1 John 2:9 · World English Bible
1 John 2:9 Meaning He Who Says He Is
He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in the darkness even until now.
What does 1 John 2:9 mean?
You may believe you have awakened, that you live in the light of awareness, but watch what happens when resentment toward another rises in you. If you hate your brother, you are still in darkness, whatever you claim, because hatred is the ego at work, the mind clinging to grievance and division.
From the Ego v. Being reading below.
1 John 2:9 through 1 lens
The same verse, read by one tradition.
Ego v. Being
EGO & BEING
Ego v. Being
You may believe you have awakened, that you live in the light of awareness, but watch what happens when resentment toward another rises in you. If you hate your brother, you are still in darkness, whatever you claim, because hatred is the ego at work, the mind clinging to grievance and division.
Light and hatred cannot occupy the same space within you. The moment you make another person into an enemy, you have identified with the reactive mind and lost the presence you imagined you possessed. Real awakening shows itself not in your words about light, but in whether you can meet others without the darkness of judgment.
Ego v. Being lensGo deeper in the app
Ego v. Being lens
Live 1 John 2:9 today
- Think of the person you most want to be wrong right now. Sit with how it feels in your body to hold that, and see whether it feels anything like light.
- Reply to one message today from someone who irritates you, plainly and without the little dig you were going to include. Let the dig stay unsent.
- When someone cuts you off in traffic or talks over you in a meeting, catch the moment you turn them into an enemy. That instant is where you lose the calm you thought you had.
Who am I still carrying as an enemy, and what is it costing me to keep them there?
The same truth in other traditions
Dhammapada
Holding on to he hurt me, she wronged me keeps the hurt alive in you. Let the thought go and the suffering goes with it.
Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius said the best revenge is to not be like your enemy. The moment you hate them you have handed them your inner state.
Tao Te Ching 49
The wise meet the good and the not so good the same way, without making one of them into an enemy. The division was never out there.
Free · No account needed
Read all of 1 John 2 through 17 lenses
Lensightful opens every verse of the Bible through the traditions you choose. Save readings, ask a follow-up question, and get one verse a day.
Get Lensightful on the App Store