As you see it

Some young seekers had an audience with a Zen master. They were curious to know how his state of consciousness had been altered by enlightenment. The master told them obliquely, “Before I started the journey, mountains were mountains, trees were trees and rivers were rivers. When I started seeking, mountains stopped being mountains, rivers weren’t rivers, and trees were no more trees. Once I ‘reached’, mountains once again became mountains, trees were trees, and rivers, rivers.”

What had happened? The master was referring to a manner of perceiving. What had changed was not the outer world of mountains, trees or rivers but the inner world of the man. We create our world by the way we view it. Happiness and sorrow are often the result of what we regard as good or bad. Our beliefs, opinions and outlook form the premises by which we arrive at our judgements. Change those premises and you change your world. It happens all the time. Like the Zen master, a child often looks upon his parents as demigods, till perhaps his youth when he notices their flaws and shortcomings, which lead to his disillusionment, even rebellion. A mature adulthood leads to yet another metamorphosis in perception, and parents become worthy of appreciation, if not emulation, again.

When I was 13, I watched Satyajit Ray’s Shatranj ke Khilari, and thought I had wasted my time. I happened to watch it again some years ago and found it a masterpiece! What had changed was my notion of a good movie.
Life is constantly asking us to make judgements, to classify or label things, people, places and decisions as right or wrong, good or bad. From buying a T-shirt to choosing a life partner, we use our perception to make judgements. Our mindset and conditioning act as filters through which we view the world. If the filter is coloured with greed, envy, fear, love or hope, so will the world seem to us. In this sense we create our own world by choosing to retain or reject our filters. So, to change your world, change your mind. Literally!

-Harvinder Kaur

(www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1013393&CatID=19 - 50k; Thursday, February 16, 2006 )