Our grasping at what is me and mine puts up walls that can make our world close in on us. We end up peering through narrow windows and seeing what goes on around us through a myopic lens. No wonder there is such a sense of alienation and loneliness in the world. Opening up to the view of interconnectedness helps us to break down the barriers erected by our own egocentrism and to emerge from the narrow and dark cell in which we tend to shut ourselves.
17th Karmapa
from the book Interconnected: Embracing Life in Our Global Society
Read a random quote or see all quotes by the 17th Karmapa.
Further quotes from the book Interconnected:
- The deeper common ground all living being share
- Everything and everyone is benefiting you
- The imagination to see the other as free and happy
- Self-reliance
- The interdependence between us and the world
- The impulse to connect
- Cultivating a spirit of generosity
- Interdependent individuals
- A greater sense of possibility
- Inner conditions of interdependence
- Interdependence always works both ways
- Our innate ability to connect with others
- Thinking about the consequences of our collective actions
- Collective actions and attitudes
- Viewing others through the lens of interdependence
- Interdependence at work
- Our intimate dependence on the natural environment
- Extend yourself and connect
- The opportunity to love
- Noticing the collective effects of our individual actions