gtse really meant by it. "Your individuality is not
your own, but the delegated adaptability of God."--There is a
certain position in the Scheme of Things Entire,--a point, with a
relation of its own to the rest of the Scheme, to the Universe;--
as the red line has a relation of its own to the rest of the
spectrum and the ray of light as a whole..... From that point,
from that position, there is a work to be done, which can be done
from no other. The Lonely Eternal looks out through these eyes,
because it must see all things; and there are things no eyes can
see but these, no other hands do. This point is an infinitesimal
part of the whole; but without its full and proper functioning,
the Whole falls short in that much:--because of your or my petty
omissions, the Universe limps and goes lame.--Into this position,
as into all others impartially, the One Life which is Tao flows,
adapting itself through aeons to the relations which that point
bears to the Whole: and the result and the process of this
adaptation is--your individuality or mine.

_You_ are not the point, the position: because it is merely that
which you hold and through which you function; it is yours, but
not you. What then are _you?_ That which occupies and adapts
itself to the point? But that is Tao, the Universal. You can
only say it is you, if from _you_ you subtract all _you_-ness.
Your individuality, then, is a temporary aspect of Tao in a
certain relation to the totality of Tao, the One Thing which is
the No Thing:--or it is the "delegated adaptability of God."

How and wherein adaptable?--The Infinite, occupying this
position, has formed therein all sorts of attachments and
dislikes; and each one of them hinders it adaptability. Your
surroundings have reflected themselves on you: and the sum of
the reflexions is your personality,--the little cage of I-am-ness
from which it is so hard to escape. Every reflected image
engraves itself on the stuff of yourself by the sensation of
attachment or repulsion which it arouses. When it says, "The
One becomes the Two"--which is the way in one form or another all
ancient philosophy sums up the beginning of things;--this is what
is meant: the 'One' is Tao; the 'Two' is this conditioned
world, whose nature and essence is to appear as pairs of
opposites--to be attractive, or to repel. The pigs' point of
view was that it was better to live on bran and escape the
shambles; the Grand Augur's, that th