Individuality Is an Illusion

“How to Build a Life” is a weekly column by Arthur Brooks, tackling questions of meaning and happiness.

In the Old Testament, God often communicates with His people through violent events: floods, plagues, wars. But not in the story of Elijah. As the prophet waited for God’s message to him, there was a wind so strong that it “broke the rocks in pieces,” but God was not there. Nor was He in an earthquake, or a fire. Rather, He came to Elijah in a “still small voice,” which compelled Elijah to draw near, so he could hear it.

We might call this the paradox of prophecy: Many of the most profound truths come not in shouting and scandal but, rather, in a whisper. In our noisy world, they are easily missed or dismissed.

A living example of this paradox comes from Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the 14th Dalai