who is able to do so sees through the illusion of separation that is created by the personalization of human experience. When the revelation of impersonality is perceived directly many are terrified — terrified because they feel that their personal relationship to their experience is being threatened. In that, they see for themselves how their personal relationship to so much of their experience has distorted the way things actually are. In light of this, they understand that so much of what appeared to be true is actually false. In fact, for most the Truth is too much to bear. It’s too stark. It’s too absolute. It is too overwhelming in its utter impersonality. This recognition of the ultimate impersonality of all personal experience shows the way to the destruction of all false and wrong views about the nature of reality, relative and Absolute. Dare to consider this question for yourself: is there any­­­­­­­­­thing personal about any aspect of my personal experience? Simply through the discovery of the impersonality of every aspect of your personal experience, you can find your own Liberation. That is all it takes. But to succeed, this demands a rare degree of interest and determination. This is not something to be done only during a period of meditation or reflection. It is not something to be done only at a particular time that one sets aside to pay attention. This is meant to be done always— when you are on the bus or when you are at work, when you experience anger or lust, when you are overwhelmed by sublime feelings, when you are profoundly happy. Whatever you could possibly think or feel, remember to ask yourself: is there anything personal­­ about any aspect of my personal experience?