I was watching Mahabharat episodes. The epic is the best depiction of conflicts we keep on going through on a daily basis. The biggest conflict and learning is the shloka of Mahabharat that teaches the value of the action and no entitlement of the results. Dhritrashtra’s perception was he is the eldest so the throne belonged to him. Bhishma’s perspective was that he has to take care of the kingdom (even if the king is incorrect). Dronacharya’s expectation from teaching Kuru prince was to take revenge from Panchal king. Many in the epic knew that their opinions are based on ideology applied incorrectly in the given situation, yet they did not amend their ways. When the battle started everyone took side not based on what is right or lawful but which side my enemy is on. This is the result of these perceptions, perspectives, and expectations. The outcome was – people were fighting their own battles at the backdrop of Pandavas and Kauravas.
Perception
When I was thinking about aurora borealis (or polar lights), I thought that such a phenomenon or any other related ionization must be happening at different wavelengths that are beyond the human eye’s abilities to see. Our incapability to see does not mean some things do/did not happen. Sound below 20 Hz and above 20,000 Hz exist, we humans are unable to hear it. Our senses and perceptions create our realities. I wrote last week “our past experiences – Sanskara – condition us”. We need to go beyond the conditioning to change our perceptions.
Perspective
In some of the satsangs of Art of living, I heard a few romantic Bollywood movie songs. Earlier when I had heard these songs I felt ok it is a romantic song sung by the lover for the loved one. However, when I heard the same song in a different setup it was as perfect in Bhakti too! These presentations of songs change my perspective, examples are in the below videos –
The perceptions made these songs to be romantic songs however when I looked at these songs from a different perspective the meaning of the song itself changed.
Expectations
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन ।
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भुर्मा ते संगोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥
You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities. Bhagavad Gita, Chapter II, Verse 47. Effectively, we must do our actions as per need of the hour and do not be feverish about either the actions or the results.
Conclusion
In Mahabharat, each person was living his perceptions, defining his stand in his own’s perspective and having different expectations. These three things blinded people. Isn’t it true that we live in the cage of our perceptions, perspectives, and expectations? Meditation can help change in all these three.
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