Skip to main content

Behold the Beauty


Dale Carnegie gave us the parable of the two men who looked out from prison bars. “One saw the mud, the other saw stars.” What we see is often our choice. We can choose to see the mud or we can choose to look at the sky.

There was once a man who had a dog. He used a strategy for bathing the dog. He would take the dog to the river and throw a ball into the river. Being trained to fetch the ball whenever it was thrown, the dog would jump into the river too and fetch the ball. That swimming would be the dog’s bath. But one day the dog sprang a surprise. When the master threw the ball, the dog, instead of swimming, walked on the water to fetch it. The master was surprised. He threw the ball once again and the dog walked on water again. Maybe, it was an evolutionary step in the dog’s life.

The master wanted to show off this to his neighbour. So he asked his neighbour to accompany him to the river. The ball was thrown and the dog fetched it by walking on the river. The neighbour made no reaction. It was as if nothing extraordinary had happened. The man repeated the exercise. Still no reaction from the neighbour.

“Didn’t you notice anything special about my dog?” The man asked.

“Yeah, the silly creature doesn’t know how to swim.” That was the neighbour’s response.

The neighbour’s perceptions were conditioned as are most people’s. A dog had to swim if it entered into a river. Otherwise, it is a silly creature.

We have certain built-in notions which affect most of our perceptions and judgements. Many of these notions may be plainly wrong. Hence our perceptions and judgements will be wrong too. We fail to see miracles that actually happen around us.

Some 2000 years ago, Greek philosopher Epictetus said, “People are disturbed not by events, but by the views they take of them.” Our ‘views’ are conditioned by our inbuilt notions. Our emotional responses are the consequences of the interaction between the event that happens and our notions or beliefs about them. Life can be a lot sweeter if we keep checking our inbuilt notions/beliefs every now and then.

PS. This post is part of #BlogchatterA2Z 2023

Yesterday's: Authenticity

Tomorrow: Capitalism is fated to be sad

Comments

  1. Yes, sometimes we choose to see the glass as half empty rather than half full.Good one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How we see matters more sometimes than what we see.

      Delete
  2. Wow! I really liked the analogy about the Dog. Perception as you say is very different for different people. When we are born we have no preconceptions about anything and our minds see things as they are. But life creates prejudices and we start perceiving things as per our views.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some prejudices are understandable. But most people seem to have only prejudices.

      Delete
  3. This is true….it is the way u perceive things…it’s like the number 6 to those who look at the number upside down sees the number 9…they can argue all day that it’s a 9 and not a six until they change their perspective on their view. Life is based on perception and YOU chose your perception.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Reality is a lot more complex, however, than 6 vs 9.

      Delete
  4. I was just reading a movie dialogue that said I choose to fight by seeing the good and you choose to fight by seeing the ugly. In the end we're both trying to survive but your way is not "better". The dog story was so good!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hari OM
    Ah yes, perceptions and perspective; so much a part of any narrative! YAM xx

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yep. So many factors condition us to the world around us. Self censoring is a constant state of mind, till it isn't...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oops, the above was me! Don't know how that happened 😅

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for telling it's you :) Anonymity is associated with cowardice.

      Self-censoring is a painful affair especially in a world of frauds. I know I'm being judgemental when I speak about frauds. But tragically I see too many of them around me. Not only in politics. Alas!

      Delete
  8. Replies
    1. Yes, response should come instead of reaction. Judiciousness instead of judgement. Let's hope.

      Delete
  9. Beautifully summed up about how we can change our state of mind by looking inwards !

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love how this is explained. Yes, that is the beauty of life, how you perceive it. Isn't it strange that two people look at the same things differently. And I also love what your first letter A was authenticity! So was mine :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. This post reminded me of the time we went appartment hunting. The appartment was on 19th floor and had lovely views of the sea. But hubby's colleague who also saw the appartment, didnt stretch his eyes until the horizon...his eyes fell directly down where there was a graveyard. :) ...like you said...perception...I saw the horizon, he saw the graveyard

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You've given me a point to ponder on, Harshita. I have always wondered how the Ambanis live happily in their Antilia which towers like a vulgar palace amid residences that don't even have proper water supply. Maybe, your hubby's colleague had a point. Still.. I'm thinking.

      Delete
  12. Well put. I see that kids are unconditioned and their sense of wonder helps see beauty in everything than us, the adults with so much conditioning. And parenting has helped me to some extent to unlearn and have better perceptions & perspectives.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, parents and teachers can do a lot in this regard.

