Does the title of the post sound like one of those How to Manifest your….. kind of social media posts? If you have read such posts, you might have experienced how unbelievably true they sound but somehow it feels like they wouldn’t work for you.
I found this 3D stereogram below that went viral recently, as a good allegory to a significant but seldom aware aspect of our existence. If you have not tried seeing the hidden image in a 3D stereogram before, this is how you do it: Bring your nose close to the screen with your eyes focused on the centre of the image. Slowly, move your head backward while your vision is still focused on the image. At one point during your movement, you would be able to see a 3D form of the hidden image within this ordinary 2D-looking picture.
Well, some can see the 3D image, a butterfly in this case, while some do not. It’s not that they cannot, they may eventually see after a few tries, or they may not.
Now, what has this got to do with the ‘In Pursuit of Nature‘ series?
When I say that we need to seek Nature (or the Truth), the question is, does that mean we are not seeing the Truth in the present?
For those people who can see the butterfly, it does feel amazing for your eyes to suddenly pull a 3-dimensional image out of something that didn’t even exist in the plain picture that you began to see, isn’t it?
Now, how is it going to feel to those people who couldn’t see the butterfly? Disbelief, first, and then, frustration that adds to the weird discomfort of too much squinting, lol!
Disbelief!
It is simple to explain this disbelief. They are not seeing it, of course. It is strange to believe something that is not real to our eyes. Isn’t it our reality that creates our beliefs?
Our reality, in turn, stems from our perception. What is that which makes the one who can see the butterfly from the one who doesn’t see it? The way their eyes focus – their perception, metaphorically.
With this example of the stereogram, it can be demonstrated that there can be two realities about this single phenomenon – the butterfly exists, or it doesn’t. (There can be a third reality for people like me who see three butterflies; like three different images of the same butterfly, captured at three different instants of its motion. It is about the way a stereogram is designed, by merging identical images. But, the intent of its creation when rightly focused is to see a single butterfly with depth).
It cannot be said that there is a right or wrong here. Just that the realities that emerge from their perceptions are different. However, there is one single truth – the truth of the butterfly. It is not rocket science. People who don’t see the butterfly now or today will be able to see it sometime, someday.
When I came across this stereogram, this was what I began to contemplate:
that we may be existing now in different realities;
that there exists a single Truth;
that eventually, we all will one day see the Truth – PROVIDED WE SEEK IT!
Replace Truth with Nature, and we converge here in this series.
Your Reality is Just One of the Many Possibilities Out There!
Bringing to our awareness that there are many realities and ours is not the only perception, can spur our need to seek the Truth, the Nature. For someone who has never left their room, the existence of something outside their room is unreal. They might not even reach the point in their thoughts if something can exist or not beyond the walls. But if they do get a spark in their thoughts about what if something can exist beyond the walls, they might want to explore that possibility.
Leaving the philosophical discussion aside, let me come to ground reality. In our day-to-day lives, we are not going to read the reality we are living in as if it were written in a manual. However, our reality is constantly expressed through our thought patterns, our beliefs (either superficial or deep), and in fact through what happens to us every moment.
Let’s see some examples, of the different beliefs people may hold, a few aspects wise:
Health
- I am doing science because I believe only science can provide solutions to humanity’s health issues.
- From my 50 years of experience, yoga and meditation are the best tools for good health.
- If not for regular walking, exercise, and intense workouts, I could not have kept myself in good health.
- I have tried allopathy, ayurveda, homeopathy, and acupuncture for my knee pain. Nothing seems to work.
- I have simple, home-cooked food, fresh fruits, and vegetables. That keeps me in the best health.
- I believe that mindfulness and awareness are critical to maintaining good health.
- I am a diabetic. If I miss my pill even a day, I will have to suffer consequences.
- Regular health check-ups and taking vitamin supplements are my motto for good health.
- Dieting, cutting down on calories, and intermittent fasting helped a great deal to reduce my weight. Maintaining weight brings health.
- I trust my doctor, her diagnosis, and her prescriptions. Simply, nothing else.
Relationships
- I am a victim of the behaviour of the people I live with.
- My spouse does not love and understand me.
- My mother-in-law forces her opinions and practices on me that I am unable to get rid of.
- My daughter-in-law misunderstands me and makes the family unhappy.
- My boss tortures me with work pressure.
- I am surrounded by friendly people wherever I go.
- My maid interferes with my home and family.
- My wife is my strength. I am nothing without her.
- My neighbour passes unnecessary remarks about what happens inside our home.
- My children are unruly and don’t listen to me.
- My kids are my treasure. Their love surpasses all that bothers my life.
- My parents criticize every single decision I make.
- My brother is highly selfish towards his family and well-being alone.
Finance
- How much ever I earn, money is never enough for my needs.
- I need to work hard at least for the next 20 years to retire happily.
- I have a lot of money; I am afraid that I will make wise investments.
- I have a lot of money; I am afraid I will lose it.
- I am anxious and worried because my father told me that people must build a house before they turn 30 and I am 29.
- I am eternally rich. All my generations shall always be rich. Nothing can rob us of our wealth.
- I have so much debt; I am unable to sleep well.
- I am happy as long as I get my bread and butter today.
- Society would look down upon me if I don’t buy an apartment.
- Unless I switch to a new job and earn 5X more in the next 5 years, I cannot lead a happy life.
These lists include infinite possibilities. One or more or something else that’s not on this list could be a part of our thought patterns or could have established itself as a belief in us. Generally, we don’t identify such things within us. Our moments and days can keep moving absolutely unmindful of the fact that every moment such a pattern or belief is driving us.
Remember, this post is not about whether they are right or wrong or positive or negative. Just that we must recognize that there can be a myriad of possibilities of beliefs that each one of us is holding now. And that, these possibilities arise from what we see as real.
Coming in the next posts is going beyond the limitations of such realities we’ve garbed around us, eventually to get to see the Truth, the Nature.
See you there!
Other posts in this series: