GoldFish

Express Your Individuality

Express your uniqueness in whatsoever you do. Express your individuality. Let existence be proud of you. Life will not be felt like a drag; it will become a fragrance.

Individuality is exactly what it means: it is individual. Personality is not individual, it is social. Society wants you to have personalities not individualities, because your individualities will create conflict. … The ego is the center of personality and godliness is the center of essence.

From Personality To Individuality

Buddha had to leave the palace just to renounce his personality. He wanted to know himself as he was, not what others were thinking about him. But the father was now looking into his face with the eyes of twelve years ago. He again said to Buddha, “I am your father, I love you — although you have hurt me deeply and have wounded me deeply. I am an old man, and these twelve years have been a torture. You are my only son, and I have somehow tried to live so that you could come back. Now you are back, take charge of the empire, be the king! Now let me rest, it is time for me to rest. You have committed a sin against me, and you have been almost murderous towards me, but I forgive you and my doors are still open.”

Buddha laughed. He said, “Sir, be a little more aware of whom you are talking with. The man who left the palace is no more; he died long ago. I am somebody else – look at me!”

And the father became even more angry. He said, “Do you want to deceive me? I don’t know you? I know you more than you know yourself! I am your father, I have given birth to you, in your blood my blood circulates — and I don’t know you?”

Buddha said, “Still I pray, sir…. You have certainly given birth to me. I came through you, that’s true, but you were only a vehicle. And just because somebody has come riding on a horse, it does not mean that the horse knows the rider. I have passed through the doors of your body, but that does not mean that you know me. In fact, twelve years ago, even I did not know who I was. Now I know! Look into my eyes. Please forget the past – be here now!”

But the father was incapable. With his old eyes, full of tears of anger and joy, he could not see what had happened to Buddha. “What nonsense is he talking about, that he has died and is reborn, that he is a totally different individuality? That he is no more a personality, that he is an individuality?”

In dictionaries, “personality” and “individuality” are synonyms. They are not synonymous in life. The personality is false, a pretension, a facade. Individuality is your truth.

Why do we want many many people to give attention to us? Why do we hanker for this? To create personality. And the more personality you create around yourself, the less is the possibility of knowing your individuality.