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Distortions


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“Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass, stains the white radiance of eternity,” wrote P. B. Shelley.  Life stains our souls without exception.  Right from day one.  When the Buddha defined life as sorrow, he meant nothing else.  Christianity’s original sin means the same.  Every great philosopher knew it: that life stains our souls.  Only Surf Excel could market stains successfully in our own times.  That success owes itself to the plain fact that the detergent shifted the stain successfully from the soul to the clothes.  Not even to the body.  The clothes can be washed easily in the washing machine. 

The real stains lie in the psyche.  “I must win people’s accolades in order to be a worthy person.”  That’s a stain we carry in our psyche.  “I must be fair and lovely if I am to be accepted by the society.”  Stain again.  “I must live up to the expectations of my parents.”  How many stains do we have to carry in order to get on in life?

These are simple cognitive distortions. Stains, in simple words.  Stains given to us by other people.  These stains colour our perceptions.  They distort our perceptions.  They distort reality. 

My neighbour becomes my enemy merely because he belongs to a religion which I have been taught by my parents as the terrorists’ religion.  My classmate becomes abominable merely because the society tells me that he belongs to a particular caste which is beneath my family’s.  

Can you question your assumptions?  Start questioning yourself and you will see a whole new world unfolding before you.  You will be amazed to see how many of your beliefs, including the most sacred religious ones, are just absurd if not insane.  They distort our whole world. 

Distortions.  They have ruled the world ever since man began writing history.  You are free to remove the stained glasses and liberate your soul to the white radiance of eternity.  Your choice, your magic.

PS. #BlogchatterA2Z


Comments

  1. JaiApril 8, 2018 at 8:09 AM

    I like the pun about Surf Excel. From the time we are born we are taught to believe in several things. Society as a whole starts the process of subjugating our minds. I have tried to bring up my daughter trying my best not to allow religious leanings to take over her fertile mind. But in spite of my best efforts she came to me one day and asked me this questions: "Daddy are we Hindus?" This was the result of what she learned in school.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalApril 8, 2018 at 9:23 AM

      We can't escape the mediocrity of the society. We can only keep on reminding our children about what they should do. I do it with my students and get amazing results.

      Delete
  2. Tina SequeiraApril 8, 2018 at 8:11 PM

    A must-read by everyone, Tomichan! Loved the message and how you put it across :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. SubrotoApril 9, 2018 at 8:10 PM

    Very thoughtful and plenty of points to ponder upon.

    ReplyDelete

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