The following is taken from a modern-day classic of self-help,
"Don't Sweat the small stuff"by Richard Carlson- with my comments, of course!
If you have travelled to foreign countries, you are aware of vast differences between cultures.
The principle of separate realities says that the difference among individuals is every bit as vast. Just as we wouldn't expect people of different cultures to see or do things as we would (in fact, we'd be dissapointed if they did), this principle tells us that the individual differences in our ways of seeing the world prohibit this as well! It's not a matter of merely TOLERATING differences but of truly UNDERSTANDING and HONOURING the fact that it literally can't be any other way.
When we EXPECT to see things differently, when we take it as a given that others will do things differently and react differently to the same stimuli, the COMPASSION we hhave for ourselves and for others rises dramatically.
As we can see, this simple idea can potentially ELIMINATE MOST(or even ALL!) CONFLICTS FROM OUR LIFE!
Jewish perspective- I think, this is incredibly powerful way of approaching Life from Jewish perspective- with "Ayin Tova"-Good Eye- and judging others favourably.
Usually judging favourably is understood as simply resisting the urge to make some negative comment, and "pushing" yourself to find something good in that "bad guy". Here we are given an amazing tool how to accomplish it NATURALLY- BE AN EXPLORER OF LIFE, GIVE A CREDIT TO HASHEM- FOR HE CREATED SO MUCH DIVERSITY IN THIS WORLD!
Each human being is a WHOLE WORLD- thus, a Separate Reality- HONOUR that!
Here we need to appreciate our UNIQUENESS- which is at the core of Talmudic thinking-
"These and those are the words of Living G-d".
Monday, November 23, 2009
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