To
live consciously you must have the courage to go inside yourself to find
out who you really are, to understand that behind all of the masks of
individual differences you are a being of beauty, of love, of awareness.
When Christ said, “The kingdom of heaven is within” he wasn’t just
putting you on. When Buddha said, “Each person is the Buddha,” he was
saying the same thing. Until you can allow your own beauty, your own
dignity, your own being, you cannot free another.
So if I were giving people one instruction, I would say work on
yourself. Have compassion for yourself. Allow yourself to be beautiful
and all the rest will follow.
- Ram Dass -