I never saw an ugly thing in my life, for let the form of an object be what it may—light, shade, and perspective will always make it beautiful. ~ John Constable, English landscape painter, 1776–1837
What do you see?
Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard tells an interesting story about two of his friends during the monsoon season at his monastery in Nepal. He was sitting on the monastery steps as the two friends approached. Because the courtyard had turned into a muddy mess, the monks had created a path with bricks across the mud.
The first friend complained about every brick as she crossed over the courtyard to the monastery. She said, “Yuck! What if I’d fallen into that filthy muck? Everything’s so dirty in this country!”
Since they were good friends, Matthieu simply nodded, hoping that would comfort her.
Then the second friend crossed over the courtyard’s brick path, singing as she hopped from brick to brick. When she reached Matthieu, still sitting on the steps, she said, “What fun! The great thing about the monsoon is that there’s no dust.”
Two people in the same situation, seeing two different realities. There are over 7 billion people on this planet today. That equals over 7 billion different realities. Fascinating thought, isn’t it?
Spirit
It is only in respecting and honoring the perspectives of others that you will ever create harmony among your brothers and sisters. That does not mean you must abandon your own values and beliefs. But it does mean it behooves you to listen to others without judgement or condemnation.
You are, after all, in this game of life together. None of you intended, nor did your Creator intend, for everyone to always agree with everybody else. As you say, variety is the spice of life.
Honor the variety, the differences. Honor one another, love one another as you would have others honor and love you.
Then you will be at peace when others’ perspectives, others’ realities clash with yours. Then your world will be at peace.
That is your true work, each one of you—to use your own unique talents to create the love and peace you say you want in your chaotic world. That is the only way you will replace the chaotic world with a peaceful world.
Once you have achieved that, your work is done.
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Copyright © 2016 by John Cali
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I hope this beautiful short video on facing life’s inevitable challenges inspires you as much as it did me.
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What other subjects would you like us to talk about in these posts? Please email me.
Ron B.
The video is a fine description of ¨ Free Will ¨ and how it is meant to be applied to create not only our realities but plain old variety which is the spice of life for the ¨afterlife¨ which is really part and parcel of this and all evolutionary life. Pep, it Is a different perspective than the one my parents taught me, lol.
Brings back memories, with some effort, of Peter Falk in Wings of Desire, a fine German film originally called Angel Over Berlin if memory isn´t playing tricks on me after so many years. That is where my perspective was altered. Great stuff!
John Cali
Thanks very much, Ron. I think many of us, including me, now have perspectives different from what our parents taught us. That’s a good thing. 🙂
Karen Lee Samson
John,
What a thoughtful story…upon first glance at picture I saw two fish swimming, yet as I looked at it for a moment more I saw a beautiful child smiling. The story certainly revealed to me things are not always as they first appear. Also regardless of going through good or bad situations, we are further encouraged from our heart to handle the situations in life with our positive outlook for we can not change what has happened yet we can choose how we will respond to each situation in life…
I have dusted myself off many times in life’s experiences, remaining joyful inside my heart…because that is one thing I control…my joy, my love, my knowing that life is not always as it seems. It is all growth, these life experiences….taking us to further, deeper awareness of knowing ourselves and remembering we are here for each other, embracing the positive of life’s experiences is a joyful way to live, in my humble opinion. Your stories are quite thought provoking. Have a Happy Thanksgiving! I sure am thankful for you my friend, and many more.
John Cali
Thanks very much, Karen, for your thoughtful comments. I remember something Deepak Chopra once said, as an affirmation, “Everything I desire is within me.” You have a Happy Thanksgiving too, my dear! I am thankful for you also.