The illusion of being different

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A human being psychologically is the whole of mankind. He not only represents it but he is the whole of the human species. He is essentially the whole psyche of mankind. On this actuality various cultures have imposed the illusion that each human being is different. In this illusion mankind has been caught for centuries, and this illusion has become a reality. If one observes closely the whole psychological structure of oneself, one will find that as one suffers, so all mankind suffers in various degrees. If you are lonely, the whole humankind knows this loneliness. Agony, jealousy, envy, and fear are known to all. So psychologically, inwardly, one is like another human being. There may be differences physically, biologically. One is tall or short and so on, but basically one is the representative of all mankind. So psychologically you are the world; you are responsible for the whole of mankind, not for yourself as a separate human being, which is a psychological illusion… If one grasps the full significance of the fact that one is psychologically the world, then responsibility becomes overpowering love.

J. Krishnamurti/Letters to the Schools vol I, p 20


Vincent Carriuolo

Interests: breathing, music, literature, golf, art, snowshoeing, writing, kayaking, meditation, skiing, walking/hiking, theatre (preferably drama), comedy clubs, concerts, art museums, poetry readings, working out and elephant polo at tiger tops, nepal (just seeing if you're still reading). some favorite films: the bicycle thief, dr. strangelove, 81/2, the diving bell and the butterfly, babette's feast, being there, city lights, everything is illuminated and life is beautiful. favorite reads: 100 years of solitude; the short stories of raymond carver; the divine comedy; the power of now; j. krishnamurti's the book of life; the short stories of eudora welty and ethan canin; the poetry of t.s. eliot; matsuo basho and robert frost; the odyssey; the secret language of symbols; a path with heart; zen flesh, zen bones; gift from the sea; siddhartha and anything by: j. krishnamurti; eckhart tolle; jack kornfield; anthony demello s.j.; thich nhat hahn; thomas merton; shunryu suzuki, : meister eckhart; emmett fox and ram dass. play blues harmonica. like color: cobalt blue. like flower: paper white narcissus. last read: one hundred years of solitude (again), quotes: just this. --anon. we don't see things as they are, we see them as we are. --anais inn, a friend of bill w.