12202009 - I was prejudiced...
Sitting in front of my laptop, enjoying the accelerated graphics of Karmic Koala, i was reading a blog from my friend - Jonathan . This thought came into my mind and i wish to share it.
Today, a bunch of us (15 of us actually!) had gone to the movie - Avatar (3D) (Thanks to Md. Haseeb, and Shashidhar V G, who were kind enough to treat us for this movie!!). My first experience of a 3D movie was in Innovative film city. It boasted a 4D movie (3D + physical effects like water splashes, vibrating chairs etc.) about evolution of the earth. The imprint it had on my mind was such that, i imagined every 3D movie would be like that. When i saw Avatar (3D) - frankly i was a bit disappointed.
Now, the reason for this blog is to bring out an observation - Why was i disappointed ?
The answer - "The movie" just did not live up to my expectation.
Remove the words "The movie" - and replace it with anything (re-frame the sentence if necessary!) - and read the sentence out loud -
* The food at hotel ashoka was not as good as i had expected (something negetive)
* The exam paper was not as tough as i had expected (something positive!) etc.
What does it mean when someone says - as i had expected ??
This is my shot ( you are free to correct / comment / change or add on to this)
1. Based on inputs (from different sources) the mind forms an image of the forthcoming event. There is a catch here - The mind takes the **Fancy** aspect from all the inputs, intensifies it by 10 times (or more) and then comes to a final image about the event (Note - This is a good point for argument, and i have my cases ready! So.. lets hear it !! - in the comments, if you were not able to grasp the argument point, then please read along. Thank you :-) )
2. During the actual event, the mind keeps looking for those certain points which it had imagined.
3. In this process, the mind neglects those other wonderful experiences which are a part of the event.
Result - The person is not able to enjoy those wonderful natural moments because the mind is busy expecting something else !!
Lets take my example of watching Avatar (3D) -
What just happened ??
My mind was prejudiced about something, and instead of enjoying the natural beauty of things around me, i started expecting something which may not have been necessary!
Outcome ??
I was unable to enjoy the movie. Now, i crib about how i wasted an extra 100 bucks to watch a 3D movie! (and if it wins an oscar, at some point of time, i will definitely feel bad - thinking - I have seen better movies than this one!!)
Let me quote a few more incidents -
* I had recently been to GOA, and my friends had all told me about a water sport called - Banana Ride. They all had warned me that, the guy is going to make you fall into the ocean, and thats the best part of the ride - so look out for that. When i was experiencing the ride, all that my mind was thinking was - When is this guy going to make us fall. How often is he going to do it, when will this end. How should i fall.. fall, fall, fall, fall.. all my thoughts were concentrated on "Falling" that i totally forgot to enjoy the ride!! - Contrary to my other comrades who had not heard about the fall, all they could talk about was - the falling part !!
* An extremity of this - Some people have fear of taking injections. The mind induces pain which is 10 folds the actual twitch that happens while taking an injection (true story! I have seen "Brave Soldiers" taking vaccination in my company!, and the way they boast that they have taken the vaccination after taking it! haha.. funny sight to experience! )
During such experiences, mind has a major role to play. If such feelings are repeated (like the ones quoted above), the mind tends to get "bored" very often and life starts becoming "Monotonous", down the lane the person loses the element of "Wonder". Quoting Ravi Zacharias "The older you get, the more it takes to fill your heart with wonder". Many of my friends have expressed this, and a blog mate whom i follow has expressed this in her blog as well. Officially its called - Quater-Life Crisis
It is a constant struggle to avoid prejudice and to see things like they are. Not being masked by thoughts. Not being masked by false realities. I remember a beautiful sloka from Eeshavaasya Upanisahd, very apt for this topic -
Hiranmayena paatrena satyasaapihitam mukham |
Tatvam pushan apaavrunu, satya dharmaaya drushtaye ||
Meaning can be found here -> Suryanamaskara Mantra
To see the truth without any prejudice - is an experience which every human being strives to achieve!
(oh.. and i am very serious when i say - i am trying very hard to achieve this!)