Que Sera, Sera

Que sera, sera

In a world with multiple inputs telling me what and how to be, I sometimes feel like it’s easy to be mislead. I may choose particular inputs to lead me in a direction I think I want to go. Some folks enjoy being lead by emotions; others choose reason as their compass. Religion, education, social order, what others think of us – these are all examples of powerful motivators.

So which one is the right one? (Is this even an acceptable question to be asking?) How do we know which direction to turn and which motivator to believe?

I believe that acknowledging each input is important but to single out an exclusive one to direct all our actions, thoughts and feelings would be close to fundamentalism – the source of many fanatical mistakes. Also, it lends us the illusion of control. If you’re a mildly-anxious, subtly-manipulating control freak like me then you will understand what I mean.

As an example, let us look at emotions. Have you ever felt that your own emotions were inconsequential? Probably not very often, if at all right? How we feel is often what we put at the middle of our personal universe. Like a solar system, the rest of our life circles around our feelings. As a person with a love-hate relationship with control, I am aware that a lot of my energy goes into controlling my environment and what happens to me so that I feel better. So why don’t I change how I feel instead of trying to change THE WHOLE WORLD??? Strange how we blow things out of proportion...

Acknowledging our emotions is healthy, but they should not be allowed to rule us. Neither should religion, race, caste or taste in cakes. For nothing should rule us. Not even reason. I believe that single mindedly and doggedly subscribing to one idea is damaging, borderline dangerous. Nothing around us is made of one idea, why should we be? Being ruled by any one thing interrupts our synergy with our environment.

This is not synonymous with not having convictions. It is more about being adaptable rather than rigid in our practise of humanity.

In reading Osho’s ‘Zen’, he describes, defines and shows the beauty of the Zen practise. Translated to English, it means to be silent enough to be aware of the fact that all is at it should be, whether by random chance or by some divine intervention. If we approach life and each other quietly instead of arriving guns blazing, we may learn more and are often surprised.

Being on the fence about a lot of topics, I feel that I could relate to the Zen philosophy. It is accessible to anyone, from atheists to religious practitioners, scientists, children, adults and so forth. I appreciated the simplicity of the ideas. It encourages the peaceful release of the things I can’t actually control and embracing the aspects I can change.

Like my font colour.

And my font type.

And whether or not I will have cake for lunch.

Sounds like a good start :)