Within each of us there is a silence,
a silence as vast as the universe…
When we experience that silence,
we remember who we are,
creatures of the stars,
created from time and space, created from silence…
Silence is our deepest nature, our home, our common ground, our peace.
“The blurring of boundaries between self and other in high jumping probably provides a key to my early love for the sport, a bridge between the walls I erected to protect me from emotions raised by my father’s abuse and the dismantling of those walls years later. In both cases – abuse and high jumping – those boundaries disappeared.
As a child, they disappeared because I was of necessity hyperaware, always alert to sounds, sudden movements, the slightest change in musculature or vibes that might indicate the possibility of an attack, that might give me an additional half-second to prepare for my father’s violence by physically absenting myself. Instead of remaining present to my own experience, I was present to my anticipation of his experience. My own self – whatever that means – was silent and submerged.
When I jumped, those boundaries between self and other once again became obscure. This time, though, the blurring was accomplished not by hiding the self, but expanding it.
On the best jumps, those where I approached that ragged edge of control where instinct and euphoria set me free from time and consciousness, the self grew and dissolved until there was no meaningful separation between me and the rest of the world. The bar and the standards, the pit, the slight breeze in the late April afternoon, the sun, the grass, me, we all worked together.”
- from A Language Older Than Words (p. 59)
“We do not really change over time; we are as flowers unfolding; we merely become more nearly like ourselves.”
(from The Queen of the Damned p. 214 )
“I certainly do not hope to alter the world. Perhaps I can put it best by saying that I hope to alter my own vision of the world. I want to be more and more myself. As ridiculous as that may sound.
Where the writing is concerned, I did nothing consciously. I followed my nose. I blew with every wind. I accepted every influence, good or bad. My intention was, as I said, merely to write. Or to be a writer, more justly. Well, I’ve been it.
Now I just want – to be.
Remember, I beg you, that this infinitive is “transitive” in Chinese. And I am nothing if not Chinese.
Does this help? If not, walk on – and over me.
(from Henry Miller on Writing p. 141)
How would Freud answer the question, What is Self?
Or what about Jesus or Marilyn Monroe or Eleanor Roosevelt or the Dali Lama? How would they answer the question?
Check back frequently (or sign up for the RSS feed)…new “answers” from artists, atheists, children, famous people, philosophers, psychologists, scientists, spiritutal teachers, theologians, writers and others will be posted as they are discovered.
Add your favorite What is Self? quotes, videos and art to the mix. Join the conversation.
You can post in comments or send your stuff by email to lanell [at] breatheonelove [dot] com.
Fun!
