This is a curated selection of Sherri Mitchell quotes on the illusion of separation (personally curated by me on my own lifelong learning journey).
This page is intended as a learning resource for educational purposes and only meant to offer an overview/introduction. Short quotes aren’t a substitute for source material, so if this page sparks your interest, explore more deeply by checking out Sherri Mitchell’s book Sacred Instructions: Indigenous Wisdom for Living Spirit-Based Change:
Indigenous Wisdom on the Illusion of Separation (Sherri Mitchell Summary)
For years now, I’ve been saying the ​meta-crisis is a me-crisis​ and that the root of the meta-crisis is separation. So, it was refreshing to hear Sherri Mitchell come to the same conclusion in the video above:
- “We have a crisis of consciousness in this country … This illusion that we have of being separated from one another is something that I wrote about in Sacred Instructions. In my mind, that is the key moment of demarcation for the human species. If such a thing exists, that is the ‘original sin’. When human beings started to see themselves as ‘other’—the moment that they took themselves out of the garden by believing that they were somehow separate from the rest of the beings that lived within the natural world—that is the moment when we began to go off track as a species … We can’t become all of who we are in the world if we don’t heal the illusion of separation that has been ingrained within us … We are misaligned with life, and we’re trying to find normalcy in a system that has consistently moved us further and further away from our alignment with life. There is no normalcy within that. It’s madness … You’ve forgotten how to walk with the sacred. It’s not your fault. It’s embedded into the cultural reality that you’ve been raised up in—that forgetting … The way that we wake up is to realize that we have this urgent need to decolonize our minds.” — Sherri Mitchell
To go deeper, I read some sections of her book ​Sacred Instructions: Indigenous Wisdom for Living Spirit-Based Change​. Here are some highlights…
On the myth of separation and individualism:
- “The myth of separation is at the heart of the lies that we’ve been fed, and it supports all of the power structures that we have created. This illusion causes us to forget that we are connected to one another and to a divine source, which is embodied through us and put into action in the world around us. When we forget this truth, and embrace the lie, it becomes possible for us to be at war with one another, and to be at war within ourselves. Over the last two millennia, the illusion of separation has been wrapped up in numerous ideological disguises. One of those disguises is the Western idea of rugged individualism. Here, the lie is cloaked in romantic stories about conquering the frontier. This leads us to believe that success is measured by our ability to plow through any obstacle to obtain personal wealth and recognition for our accomplishments, at all costs. This belief supports the framework for endless cycles of competition, judgment, and condemnation. As a result, we have become isolated inside our individualized lives, cut off from one another, disconnected from the natural world, and unresponsive to the calls of the divine. We have stopped caring for one another; we have forgotten that we belong to one another, and that we are responsible for one another’s well-being. This forgetting has become a very real threat to our survival as human beings.” — Sherri Mitchell
On the existential threat:
- “The outgoing state of consciousness has been filled with the illusions of the false self. Within this state of mind, we have been driven by empty and meaningless distractions that feed our separateness; we have been consumed by endless struggles with false power; we have been blinded by our belief that human beings are separate from and superior to nature; and we have been oblivious to our unrestrained destruction of the Earth. In this state of consciousness, we have become imprisoned by our own illusions, and enslaved by our obedience to warped systems of power that are upheld by legal fictions that bind us to heartless machines of annihilation. We have been subjugated and oppressed, because we have lost sight of our innate and collective power. The state of consciousness that we have been operating in is spiritually bankrupt, and it is destined for ruin. If it remains unchecked, it will lead to the extinction of our species, untold damage to the creatures of the natural world, and potentially to the destruction of the planet.” — Sherri Mitchell
On the truth of interconnectedness:
- “The illusion of separation has prevented us from unifying for millennia, using fear and superstition to create shadows and divisions … The illusion’s unending quest for validation pushed us to explore every inch of the world in which we live, continually breaking it down into smaller pieces, searching for the proof of our separateness … Instead, we have discovered that there is no distinction or separation in our world, or even anything permanent for the illusion to hold onto … The only constant that exists is the interwoven flow of consciousness that animates all life. It is the movement of that flow that carries us along and ties us all together. We are all moving as one stream of consciousness in a flowing river. We can’t stop the flow or separate ourselves from it; all we can do is choose the direction of the current through our collective choices. Together, we have floated through the illusion of separation, and now we are slowly moving back toward the truth of our interconnectedness.” — Sherri Mitchell
On awareness and observation:
- “Our challenge is to remember all of who we are. We begin this process by expanding our awareness to include the entire creation … Everyone possesses the same ability to shed their illusion and see the world as a unified whole, simply by expanding their awareness … When we allow ourselves to become the observer, we see life in a whole new way. There is no more right or wrong, no obligation or expectation, no commitment or entitlement. There is only the thread of life, rising, moving, and returning to source. There is only the expression of life, coming to know itself and seeking to transform itself into something new. This awareness releases us from our old stories and allows us to live our lives fully present and completely free. When we live our lives connected to source, we realize that there is no separation, no limit; there is only boundless possibility and endless truth.” — Sherri Mitchell
On awakening and rebirth:
- “We must wake from this illusion and put an end to the madness that is driving us … We have been waiting for the illusion to fall away and for truth to reawaken in the hearts and minds of humanity … Every awakening is a rebirth. We are born and reborn repeatedly throughout our lives. We are born from the divine consciousness into our mother’s womb. And from our mother’s womb we are born into the Earth. Then we are born again and again, from within ourselves, breaking through layer after layer of illusion, until we are finally able to transcend those illusions and be reintegrated back into the divine consciousness. What we are in the midst of right now is another awakening, another rebirth.” — Sherri Mitchell
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