Search Results for 'Simone Weil'

People grow less self-aware the more self-absorbed they become. An explanation for this apparent incongruity would be that genuine self-awareness entails the overcoming or transcendence of the self. The principle of self-denial, so foundational to Buddhism or asceticism more broadly, exemplifies this ancient piece of wisdom. Enlightenment demands a degree of perspective or proportion that brings with it an eclipse of the self and invites a humbling and liberating self-awareness.

Almost 2,000 years ago, the Roman philosopher Seneca addressed many of the same difficulties and flukes of fate with which we are now ourselves grappling.