I was recently reminded of just how powerful perceptions can be. Conversations with two people about completely different events revealed the depth of perceptual difference that can be present when people are in the same place, but see through different eyes.

Everything new that we experience is filtered and affected by our previous experiences and our stored

• thoughts,
• beliefs,
• understandings,
• conclusions,
• sensory memories and perhaps most importantly,
• feelings/emotions.

This is why one person can hear a sound and react to it in fear, and another can react with little interest – the sound is interpreted via the combination of the new elements and the influence of the previous ones.

In other words, when we enter a moment, we bring with us all our accumulated history and use that history to unconsciously (mainly) interpret the world as it unfolds. The Buddhists talk about something called “beginner’s mind”, in which one looks at each moment as if it was seen for the first time and freshly interpreted. While it does take longer to reach conclusions using this approach, the results are very beneficial.

A lot of unhappiness in the world is the direct result of not “seeing” what is there, but only seeing what seems to be there, making snap judgments and jumping to conclusions. Often this happens so automatically that we do not notice it, and assume that what we think is what is real.

Here’s a radical concept – next time you think you understand what happened in a particular situation, see if there is any alternate understanding possible. Examine all the assumptions you made as you reached your conclusions. See if there are any other possible explanations for each of the elements that you notice. Be aware of your preconceptions and personal historical conclusions.

You may be surprised at what you discover once you start to notice how you arrived at a conclusion …

Copyright 2009 Robert S. Vibert