Eclipse

291

Impersonal Misconceptions

 

When I reflect on those I’ve learned the most from, I find that they are very personal people. They tell of themselves, but in subtle artful ways, and their motive shines through. In any case, I know it is not helpful to hide ourselves, to cloak ourselves in a concept of philosophic impersonality. We shouldn’t fear personality, but should be natural. I think there is a sense in which we must be very personal, that is, we should be honestly ourselves. And we should not imagine that this is not good enough for a given situation. If we fail in this, I think we may do so because we are too personal in the wrong way.

What is impersonality? It is not non-personality but illuminated personality. And if personality, in some sense, is to be renounced, it would be good to have an actual one fully in place for the ceremony. And if renunciation is empowerment, then personality will be strengthened, and the reflected light will be intense. Perhaps a paradoxapersonality is in order. It might be the flowering of the same personality, the veiled unearthly lights, that we see everywhere.