Drop vs. Ocean: Observer vs. Dancer

In order to be inspiring, you must be inspired.

In order to bring joy, you must find joy yourself.

You cannot light another candle if you yourself are not lit.

I think that what I understand as the Buddhist state of awareness, the “you” that is observing your mind, is kind of the opposite of, or a different form of, the “you” when you have lost yourself in a Dionysian state of ecstasy.

The “you” that is observing is very aware, very crystalline, very individual. It is the very pure “you” that is an individual drop in a body of water.

The “you” that is lost in ecstasy is like the “you” that is part of an ocean. You can be taken out of the ocean and be an individual drop, but when you are in the ocean, you are riding along with it and can feel the full benefit and danger of its power.

As water, I suppose, you can be both.