Self Deception

Prague’s evening breeze in May –

was comfortable to the skin and romantic to the heart;

The old gas lighted Charles bridge with the Castle as backdrop

seemed fairytalelike enchanting and alluring…

Sitting at the white clothed table by the river bank

with candled lights and champagne colored roses spreading the sweetness in the air;

Hearing the soft music playing in the background;

Watching the still active moving crowds on the bridge-

and the lights reflected from the bridge glittering beautifully on the water…

The waiters were busy in attending the guests with their sweet smiles;

The smart dressed and well mannered guests were enjoy a perfect Prague evening;

Everything seemed beautiful and harmonious…

Isn’t life wonderful? I could not help feeling a bit hypnotized…

Suddenly some strange sound out of tune arose in the restaurant -

A drunken man managed to get into the restaurant from nowhere!

His clothes looked dirty and shabby;

His eyes were red and his hair looked wild;

His mouth were bubbling something loudly…

In no time security guards came and grabbed his arm,

the poor man seemed confused while being dragged away pretty roughly;

Elegant ladies and gentlemen in the restaurant frowned-

and looked disturbed and disgusted;

Waiters came apologizedly for the unpleasant incident…

After a while everything returned to the normal again

as if that drunken man has never existed!

But I could not -

the food was becoming less tasty;

the bridge was becoming less enchanting;

those beautiful well-mannered people around me

suddenly became hypocritical to my taste;

even the apologetic smiles from the waiters and waitresses

suddenly made them look like poor actors and actresses…

I have had my mind caught in the middle of processing

from feeling sorry for that poor man,

to feeling guilty that I was the one sitting at the table

while he was the one being thrown out;

from trying to justify the situation so I could return to my ‘perfect world’(my own hypocrisy!),

to battling myself to see through the self-deceptions and illusions going on in my own mind!

What had really changed ?

the food was the same;

the Charles bridge was the same;

people were the same;

It was the same ME …

But my whole experience has changed;

and the whole reality of ‘life is wonderful’ has changed into something less wonderful!

It could not be more clear to me-

that it has been always my own mind

which keeps creating different experiences and different realities at different times!

Could this be the root of the human sufferings, the downfall of the humanity-

that we have too little understanding of the nature of our own mind?!

That we fail to understand the duality of the human’s mind–

both lower mind and higher mind are entangled yet difficult to distinguish from;

As the lower mind is manipulative associates closely with the desires and egos,

and easily being led by the impulses from the physical senses;

while the higher mind can neither be manipulated nor deceived-

because it is the higher aspect of our self (soul aspect)

which doesn’t really belong to us yet keeps serving us as divine inspirations 

when we are in tune with our soul purpose!

Unfortunately through the human history-

many times those lower minds have succeed to gain upper hand over the high minds…

This is why Michael Jackson could have attracted more attention than Laotz;

That’s why Amsterdam window girls could have attracted more admirers than Jesus;

That’s why someone like Pewdiepie could even have more followers

than the Gautama Buddha……

At times I am pretty pessimistic about humanity-

because of the understanding of the destructive power within us -

knowing if we allow the impulses from our lower mind dictating us,

our egos will grow bigger;

our desires will grow stronger;

the light of our souls will grow weaker…

the human world will lose its peace and go into chaos…

‘Armageddon’ will not just be a metaphor anymore but

a pretty close prediction according to the patters of humanity development!

But at other times I am also pretty optimistic about humanity-

because of the understanding of the creative power within us-

by understanding the nature of human’s mind:

if our lower mind can be easily manipulated,

why not manipulate it in a more creative and positive way instead?!

(Just like redirecting energy if there is no way to destroy it.)

So if we can choose to BELIEVE regardless our current situations-

that we are abundant even we are not at this moment;

that we are loving and compassionate even we don't feel like that sometimes;

that we are beautiful and wonderful even we have doubts from time to time;

that we are much loved and blessed even that seems not the case right now ... 

Almost miraculously,

things will be moving and changing in accordance with

the degrees of our acceptance toward the new reprogramming in our mind-

because just BELIEVING has its immense power and strength!

Gradually we will believe in more and more in ourselves -

that we have the ability to change ourselves and the world around us;

that we have the power to create any reality as we desire!

You may call it that is the manipulation of the mind-

but to me, that IS a pretty intelligent one!