How We See Things

Earlier this week, there was an incident in the Tour de France between the two top guys that kicked up a lot of conversation and debate.  Amongst all the heated comments that folks were posting online, one person made the brilliant (and obvious) observation that everyone who liked the one guy to begin with was on his side and everyone who like the other guy was on his side.  Of course!  We all see things the way we see them because that is how we are looking at them. 

If you have never watched one of The Yes Men movies, I recommend it.  They are fantastic hoaxsters who tell the truth by impersonating people from gigantic corporations and saying things they would never say.  The amazing thing about what they do is that they are trying to shock people awake, but the people they are talking to are often so entrenched in their perspective that they don’t hear what they are saying (the way I hear what they are saying).  We watched The Yes Men Fix the World last night and it struck me that it is the same thing as the cycling fans.  People already know what they believe and what is important to them, so they hear what they hear based on that.

 I have been having the experience this week of feeling sad, sort of disappointed and frustrated, and have noticed that when I think something is a problem, suddenly everything that happens is evidence of what a problem it is.  I see everything in a way that fits into my view.  (If you really think about this it can make your brain feel weird).  I guess this blog post is about satya, truthfulness.  How can we even practice truthfulness?  How can I practice being in reality, when all I know is what my reality is?  It would seem like acknowledging that my reality is not everyone’s reality or even anyone’s reality is a good place to start.

I have only read a couple chapters of Daniel Siegel’s new book, The Mindful Therapist, and so far he has talked a lot about being able to move toward a place of possibilities.  (I don’t really need to say here that this is my own view at this moment in time of what I have read).  He’s basically saying that being present means being open to all the possibilities that exist in a given moment.  I think in Buddhism this is called emptiness—that any moment is full of infinite potential.

So, as a conditioned human, I am bound to take a limited perspective.  But knowing that allows me to step back and widen my view if I choose to.  And when I take that wider view, it seems I am closer to “what is” or satya.  One way of thinking about spiritual practice is that we are moving toward freedom.  Hanging on to my limited view clearly doesn’t provide as much freedom as infinite possibilities.