A young aspirant once asked his teacher, “What is life?” The wise teacher told the young man, “Son, look into my eyes and tell me what you see?” The aspirant peered into his teacher’s eyes and in a confused tone said, “I see myself!” “That is it,” said the teacher.
Life is a reflection. What you see in others, you see in yourself.
When I tell someone, ‘I see anger in you,’ I must realise I see it, because it is present in me. Likewise when we tell someone, ‘I see love in you,’ we must assure ourselves that we see love in the other for we see it in ourselves.
What we cannot see or do not have within us, we cannot see in another human being.
The adage ‘what you believe is what you see’ is also true here. If we believe someone is good we will look for signs of affirmation of this. Yet, if we, by the same understanding, believe someone is insensitive, we will seek validation of this belief.
Indians, though, often celebrate ‘re-incarnation,’ which in simple language means ‘coming back.’ Thus what I see in myself comes back to me through its sighting in others.
(The writer is an organisational and behavioural consultant. He can be contacted at ttsrinath@vsnl.net)
