When you wake up from your story, guess what you realize about everybody else? They are not their story. They are spirit, too. And that spirit is totally independent of their story and your story about them. So you not only lose your center, you lose their center, that box you would put them in. You see they are the same. This is why it is said that enlightenment is never a personal matter. You can’t realize you are enlightened and still believe that others aren’t. You can’t see your true nature without seeing the true nature of everything. It is literally impossible. This is a tremendous act of compassion, an act of love.
– Adyashanti, Emptiness Dancing
Yes, that’s true. And there is a slight nuance or wrinkle to it.
To us, it appears that everybody and everything has the same nature as us.
Everything happens within and as what we are, so naturally it appears that their true nature is the same as “my” true nature.
When we check with others, their reports seem to confirm that their true nature – to them – is the same as my true nature to me.
But is it true for everything? Yes, it appears that way. There may be hints, and sometimes a lot of hints, that the true nature of existence is the same as the true nature I find here. But if I am completely honest with myself, can I know for certain? For me, I find it helpful to have the flexibility to acknowledge the validity in both.
Is this important? Yes and no. It doesn’t really matter in a practical sense. But it’s good to be honest about these things. It helps us clarify and differentiate.