--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Once we erase ourselves, then there's no…" description: "\"Once we erase ourselves, then there's no eraser. There never was anyone to erase. We've awakened from the dream and the dream has faded.\" — Frederick Lenz" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c26/frederick-lenz-8_awakened_once-we-erase-ourselves-then-there-s-no_966171.jpg" --- # Once we erase ourselves, then there's no eraser. There… ![“Once we erase ourselves, then there's no eraser. There never was anyone to erase. We've awakened from the dream and the dream has faded.” quote by Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c26/frederick-lenz-8_awakened_once-we-erase-ourselves-then-there-s-no_966171.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c26/frederick-lenz-8_awakened_once-we-erase-ourselves-then-there-s-no_966171.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c26/frederick-lenz-8_awakened_once-we-erase-ourselves-then-there-s-no_966171.jpg) > “Once we erase ourselves, then there's no eraser. There never was anyone to erase. We've awakened from the dream and the dream has faded.” [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Recognizing that the self is an illusion, and that clinging to identity prevents true awakening. **In simple terms:** The self is an illusion; letting go leads to awakening. Key Takeaway Release attachment to self. Themes self awakening illusion spirituality Mood contemplative reflective Type philosophical spiritual When to use this quote - meditation - psychotherapy - spiritual retreats - creative expression Key Concepts non-duality mindfulness ego dissolution Questions to Reflect On - How does letting go of identity affect daily decisions? - What practices help you experience non-self? A Different Perspective The concept of a self can be useful for personal agency and social interaction. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Yoga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yoga/) ## Related quotes > [In Nirvana, it is you, my friend, who goes away. You take an eraser and erase yourself. It's like the Road Runner cartoons where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/in-nirvana-it-is-you-my-friend-who-goes-away-you-take-an-eraser-and/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“That person, I can't remember who it was right now, who said the pen was mightier that the sword-I thnk they were wrong. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beverley-brenna/that-person-i-can-t-remember-who-it-was-right-now-who-said-the-pen/) Beverley Brenna > [I wished my mind had an eraser. If so, I could erase all the memories of you...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-wished-my-mind-had-an-eraser-if-so-i-could-erase-all-the-memories/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If only there was an eraser to erase off memories! -](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/if-only-there-was-an-eraser-to-erase-off-memories/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [He who knows how to shave the razor, will know how to erase the eraser.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-michaux/he-who-knows-how-to-shave-the-razor-will-know-how-to-erase-the-eraser/) [Henri Michaux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-michaux/) > [An old man said Eraser are made For those who make MISTAKES. A youth replied Erasers are made for those who are willing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/echoyan/an-old-man-said-eraser-are-made-for-those-who-make-mistakes-a-youth/) EchoYan > [All that Hubert needs over there is a gal to answer the phone and a pencil with an eraser on it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/all-that-hubert-needs-over-there-is-a-gal-to-answer-the-phone-and-a/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [No one is perfect, thats why pencils have erasers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/no-one-is-perfect-thats-why-pencils-have-erasers/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [The only useful thing I ever learned in school was that if you spit on your eraser it erased ink.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/the-only-useful-thing-i-ever-learned-in-school-was-that-if-you-spit/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [On my desk, I always have a lemon or a lime drying. I love the fragrance. Also, a Staedtler eraser, a brush for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maira-kalman/on-my-desk-i-always-have-a-lemon-or-a-lime-drying-i-love-the/) [Maira Kalman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maira-kalman/) > [Nothing in a graduate degree in art history prepares you for the eloquence of the eraser.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/nothing-in-a-graduate-degree-in-art-history-prepares-you-for-the/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [The best design tool is a long eraser with a pencil at one end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marty-neumeier/the-best-design-tool-is-a-long-eraser-with-a-pencil-at-one-end/) [Marty Neumeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marty-neumeier/) > [My heart is a colored pencil but my brain is an eraser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-watsky/my-heart-is-a-colored-pencil-but-my-brain-is-an-eraser/) [George Watsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-watsky/) > [You can't live life without an eraser.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-peters/you-can-t-live-life-without-an-eraser/) [Tom Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-peters/) > [You can use an eraser on the drafting table or a sledge hammer on the construction site.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lloyd-wright/you-can-use-an-eraser-on-the-drafting-table-or-a-sledge-hammer-on-the/) [Frank Lloyd Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lloyd-wright/) ## More by Frederick Lenz > [There are places that are very draining. There are places where there is another dimensional crossover but to a dimension that is not powerful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/there-are-places-that-are-very-draining-there-are-places-where-there/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You can draw power from everything in your life. In order to do that, everything has to be set up in a proper way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-can-draw-power-from-everything-in-your-life-in-order-to-do-that/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Everyone will admire you when you do well. What a horrible thing to do to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everyone-will-admire-you-when-you-do-well-what-a-horrible-thing-to-do/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Nirvana is a word that means enlightenment, being beyond the illusion of birth and death, the illusion of pain, the illusion of love, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/nirvana-is-a-word-that-means-enlightenment-being-beyond-the-illusion/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I think the most miraculous thing is learning. I get out of the way and let the students learn. Then you get to watch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-think-the-most-miraculous-thing-is-learning-i-get-out-of-the-way/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [If you choose to draw from the