I am not sure that human beings — even those of the 21st century — have become sufficiently aware of the extent of their creative power. We speak of literary, artistic, or technological creations, but we almost never hear about the creation of the world in which we live.
I am not talking about the world that is supposedly outside us and to which we give a reality independent of ourselves. Looking closely, this does not exist. Oh yes, there are mountains and rivers, trees and animals, but this is not what we talk about when we speak of changing the world or improving it.
Most of us think we live in ”the world”; how many of us are aware that we live in ”our world”? A world made of our perceptions, our projections, and our value judgments. There is one planet Earth and 8 billion worlds coexisting on it. They may have similarities between them, but no two are identical. Because the world we live in is eminently subjective. And it largely depends on the gaze we cast on the beings and things around us.
The Paradox of Contentment
On our planet, there are people of very modest condition who radiate contentment and ”rich” people who are permanently dissatisfied, even unhappy. The tears of the rich are no less salty than those of the poor. There are physically disabled people who overflow with joy, and healthy people who are never satisfied with their appearance.
Contentment settles when we stop looking outward and turn inward. When we stop blaming others, governments, the world situation for our troubles, and become aware that our gaze, and what it decides to focus on, creates the environment in which we live, we gain freedom and independence.
A glass never says whether it is half full or half empty; it is the one who looks at it who decides to see this or that. And is it permissible to doubt that this choice is only a reflection of the emptiness or fullness that inhabit the observer?
A Burning Relevance
This reflection is of burning relevance, not only in Lebanon where many people are bathed in a gloomy atmosphere, but throughout the world where no one is safe from problems of all kinds. It is time to understand that it is the nature of the world of duality in which we live to be inconstant and to present us alternately with the pleasant and the unpleasant.
The intelligent attitude consists in remaining focused not on what we don’t want, but on what we want. Not on what we hate and want to get rid of, but on what we love and seek. It is reported that Mother Teresa never wanted to sign a petition AGAINST countries that have nuclear weapons stockpiles, but FOR peace. She was aware that when we focus against something, we lend it our attention — therefore our energy — and we end up strengthening it rather than weakening it.
The Story of the Sage and the Dog
There is nothing better than ending with a little story. It is told that a sage was walking one day in the countryside with some of his companions. Around a bend in the path, one of them spotted the carcass of a dog in full decomposition. The contours of the beast were barely visible, so advanced was the decomposition. It was difficult to see the slightest trace of beauty as the sage permanently taught his companions: that where we seek beauty, we end up finding it.
Then the companion recoiled, enough to attract the attention of the sage who was walking looking straight ahead. He turned his gaze toward the carrion and said: ”What beautiful teeth”! Of all this shapeless carcass, only the white teeth remained, gleaming in the sun.
The same carrion, two different gazes, and two completely opposite states of mind that follow. The choice belongs to us all the time. And we are called to make it at every moment, in every area of our lives.