I recall the words of a wise sage from India who said, "What you are, the world is." And to this we have to add, "What the world is, is what you are." This is to see things in a way that dissolves the opposition between ourselves and the "world." The "world" is "what we are." The world is not something outside of us, something that we view as mere bystanders, lamenting its sorrows and evils. No, what happens to the whole world as such is what happens to our very own True Selves. The sickness of the world is our very own sickness. This is the sickness of the bodhisattvas; it is a sickness that is also the hope and salvation of all living beings. In Christian terms it is the reality of the cross of Christ, the bearer of the sufferings of the world.
— Ruben L. F. Habito, Living Zen, Loving God