inner well of free will, then you can make choices that are outside your current karmic patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-choose-to-draw-from-the-inner-well-of-free-will-then-you-can/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [A human being can only absorb a small amount of the mystical kundalini, you can be exposed again and again to it, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-human-being-can-only-absorb-a-small-amount-of-the-mystical/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Enlightened people live in very charged states of attention, with a tremendous power circuiting through them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/enlightened-people-live-in-very-charged-states-of-attention-with-a/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Only alone can you go into eternity. Only alone can you feel the transcendental light. It is not a shared experience because if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/only-alone-can-you-go-into-eternity-only-alone-can-you-feel-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The sound man, immune as to a sacrifice of straw dogs, faces the passing human generations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-sound-man-immune-as-to-a-sacrifice-of-straw-dogs-faces-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Karma means changing planes of reality or changing fields of attention. There will be perhaps a resulting physical action stemming from the change of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/karma-means-changing-planes-of-reality-or-changing-fields-of/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You and I are both life. There's just the experience of every moment. We like to call them moments. There isn't really such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-and-i-are-both-life-there-s-just-the-experience-of-every-moment/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Why waste your time being around people who drag you down? You don't live forever, at least in this life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/why-waste-your-time-being-around-people-who-drag-you-down-you-don-t/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Everybody here is so caught up in the game of life they don't see death. They don't see beyond their deaths. They are on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everybody-here-is-so-caught-up-in-the-game-of-life-they-don-t-see/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) [Explore all 4,399 Frederick Lenz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) ## More Awakened quotes > [An enlightened awareness is within each one of us, right at this moment. This enlightened awareness is truly unborn and marvellously illuminating; and everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bankei-yotaku/an-enlightened-awareness-is-within-each-one-of-us-right-at-this/) [Bankei Yotaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bankei-yotaku/) > [If your heart isn't yet illumined Be awake always, be a seeker of the heart, Be at war continually with your carnal soul. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/if-your-heart-isn-t-yet-illumined-be-awake-always-be-a-seeker-of-the/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [There’s been a problem, a problem eating away at me from the inside out. I’ve become weak, I’ve shown human compassion, and it has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kane/there-s-been-a-problem-a-problem-eating-away-at-me-from-the-inside/) [Kane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kane/) > [Although all men are born free, slavery has been the general lot of the human race. Ignorant--they have been cheated; asleep--they have been surprised;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/although-all-men-are-born-free-slavery-has-been-the-general-lot-of/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION is a manual and a call to action for awakened patriots who are too intelligent to believe the leftist media lies and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-palin/righteous-indignation-is-a-manual-and-a-call-to-action-for-awakened/) [Sarah Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-palin/) > [Don Quixote followed nature, and being satisfied with his first sleep, did not solicit more. As for Sancho, he never wanted a second, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/don-quixote-followed-nature-and-being-satisfied-with-his-first-sleep/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [When I write about "realizations," I am describing a state in which a practitioner has wisdom of who she or he is, and has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-targ/when-i-write-about-realizations-i-am-describing-a-state-in-which-a/) Russell Targ > [To live a present and awakened life, simply be responsive to the moment. It is very simple. If you are hungry, eat. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-jacobson/to-live-a-present-and-awakened-life-simply-be-responsive-to-the/) [Leonard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-jacobson/) > [I believe that it is truly important for everyone to confront in dialogue the historical reality of the Reformation, its consequences and the responses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/i-believe-that-it-is-truly-important-for-everyone-to-confront-in/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [“The truth is: while it may have been rough getting here, I’ve awakened to a dream. The most incredible man in the world came…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tessa-dawn/the-truth-is-while-it-may-have-been-rough-getting-here-i-ve-awakened/) [Tessa Dawn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tessa-dawn/) > [In our true blissful essence of mind is known that everything is alright forever and forever and forever...listen to the silence inside the illusion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/in-our-true-blissful-essence-of-mind-is-known-that-everything-is/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [At certain times, a silent mind is very important, but 'silent' does not mean closed. The silent mind is an alert, awakened mind; a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thubten-yeshe/at-certain-times-a-silent-mind-is-very-important-but-silent-does-not/) [Thubten Yeshe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thubten-yeshe/) > [In Buddhism, there are three gems: Buddha, the awakened one; Dharma, the way of understanding and loving; and Sangha, the community that lives in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/in-buddhism-there-are-three-gems-buddha-the-awakened-one-dharma-the/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [What portion in the world can the artist have, Who has awakened from the common dream, But dissipation and despair?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/what-portion-in-the-world-can-the-artist-have-who-has-awakened-from/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [The living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/the-living-word-awakened-my-soul-gave-it-light-hope-joy-set-it-free/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) Browse all 330 Awakened quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Once we erase ourselves, then there's no eraser. 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