Reality and Perception

The three photos are the views of Sikkim  from a hotel room in the morning, taken  a few years back, when Anna and I spent couple of days visiting this scenic part of of our country.

The visibility of the city decreased  as the clouds covered the mountain side and its terrain. It took about an hour for the full visibility to return.The mountains did not disappear, but the visibility did. I realise that there are some occasions, when I am unable to see the whole truth in all its clarity.

There are inner filters or blinders which cloud our understanding or perception. It is like Daphney, our puppy, who does not get the message that it would hurt us if she were to bite us playfully, like the way she would do to her toys.

 She has a perception dysfunction as of now. She would hopefully overcome this shortly. Joseph's brothers cast him into a pit out of intolerance of his behaviour. They failed to recognise that it would hurt him, make him lonely and  endanger him. The pastor at the morning service today, referring to the several injustices, cruelty and deprivations that girl children go through in life suggested that parents are also responsible for what they suffer from. They fail to sense this. 

The slave masters failed to recognise the dehumanising effect of buying and selling humans and ill treating them, till enlightened leaders like Abraham Lincoln decided to stop this practice.

We as humans in spite of all the enlightenment which the  study of science, humanities, sociology, economics, anthropology, etc. brings to us, are people with blind spots.

A husband may fail to see the needs of his wife; a mother may overlook the needs of her children; a pastor can ignore some in the congregation; this list is long. What are we to do, to remain clear and open in our perception! 

This is what personal accompaniment can offer to each of us. Someone with whom we are in touch with and with whom we share our inner events and perceptions can be a pointer to realities beyond our perception. We become more rounded and clear as we trust someone to know and participate in the realities of our lives. This mentoring process by listening and revising one's life is a means for embracing the whole truth concerning ourselves and others. It is 'truth that shall set us free' and it is Jesus of Nazareth who said, 'if the Sons shall make you free you shall be free indeed'. Freedom comes from open relationship of trust and mutuality. That is when we will be led to realities beyond our visibility or perception.

The opposite is that we will become even more covered under the interior clouds of bias, suspicion, prejudice, fear, anger, etc. which distort our perception. We would pursue our perception rather than reality, if that were to happen.

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)