      Delete
  13. Yeah, there are some people, as the man in your story, who boasts about the stupid things and expects the same from others. It's difficult to deal with them. I try hard these days not to respond to them for the sake of peace.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Showing off the dog 's ability to walk on water is also borne out of flawed perception. A perception which instigates us to flaunt and secure fame even at the expense odour loved ones. I presume here that the dog was loved by his master.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Parables are highly focused on their morals. This wasn't about the showoff.

      Delete
  15. Our ‘views’ are conditioned by our inbuilt notions. 👏🏻💯

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And that's the only way available now. Unfortunately.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Adventures of Toto as a comic strip

  'The Adventures of Toto' is an amusing story by Ruskin Bond. It is prescribed as a lesson in CBSE's English course for class 9. Maggie asked her students to do a project on some of the lessons and Femi George's work is what I would like to present here. Femi converted the story into a beautiful comic strip. Her work will speak for itself and let me present it below.  Femi George Student of Carmel Public School, Vazhakulam, Kerala Similar post: The Little Girl

Teaching is a Relationship

I met Ms Dhanya Ramachandran a few years ago at one of the centralised evaluation camps of CBSE. Then we met again every year for the same purpose until I retired from teaching officially. I’m not sure whether it’s her Mona Lisa smile or her commendable efficiency with the job that drew my attention more to her. Last week I came to know that Dhanya (let me take the liberty of calling her so) received an award for her contributions to the cause of education. I wished to bring her to a wider audience for the cause of education and hence requested an interview. What follows is the result. Since it is an email interview, it has its limitations. Nevertheless, Dhanya comes alive here. Over to the interview.  Tomichan : Hi Ms Dhanya Ramachandran, please introduce yourself for the sake of the readers of this blog. Dhanya : Hello. I am Dhanya Ramachandran, a passionate educator with diverse background. My career journey began in journalism, but life took me on a different path, leading

Nishagandhi – Queen of the Night

Disclaimer: A friend tells me this flower is Kalyana Saugandhikam (garland lily) and not Nishagandhi.  Finally one of my Nishagandhis has bloomed. Here’s the picture.  I have four pots of this plant which is quite exotic as its very name implies. Belonging to the Cactaceae family, this flower goes by different names. The Indian name ‘Nishagandhi’ comes from two Sanskrit words: nisha = night & gandh: fragrance. This flower blooms in the night and wilts as dawn breaks. I took the above pic just before sunrise this morning. I have waited for nearly half a year now for this blossoming. It’s not easy to get these flowers which have a divine touch. It is known as Brahma Kamala, Bethlehem Lily, and the flower of healing. The Chinese consider the Nishagandhi flower to be lucky. I consider it as cosmic flower. The Nishagandhi has many medicinal properties. Ayurveda uses it for treating diabetes, breathing disorders, throat infections, digestive problems, and so on. Of course, I don’t

Why do you fear my way so much?

Book Review Title: Why do you fear my way so much? Author: G N Saibaba Publisher: Speaking Tiger, New Delhi, 2022 Pages: 216 G N Saibaba breathed his last on 12 Oct 2024 at the age of 57. It may be more correct to say that he was killed by the government of his country just as Rev Stan Swamy and a lot many others were. Stan Swamy was an octogenarian, suffering from severe Parkinson’s disease and other ailments, when he was arrested under the draconian UAPA. He died in prison at the age of 84 labelled by his government as a traitor. G N Saibaba was a professor of English in Delhi University when he was arrested in 2014 under UAPA for alleged links with treasonous Maoist groups. Polio had rendered him absolutely incapable of free movement right from childhood. The prison authorities deprived him even of his wheelchair, making life incredibly brutal for him in the Anda cell of Nagpur Central Prison. The egg-shaped cell (‘anda’ means egg in India’s putative national language) i

Octlantis

I was reading an essay on octopuses when friend John walked in. When he is bored of his usual activities – babysitting and gardening – he would come over. Politics was the favourite concern of our conversations. We discussed politics so earnestly that any observer might think that we were running the world through the politicians quite like the gods running it through their devotees. “Octopuses are quite queer creatures,” I said. The essay I was reading had got all my attention. Moreover, I was getting bored of politics which is irredeemable anyway. “They have too many brains and a lot of hearts.” “That’s queer indeed,” John agreed. “Each arm has a mind of its own. Two-thirds of an octopus’s neurons are found in their arms. The arms can taste, touch, feel and act on their own without any input from the brain.” “They are quite like our politicians,” John observed. Everything is linked to politics in John’s mind. I was impressed with his analogy, however. “Perhaps, you’re r