Kai-Zen Lesson #1: The Color of Water is the Color of its vessel

I am starting this series of lessons of wisdom and spiritual guide lines that are aimed at making positive change and in our lives and those around us. I will call them Kai-Zen from the Japanese for Good (Zen) Change (Kai). These lessons of wisdom learned from various resources such as great spiritual masters, influential successful individuals, various readings, training courses, and even from experience - success and failure alike - will hopefully be lanterns on the path of being better human beings. I also wish that they will help us to fulfill the 4 necessities of life "To Live, to Learn, to Love, & to Leave  Legacy".

And now to our first lesson:

"The Color of Water is the Color of its Vessel"

"لون الماء لون اناءه"

Few of you must have wondered what that phrase meant when I posted it in the about me part. Take a minute to reflect and question yourself what it means, then read on.

Meaning: Truth is like the water so transparent and clear. Humans are like vessel; cups, pots, containers, bottles, etc. One's own understanding of truth and representation of it may slightly show in different colors and shape according to the persons experience, knowledge, prospective, and state of being. However, the truth remains unchanged but we humans are limited and we have to appreciate that.

In Nero Linguistic Programing (NLP), one of the most basic tenants of human change and development is to understand that:

"The Map is not the Territory"

I.e. our own maps and understanding of reality is not necessary equal to reality, however, more like a road map that gives a smaller representation of some aspects of reality to guide us through. Keep in mind that each person has a different published print of their own map and some difference in representation and symbols and signs may be different. Hence, we have to acknowledge the fact that other people will have a different view towards life, truth, and reality.

Exercise: Imagine a "fancy 2000$ pen".

What's the color of that pen?......

Each one of you will have a different color in mind. I for instance would say transparent crystal clear, or even a black, but what matters is I have to accept that each one of you will have their own "field of reference", which is the collective pool of knowledge, experience and stored memories.

Application: In life we will work with people who have their own maps. Let's be flexible enough to acknowledge the difference and accept it, then try to understand the other before wanting to be understood. Great Listeners are great Learners, admired Leaders, passionate Lovers and Live a happy life.

Self reflect............