Perspectives

Have you ever come across a famous picture that has two people arguing about the number in between them? One argued six, the other argued nine. As we are looking at the picture itself, in that instant, we have come to the middle ground as an observer. It dawned upon us that it is all about perspectives. Therefore, both will conclude they are right because that is what they see and experience.  

Treading on the spiritual journey, have you ever come across a popular debate? One argued there is a world out there, the other argued there is no world out there. “Where is the middle ground?”  This question ignited the curiosity in me. 

In one of my recent retreats in Hong Kong, I was doing sitting meditation late at night about 1 am, minding my own business. Suddenly, there was this loud banging on the wall outside. “Who on earth is banging the wall so hard at 1 am?” This thought arose, accompanied by fear naturally. The mind is quite composed at that moment, and it sets the mental inclination, asking, “How to see this situation correctly?”  In that instant, the change of perspective occurred. The me sitting on a chair in the meditation hall, terrified by the sound outside was objectified as mental experiences -- perception taking place. The fear dissipated immediately despite the ongoing loud banging. The mind clearly understood I wasn’t experiencing some entity knocking on the wall outside but experiencing the perception of some kind of entity knocking on the wall outside.

To sum it up, based on what the mind understood so far in this spiritual journey:

You cannot truly know there is a world “out there,”
for the entirety of your experience of the world, is only experiencing the mind.
The experience of the world is the experience of the mind.
The world, seen correctly, is the mind.

You cannot truly know there is not a world “out there,”
for an independent world, separated from the mind, cannot exist.
The world and the mind are two sides of the same coin.
The world, seen correctly, is the mind.

In grace,
Ng Yong Chuen
14 January 2025