Perception

Perception

‘The physical world is a projection of our mind’.

Does it mean that the world is not real?

Does it mean that it is just an illusion of the mind and not a reality?

I think it simply means that we see the objective world through our mind. The way we perceive and the thoughts we project give it a different meaning.

Everything around us can be meaningless or meaningful according to our perception. For example, there was a rock on the side of our street that we passed every day, but we hardly noticed it. This rock had no significance for us. Then, one day we brought it and placed it in front of our house. Now, it became a significant land mark for our guests and visitors.

In another scenario, someone else could have seen it as a deity and prayed to it. The same rock, which had no significance before, has now become an object of worship. It’s not the rock, but the perception of the seer that changed the concept. 

The meaning we give to something or someone may not be as concrete and real as the object itself. Different people may have different perception and meaning for the same object or a person.

For example, everyone passing by our house will not look at it the same way as we do.

One person can be seen differently by different people; as father or son, mother or daughter, boss or subordinate, friend or enemy, teacher or a student, colleague or a mentor, or he could be totally insignificant for others.

The drops of dew on leaves or flowers in the early morning may have different meaning for different people. One looks at them as simply few drops of water, while a happy & cheerful person perceives them as beautiful pearls. Yet another, extremely sad person may think of them as tears… as if nature was also crying with him.

As long as we remember that our perception of the world and meanings we attribute to its objects is subjective, we will not create divisions and hatred. The clash occurs when we start believing and insisting that our perception and meaning is the right one and everyone else is wrong.

                                                                                ‘Rajan Sachdeva’