The seat of Realization is within and the seeker cannot find it as an object outside him. That seat is bliss and is the core of all beings. Hence it is called the Heart.
The fact that so many people choose to live in ways that narrow the community of fate to a very limited set of others and to define the rest as threatening to their way of life and values is deeply worrying because this contemporary form of tribalism, and the ideologies that support it, enable them to deny complex and more crosscutting mutual interdependencies-local, national, and international-and to elude their own role in creating long-term threats to their own wellbeing and that of others.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the dangers of modern tribalism, where people isolate themselves within narrow communities and view others as threats.
Margaret Levi's quote addresses the contemporary issue of tribalism, where individuals and groups tend to insulate themselves within a limited circle of like-minded individuals, thereby viewing those outside this circle as adversaries. This mindset not only fosters division but also obscures the interconnectedness that exists between different groups, leading to a disregard for the complexities of social, national, and global interdependencies. The consequences of such narrow thinking can be detrimental, as it hinders cooperative efforts necessary for addressing shared challenges, ultimately threatening the well-being of everyone involved.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about social cohesion and inclusivity during a community meeting.
Similar quotes
Many religions now come before us with ingratiating smirks and outspread hands, like an unctuous merchant in a bazaar. They offer consolation and solidarity and uplift, competing as they do in a marketplace. But we have a right to remember how barbarically they behaved when they were strong and were making an offer that people could not refuse.
Money is a bubble that never pops. It's a consensus hallucination.
I belong to no race nor time. I am the eternal feminine with its string of beads.
It may have been a comedy, or it may have been a tragedy. It cost one man his reason, it cost me a blood-letting, and it cost yet another man the penalties of the law. Yet there was certainly an element of comedy. Well, you shall judge for yourselves.
It seems to me, then, that vulnerability and and self-disclosure are at the heart of what we understand about the nature of God. And the reason I believe gay and lesbian people are spiritual people is that we too have participated in vulnerability and self-disclosure, especially in the process of coming-out. When someone shares with you who they really, really are, it is a special offering. To do so when it risks rejection is a profound, holy gift.