A smile can change the world

"When someone has a tendency of causing sorrow, know that they are under an influence. Let your attitude be merciful, so that not only will you be unaffected by it, but also increase the possibility of transformation in them"

There is a certain someone I happen to know, and he is perhaps the "archetype" of arrogance and rudeness. I always wonder why is that so. Initially I always felt that he is just a crack head and should be ignored. I even felt angry every time he opened his mouth, at times even rage! But I always felt bad for him. Eventually I realised that many people feel the same about him. Some even hate him. As the time passed, however, and I got to know this stranger better, I couldn't help but notice this behaviour as an obvious defence mechanism he had created for himself. It was still a game of speculation but I was sure by then that what he does is only there to cover his weak inside which is so vulnerable to the unfair world. Some people just are quite tender and have a weak heart. Realising this, I decided that I will always be nice to him regardless of what he says or does to me. I was sceptical in the beginning but then I could see this work. He opened up bit by bit. One day he came and sat next to me and said he was sorry if he ever hurt me. I was surprised but then I was happy too. He couldn't control himself and began to cry. Never having seen a guy cry like this before did put me in a bit of a messy position but it was all for good. His own good I suppose. He said he didn't enjoy behaving like this. In fact he never even realised he was being bad until someone reacted differently to his behaviour. It gave him a chance to introspect. The reason he closed himself in this imaginary cocoon is because it made him feel less vulnerable as hardly anybody then approached him. He had been terribly heart broken in the past, for many different reasons and this made him believe everyone is bad.

I guess being a part of this race, and being so very social, it's everyone's job to make people feel loved and accepted. It doesn't cost us a penny. Plus you get to make people smile. Now going back to the thought for today above, such an influence can negate any previous conditionings which may exist in people's hearts. We cram too many emotion based conditionings inside...layers upon layers of them, which we can't even remove. One good thought can create a safe haven within the collective consciousness, just like a drop of pure water can make a clear area in a jug full of ink. Imagine innumerable such tiny clearings in our consciousness...how nice would we all feel? I am sure most of us, if not all of us would know such people who are controlled by their conditionings perhaps including ourselves. Just once, if we smile at them or speak kind words to them, it would make so much difference. I refuse to believe we are bad. Inherently, we are all pure and good. This reminds me of the 'hundredth monkey' phenomenon. It's very intriguing. But that, for the next post. Until then, keep smiling. Spread the joy. Life is too short to hate.

The three dimensions of reality

I mentioned this in one of my earlier posts and thought it's better to finally refer back to it. Just a quick reminder though, this blog is just to share my thoughts, or rather a bin for my cognitive waste...so whether to ignore or recycle it is up to you lot who will read it. Don't take my word for it. Anyhow, so talking about reality, if we observe carefully, it has three perceivable dimension. Special emphasis on perceivable. There may be or perhaps quite surely are other dimensions to it which are beyond the scope of our understanding. We saw how reality is linked to thoughts. So the first dimension is mental. When you think a "thought", having a certain subject, it manifests into reality in your mental plane. When you express that thought using one of your five sense organs, it is converted into what we could call as the subjective reality. This dimension refers the reality being subjective in nature, attached to the personality of the one who expresses it. If I say what I think, my manner of expression will be subjective to myself, in terms of my character, my life experiences, my conditionings, etc. In this dimension, reality is still in a state of flux. It may or may not convert into the third dimension which is objective reality. Objective reality is what has a fixed net effect and value. I know it sounds like maths but the point is, objective reality is fixed. It cannot be changed back to the previous versions or converted into anything else. It is just there. It's effects can be measured objectively by those who perceive this reality.

A good example might be that of a murderer. This person thinks in his mind of committing a murder. This is a mental reality. Real only in his mind. When he shares his thoughts, he expresses them using his motivations which may be driven by one of the three modes of material nature (in this case passion). This is subjective reality. It's effects will only be linked to that person. Whether he actually commits the crime or not is still in his control. If he decides to finally do it, then he converts this kind of reality into the fixed objective reality. Nothing can then change it or it's consequences.

You must be thinking, what's the point of all this brain gym? Well it may or may not matter to the most. But if our goal is purification of our being, then it is essential to be aware of this principle. If a bad thought comes up in our mind, remember its still real, albeit on a mental plane. Real nonetheless. The crime has already been committed on our mental plane and we start accruing the karma for it. If we don't nip it in the bud, it becomes subjective reality and along with it the intensity of the karma being accrued rises. Finally if we still can't control it, then we make it an unchanging fact and the result is a full blown equal and opposite reaction to this action. An objective reality. Our aim must be to make sure that only healthy, positive and righteous thoughts reach this dimension of reality. All the rest must be gotten rid of. ASAP!! We may still be liable to face consequences, but then it's better to suffer for a bad thought than a bad deed. Of course, only until we reach a state where no bad thought ever crops up in our minds. Not many are fortunate enough to have reached there but we must all strive for it nonetheless.

There's my penny worth of intellectual trapeze for you. Hope it makes sense.