“In a deep metaphysical sense, all that is conditioned is illusory. All phenomena are literally ‘appearances,’ the outer masks in which the One Reality shows itself forth in our changing universe. The more ‘material’ and solid the appearance, the further is it from reality, and therefore the more illusory it is.”
-Annie Besant
Kabir – The couplet
उज्जवल देखि न दीजिये, बग ज्यों मंडई ध्यान ।
धौरे बैठी चाप्टेसि, यूं ले बुड़इ ज्ञान ॥
Transliterated:
Ujjwal Dekhi Na Dijiye, Bag Jyu Maandai Dhyaan |
Dhoure Baithi Chaptesi, Yoo Le Budai Gyaan ||
Translation:
Do not see white and presume pure, even the heron is white|
The heron fools fish into becoming food, the mind can fool the unwary ||
My understanding:
We think we observe and see things, people, the world and our environment as it is. What we always ignore is that all of our sight and other sensory input is filtered through the layers of our experience, learning and understanding.
For example, when we see a flower, even before we have really seen it, we are already labeling it in our mind, comparing it to our database of other information, and trying to find descriptions and tags to best catalog it in our mental spaces.
Since we depend so very much on our past learning to help us parse, understand and use the input we receive from the senses, we have left little room to allow the full nature of the input to impinge on us. Our conditioning forces us to give up innocence in favor of experience, and the joy of receiving in favor of utility value and perceived benefits.
When all input is thus filtered through these multifarious lenses, we seem jaded, unable to truly experience the continuous flow of bliss and contentment that creation is bequeathing us. And then we complain that there is no joy left to experience.
So stop trying to label and identify, re-awaken your true innocence, and see the bounty you receive for what it truly is, not what you perceive it to be.