Union with God requires retaining a separate self to make the union meaningful

Evidence

But in spite of this, in order to give this fusion any significance whatever, he must preserve some sort of self-existence, some sort of personal counter, a differentiated ego, for whom the absorption in this divine all-being is a never ending task. It is a process that neither would be possible metaphysically, nor could be felt religiously, if it did not start from the existence of the individual: to be one with God is conditioned in its very significance by being other than God. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 182

Categorization

• XREF: The paradox of absorption requiring a distinct self parallels the observer who must remain outside to witness at all; relevant to Lofland’s outsider-as-witness theme. — connects to: Ubuntu personhood defines the self only through communal relation — , The Rod and the Child: A Global History…, 4252; Christian eternal-soul doctrine unites extreme individualism with universal equality — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 693

Broader Connections

• Ubuntu personhood defines the self only through communal relation #corroborates (0.70) — , The Rod and the Child, 4252
• Christian eternal-soul doctrine unites extreme individualism with universal equality #complicates (0.40) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 693