A Zen story tells the tragic tale of widower and his son. Once, when the father was away on business, dacoits raided, burnt down his village and took his little son away. When the man returned, he saw the burnt corpse of an infant. Assuming that his son was killed in the fire, he conducted the last rites and rebuilt his home.
A few days later, his son escaped from the clutches of the dacoits and found his way home. He knocked at the door and called out, ‘Papa, it is me... open the door’. But the distraught father thought that some kid was playing the fool. He shouted, ‘go away!’ After many futile attempts to convince his father that he was alive, the son left the village never to return again.
So often, when we take something to be the truth and cling to it such that even when the truth comes and knocks on our door, we refuse to open it. So often, we hold stubbornly and unreasonably to our own opinions. When we are opinionated we end up in an obstinate and irrational attitude and approach.
It is pertinent to note that a single story based on personal perception lead us to being opinionated. And hence to be better at connecting to the real truth, we must have an open mind that is ever ready to consider the various versions of truth. It is only when we are open to new ideas, thoughts or versions of reality, we choose to break away from the control of overpowering opinionated posturing.
Let’s BE BETTER at escaping the opinionated version...
Instead of unduly adhering to the preconceived notion!
- Pravin K. Sabnis
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