Have Faith In Your Message

Have Faith In Your MessageSometimes it feels as though nobody is listening to us. No matter how important our message may be, it is falling on deaf ears, or so it seems. So maybe we speak a little louder, make our words a little more pronounced, like we are speaking to a child, nothing happens.

Actually, we may be right, maybe our message really isn’t getting across, but speaking louder, even shouting, still won’t make people listen. So what is really going on here? Well, the problem is that we are transmitting on the wrong frequency, or using the wrong type of media, or language.

Of course I am being metaphorical, we all speak within a frequency range between about 60 and 7000Hz, varying slightly person to person. But unless someone is ready to hear something in particular, they may not respond to you at all.

We have all had the experience of being in a noisy room, at a party or on a busy street where all conversation is a jumble, until someone calls out our name. We hear it, we can pick it out from all the background chatter and clatter, we are programmed to do exactly that, almost from birth.

So if you want to get a message across, say the name of the person with whom you wish to converse. Then, when they have stopped saying whatever they were saying, or doing whatever they were doing, they will be ready, and most likely willing, to listen to what you have to say.

If, having got their attention, you can deliver the message in a positive and friendly manner, there is even more chance that they will take in the content of the message. If you can actually make those contents helpful to the recipient, you really have got it cracked.

Views From The Other Side

Views From The Other SideMy dear old friend Billy Brown had a favourite saying, ‘that everyone had a right to his opinion’. He was generally joking, but sometimes he meant it. My view is rather different, in that I believe that everyone has a right to their own opinion, whether it matches mine, or not.

Seeing things from another’s viewpoint is a critical part of being able to meet that person half way in any situation. That then gives us the ability to resolve, or at least come to terms with any potential point of conflict in a positive and constructive way.

If someone stands by their beliefs, even when doing so might run the risk of causing hurt in some manner, those beliefs must be respected. To do anything else would be to concur with Billy’s ideas, and that is not a recipe for peace, love or understanding.

It’s All A Matter Of Viewpoint

Blind Men and an ElephantWe all see things in very different ways, mainly because we tend to be restricted by our own viewpoint.

The Buddha used a parable about six blind men and an elephant to explain how the differing views are come by. Each man has a different idea of what the elephant is, each being able to touch a different part of the animal.

This poem, by John Godfrey Saxe, sums up the scene and explains the moral behind the tale …

It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.

The First approach’d the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
“God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!”

The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, -“Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ’tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!”

The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a snake!”

The Fourth reached out his eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
“What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain,” quoth he,
“‘Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!”

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: “E’en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!”

The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Then, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a rope!”

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

MORAL.

So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

John Godfrey Saxe ( 1816-1887)

On Deaf Ears

Let Battle Not CommenceDespite my plea yesterday, the blame and counter blame emails started flying this morning, so sad. I understand that everyone wants to put their side of the story, make themselves look like the innocent party, get the family on their side. But isn’t that just the way wars and feuds start?

In the past, I was as guilty as the next man of doing exactly the same, but since finding Nichiren Buddhism I find, as I’ve said before, that I seem to have the ability to see things from both sides. I just hope that the first salvo doesn’t set the tone for the battle to come.

In situations like this, the people who suffer the most are the children. Not because they care any more, or understand any less, but because they have no control of their destinies, and get swept along with the tide of emotions.

Of course they will side with their mother, they have lived with her all their lives, apart from the time away at school or college. She has had the major influence on them, has nourished and cared for them, as any mother would. But that in itself slants their view of the situation and colours their opinions.

I do hope that all parties involved can come out of this long and often painful process without becoming bitter or vindictive toward the others. It’s a big ask, and something that is not often achieved, but I hope that the intention is there, at least at the start. As I said yesterday, we need to have wisdom, courage and compassion by the barrow load.

A Heartfelt Plea

When It Ends In TearsTonight’s post is a plea from the heart to my family and those who are close to me. When problems arise between two people, there are always two sides to the argument, nothing is black and white, and one side’s view will never coincide with the other’s. So as an onlooker, please take a pace backwards and try, as far as humanly possible, to see the situation from both sides with a quiet, but understanding sadness.

Matrimonial disputes are always messy. Once the lawyers get involved, it is almost impossible to resolve things in an amicable way, because that’s not in the lawyers financial interest. They will advise their client to get as much out of the situation as possible, often with little or no concern for the heartache they may be causing in so doing.

My position, and I will state it clearly here, is that I am here for either side. I admit that, for me, blood is thicker than water, but that doesn’t mean that I am blinkered to the pains of my non-blood relatives involved. I will speak my mind to anyone who seeks my counsel, though,  I admit, that particular queue may be very short indeed.

But having been through more divorce proceedings than is good for one person, at least I know the emotions and feelings that those concerned are battling with right now. It is a horrible set of circumstances to go through, but it can be made easier for all concerned if only those driving the process show a little wisdom, courage and particularly, compassion.

Exploring Life

Exploring LifeEvery day can be an adventure into the unknown. If we allow ourselves to go with the flow of events, we can find ourselves in new situations, with new challenges. Making assumptions about where life will take us, to expect the mundane, the ordinary, the usual, may mean that we walk straight past the very opportunity we need to take our lives in a completely different and exciting direction.

The belief taught in the Lotus Sutra provides no easy answers, no escape route from the difficulties of human life. In fact it firmly rejects such easy answers, and instead implores us to take up the two tools for exploring life. The use of those tools, belief and understanding, allows us to continually challenge, and work to perfect, ourselves. When combined with the practice of chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, they also provide us with the wisdom, courage and compassion and the energy to do just that.

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