Perception Is Everything
Dear friends,
The pain in our lives is caused by our misperceptions. The mind naturally goes to extremes when we hear things like this, but let's stay in the realm of the infinitely more common for now. The “Do you mean to tell me...?!” questions can come later while we first deal with realistic things that affect us every minute of every day.
Suppose someone gives you a small book one day, but for some odd reason you think it's a new phone. You are a bit frustrated it does not work, try to "repair" it, and then complain about how unkind your friend was to give you a broken piece of equipment. Um... Er... The problem is that it is not a phone! If you think it is, a number of feelings, emotions, and judgments immediately get triggered. You may even get mad at God for giving you such lousy friends and bad phones! The world is so unfair!
Each of us has some root misperceptions (or misbeliefs) that are the major source of our troubles. We think we need people to like us. We think we need a better job, relationship, financial situation, or what have you. It is not that these things are not important to our lives, but our consciousness is actually remarkably more independent of these things than we think.
We all know that there are some people who seem to have everything and are either not satisfied, or actively unhappy. There are others who, given their circumstances, leave us wondering how they even get out of bed in the morning, but always look great. It is not the circumstances that make us happy, but our response to the circumstances. Fortunately we are all able to do better than how we came into this life. You are born with a certain body, but if you work out every day you can make it healthier and stronger. So too with consciousness. Our natural body and our natural consciousness are sub-optimal. But if we read the instruction manual and find a good fitness trainer, both can be amazingly improved.
May we each find the strength to turn inward and work towards self-mastery, avoiding the desire to blame circumstances and others for how we are feeling and being.
Blessings,
David G., manager
For the staff at East West