Be Nobody

While reading How Can I help this entire time, I’ve been contemplating a lesson that he teaches in my mind. That lesson is to be a “nobody” when helping a person. The “nobody” seems to be the ideal person that we want to help out others. He is an intent listener, a sympathetic sufferer, and above all, a person who is help instead of a helper.

One of the main problems encountered in helping a person is suggested by Dass as a need to label or “define” a specific situation: “A situation defined is a situation confined.” (Dass, 122) By doing this, we are consequently restricting ourselves to the roles of the “helper” and “helped,” both of which should be avoided. (Dass, 124-125)

One cannot become a “nobody” when they take on a specific role.

Escaping Confinement.

My idea of a “nobody” in terms of help mirrors Dass’ description of “the witness.” The witness (though ironically given a label) seems to be the closet thing one can do in “opening ourselves to the fullness of humanity.” (Dass, 140) The witness is devoid of selfishness and ego. He is a compassionate companion. And when we reach this “witness” level of humanity, Dass suggests that our most valuable qualities surface, allowing us to become help better.

Although it is almost unfeasible to become the witness model, I realized that the most we can do is simply accept our roles but not entirely. When we become doctors, lawyers, teachers, or even crab fishermen, it is essential that we do not fall into the “trap” of saying that “we are just a _________” when met with a person who requires help. While we accept our roles in society, we must also see past them when helping people and become nobody.

“The challenge, then, the opportunity really, is to accept the roles in order to cut through them, and to cut through them in order to be able to participate in them without entrapment.” (Dass, 148)