Perception

“If a tree falls in the woods and you are not there to hear it, does it actually make a sound?” This question has been looming in the minds of humans for many years. The challenge is that we are searching for an answer and not the question. That is, the question is flawed and based on an old paradigm or way of looking at the world in the first place. The question is “Where is the sound located in relation to you?”

Trees fall. And when they do, it is their natural state to do so. Whether it is because it is their time and they have lived a long, fulfilling life, or it is due to eroding land surface that does not permit the tree to be held in place properly to withstand the other natural elements, the tree can fall. In essence, the tree does what a tree is supposed to do. It is our judgments, perceptions, and ideas of what it should do that develops a conflict or in this case “The Sound”.

Take for example: A baby crying in a restaurant. In the restaurant, there is a couple that does not have kids. They live freely and decide to have dinner together. To them, that baby might be extremely annoying. Then, there are two young parents who have just received the gift of birth and hear the baby screaming at the top of its lungs. To them, they cry tears of joy and happiness as they love to hear it. And, then, there is a slave couple who is in hiding as they attempt to travel the under ground rail road to embark on their journey of freedom. To them, a baby that cries can relinquish their location and they must take protective measures against that. This could mean life or death. This can mean devastation.

Who is right? Who is wrong? Remember in my first paragraph when I said “Where is the sound located in relation to you?” The key word is “Relation”. Meaning, it is all relative to your idea of reality and what the sound means to you. Take this idea on for a moment. Everything you experience with the five human senses is merely a reflection of what is programmed inside of you. What I mean by that is there is nothing outside of you that has any meaning other than the one you give it. Babies cry; it’s only natural for them to do so. It’s how they communicate. Whether you like it or not is irrelevant. In order to understand their communication to you, you must get past your conditioning and programming from society, parents, and well-meaning others. You hear them cry, you take in the sound, and then you bring out a judgment based on what is inside of you. Sound familiar?

The key is what you have learned, how you learned it, and from whom you have learned it. If I were an only child who was spoiled and given anything I wanted in life, I will have a hard time enjoying my dinner while a baby is crying. Why? Because I don’t want the baby crying and I “always get what I want.” It was programmed in me from my parents and friends. It’s just my reality. Now, if I am one of seven children whose father worked two jobs to keep the house in order and we had to scrape every penny we could just to survive, then I might find a way to enjoy that meal and at the same time offer my help to the couple who has the baby crying. I might even tell the couple not to worry as growing up in a crazy family prepared you for moments like this. Who is right in this case? No one. Who is wrong? No one. All is Relative.

The Truth is this: There is no experience outside of you. We create it. We are like a movie projector. When an experience happens, we project our beliefs, perceptions, ideas, and conditioned patterns on to that experience. The experience (falling off your bike, witnessing a robbery, swinging through a baseball, producing a result on a school exam) is just that, an experience. In and of itself, it does not care what we think or feel about it. Want proof of this? The next time you hit your head on a wall or a doorway, ask it how it feels after you hit your head? I hope you chuckle and shrug it off because that is the response I would want for you. The object does not care. The only thing that “matters” is what we project about that object. What if you project negative meanings of yourself because of your contact with the object? Have you ever thought, “I’m so clumsy”? How does that make you feel? The wall doesn’t have any feelings. Just you. So how would your life change if, instead of being negative, you chose to think, “Whoops! Well, I’m OK.” Your perception and meaning of a situation is influenced and directed by the meanings and beliefs that you assign to it.

A heavier example of this would be the strife between Israel and Palestine. I once asked a good friend of mine who is Jewish and lived in Israel what the reason was for the fighting between the two countries. His response to me was shocking and on point: Land. The Gaza strip. My immediate response to him was “Does the land care?” After he laughed, it sank in. “No, it doesn’t”. So, for all of these years, two sides have been fighting over the rights to this land, and it has no say in it. Interesting.

Here’s how this truth can be revealed to you. Sit in a room and still your small mind. As it becomes more still and silent, be open to any noises you may hear .(family member walking on the wood floor, a motor cycle driving by down the street, a dog barking, etc…) As you are in the stillness, locate the place in your body from which you feel the vibration. For example, if you hear a dog barking, locate where in your body you “feel” the sound. More importantly, become aware of the emotion you have associated with it. The dog barks because that is what a dog does to communicate. It is your projections and interpretations on anything “related” to that bark.

The more you apply this practice, the more you will become aware. And, as you become more aware, the more you will be exposed to truth. “The Truth shall set you free” is not just a biblical verse. It is something that resonates very deeply in all of us. The challenge lies in the fact that very few on this planet have ever been able to become free by The Truth because their perceptions and conditioned patterns on thinking blind them from it. It is within all of us. We just need to get our small selves out of the way.

Be Well,

Adam Kotowski
www.3into4.webs.com