01-04-2014, 12:00 AM
~Think of a man who loses his job and sinks into despair
because he personally identified with his work to such a degree that loss of
job means loss of self or loss of manhood.
Think of a woman who undergoes a similar crisis of identity
due to divorce, with the attendant loss of her primary identity structure.
Think of parents whose lives lose all meaning due to the loss
of a child, or someone who's lost all hope and joy due to some bad news from
the doctor.
Losses like these can make us feel like we've lost our core.
We might feel we can't recover from them, and maybe we can’t.
When we believe in the world outside of ourselves, gain is
often perceived as good and loss as bad. When we stop believing in a world external
to self, that reverses: gain becomes bad and loss becomes good.
Nothing we can lose was ever ours in the first place. All we
can ever lose is illusion.
because he personally identified with his work to such a degree that loss of
job means loss of self or loss of manhood.
Think of a woman who undergoes a similar crisis of identity
due to divorce, with the attendant loss of her primary identity structure.
Think of parents whose lives lose all meaning due to the loss
of a child, or someone who's lost all hope and joy due to some bad news from
the doctor.
Losses like these can make us feel like we've lost our core.
We might feel we can't recover from them, and maybe we can’t.
When we believe in the world outside of ourselves, gain is
often perceived as good and loss as bad. When we stop believing in a world external
to self, that reverses: gain becomes bad and loss becomes good.
Nothing we can lose was ever ours in the first place. All we
can ever lose is illusion.

