John 9:9 · World English Bible
John 9:9 Meaning Others Were Saying
Others were saying, “It is he.” Still others were saying, “He looks like him.” He said, “I am he.”
What does John 9:9 mean?
The others quarrel over recognition. Is this the same man, or only someone who resembles him?
From the Ego v. Being reading below.
John 9:9 through 1 lens
The same verse, read by one tradition.
Ego v. Being
EGO & BEING
Ego v. Being
The others quarrel over recognition. Is this the same man, or only someone who resembles him? They are lost in the world of form, where identity means appearance, memory, and the story of a person.
But he does not defend his story or plead his case. He answers from the simple ground of Being: I am he. There is a knowing in you that needs no proof and does not depend on whether anyone recognizes your face or your past. When you rest in that presence, other people's confusion about who you are can no longer trouble you, because your sense of being yourself no longer comes from the outside.
Ego v. Being lensGo deeper in the app
Ego v. Being lens
Live John 9:9 today
- If you post something and start refreshing for reactions, put the phone down and go do one plain thing, dishes, a walk, a glass of water. Let yourself exist for ten minutes without a count.
- When someone misremembers you, or treats you like the person you were five years ago, answer simply and without defending yourself. You can be at ease even when their picture of you is out of date.
- In a meeting where credit goes to the wrong person, feel the heat rise and let it pass through without a speech. State the facts later if they matter, but not from the need to be seen.
How much of my calm today depended on someone else's view of me?
The same truth in other traditions
Stoicism · Epictetus
What other people think of you is not yours to control, so it cannot be where your peace lives. Hold lightly to reputation and tightly to how you actually are.
Zhuangzi
The truly settled person is not lifted by praise or dented by blame. Both are weather, and neither one is the sky.
Advaita Vedanta · Ashtavakra Gita
You are the awareness in which your body, name, and past appear. None of those can tell you what you are, because they all show up inside you.
Free · No account needed
Read all of John 9 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