„Here is my secret. It is very simple: it is only with the heart that one can see rightly. The essential is invisible to the eye.” - Antoine de Saint Exupéry – The Little Prince
Long time ago, there was a convent, in a very beautiful place. But although it was surrounded by great old forests, near a majestic mountain, although it had a beautiful church, the convent started to lose its fame for some time. For some unknown reason, people stopped asking to be accepted in the convent, and so the number of the monks decreased in time, while those staying there started to fight and hate each other, for the smallest things. Peace and love seemed to have disappeared from that place.
One day, as he could not stand the situation anymore, the father superior climbed high into the mountain, where there was a very old wise hermit living. Walking on wild paths, in a silence that was probably undisturbed since the beginning of the world, father superior finally reached the old hermit’s cave and there he spilled his bitterness. The old wise man listened without saying a word, and then he remained silent a long time. Then, giving the father superior an intense glance, he spoke:
“You are telling me that the brothers are arguing and hating each other all the time? Well, I am telling you something for your ears only: one of them is Lord Jesus Himself, incarnated. Think about that and you’ll find your answers.”
And he returned to his silence.
The father superior walked back even more concerned and preoccupied than before. “I wonder which one of the brothers is our Lord Jesus? Could it be brother…, since he is so humble and kind? Or maybe brother…, he likes to pray and to fast…Or maybe…”
And as he returned home, where he was welcomed by his assistant, he could not help himself and shared the words of the hermit. Now there were two of them thoughtful and concerned. And his assistant told these amazing words to his friend, and this one further on, and this is how the rumour spread all over the convent. All the monks were secretly looking at each other, wondering which one of them could have been Jesus… And something changed into their behaviour. They no longer fought and envied each other, because they could not imagine fighting and hating Jesus. They stopped saying bad things about each other. They started helping each other. Saykind words to each other. Be tolerant and forgiving. And pray longer and deeper.
The people passing by there were enchanted by the peace and warmth of the community and they spread the word. More and more people came to pray there and little by little prosperity returned. New aspirants asked to be admitted in the order and the fame of the holy place started to grow again. And so it remained, because the monks kept on telling the hermit’s words, from one generation to each other…
“The meaning of things lays not within themselves, but in our attitude towards them.” - Antoine de Saint Exupéry – The Citadel
We often complain about the others. Their refusal to please us or to fit into our mental patterns awakens in us strong reactions of rejection. We start to deny their qualities and emphasize only their flaws – real or imaginary. Our relationships get cold and warmth is replaced by unforgiving, sometimes mean judgiements. We mirror ourselves in the others and then our flaws we discover in them seem intolerable. They will probably do the same and here is how distance between hearts grows.Quantum physics tells us that whenever we are watching something, the object of our attention is changed as well. Not only are we creating our own reality through the way we choose to see just certain features of the subject of our attention, but we are also operating changes on it, too. It’s like a two edges sharp sword: we can hurt both ourselves and the other with one move. We can limit ourselves in what we’re experiencing and limit the other one in what they will manifest in relationship with us. And if we understand that, here comes the question: how do we choose to use our power?
We can go on judging the others, complain about them and then notice with a certain satisfaction how their behaviour matches our worst expectations.
Or we can choose to offer both to them and to ourselves the gift of freedom. To them, we can offer the freedom to be themselves and manifest the most wonderful things within themselves. And we can offer ourselves the freedom to create our own bright reality, in which people are blooming around us because they feel accepted and loved just as they are.
No great efforts are required; we only need to consciously focus our awareness on the good and beautiful.
You can try this simple exercise:
- focus your attention towards the center of your chest. Take few deep breaths, imagining that the breath does not go through the nose, esophagus, etc., but comes in and out straight through that spot in the center. Do that for 5 minutes – just follow the inhale and exhale and the feelings that occur in that place.
- next, just look at the people, flowers, animals, everything that surrounds you as if you had in that spot eyes that can see. Look at the world as if your whole attention came out through the center of your chest - and try to notice at least one thing you can admire in everything and everyone.
When the mind will try to interfere with critical observations, ignore it – it’s a sign that you lost your focus on the spot near the heart. Come back there and try to see the qualities of those around you. Little by little you will have a nice surprise: you will realize that the world is in fact a wonderful place and that people are incredibly beautiful…
