Alienation is essentially experiencing the world and oneself passively, receptively, as the subject separated from the object.
—Erich Fromm—
The goal of our spiritual quest is to put ourselves back together, reintegrating the self that acts and the self that observes. To be split is to be in pain. We feel our inner separation as a wound, and we try to dull our pain with frantic or self-destructive methods.
The pain won’t yield to pleasure nor to danger or violence. These sensational methods leave us as alienated as we were before. We seek wholeness, and we’ll achieve it only by surrendering to our sense of a reality beyond ourselves. Whatever we choose to call the great oneness, we must acknowledge it as a higher power or we’ll continue to suffer the anguish if alienation. Achieving serenity is a lifelong process. While we have this goal in view, our efforts will be unified and our attention not easily distracted by setbacks. Today I’ll resolve to focus on my spiritual goal and let it heal me.