Masks

The analogy of the "mask" is coming up often in the book I am reading by Paul Selig.

   The symbolic mask, as used by the small self, has the purpose of keeping one separate and protected from all others. The symbolic mask is the mask of personality, what you wish to show the  world, what the small self wants to be seen as. It has many labels that we give ourselves or are given by others, that we agree to. The mother, the brother, the man who sits on the bench, the crazy person, the banker, the lawyer, the woman with the funny looking dog.... The idea of the mask is a great analogy in this time of facemask wearing, due to the pandemic. The soul knows no mask and is free, is always free. When you are told to wear a facemask, unless you realize that your real and eternal freedom can never be take away, you will feel and react according to your history - small self's history, including your culture, your beliefs and everything that has shaped your idea of your self in this world. In countries where certain freedoms are taken as a given, you may feel insulted and infringed upon to be told to wear a facemask. Your soul knows only freedom, but if you don't know this, there may be a conflict in what your soul knows, and what your small self thinks. Your reaction may be overblown due to the passion of knowing and feeling on a whole other level. Once you realize that the body is not who and what you truly are, and that your freedom is eternal, you can calm down and see the facemask as a symbol of co-operation rather that a symbol of separation or oppression.