We pay too much attention to that which we can see and not enough to that we cannot.
I posted that on Facebook last night, and received some likes. But I want to further explore the meaning I take from this saying.
Some read this as an admonition to stop paying attention to looks and start paying attention to personality. Others see it as a call to optimism or even others as a statement about perceptive abilities. They are all correct, as their truth is as valid as mine or yours.
What I mean to convey with this message, though, is different, and may take a piece from each of the other interpretations. For me, the message is that the things we are unable to see matter more than those we can see with our eyes. The glass, and everything else, is always full whether it be with water or air or tissue paper. There are so many things that can fill a glass, yet we focus solely on water. Why?
What if someone presented you with a glass stuffed with tissue paper and asked you whether or not the glass was full? If you are like many/most people, your initial response would be one of confusion. You may think the question is absurd, or that the questioner is playing a mind game with you.
How do we see love, passion, empathy, kindness or other personality traits? They are often the air in the glass. Sometimes we “see” these qualities in the actions of people, thus transforming them into the tissue paper.
As a society, we are focused on the water, the outward appearance, the tangibles. We determine the goodness or badness of a person based upon the easily viewable. How often do we pause for a moment and really think about who a person is?
It is not always easy, to be sure. There is no simple way to determine if someone is good or bad, like you or unlike you. In order to see the unseeable, we must look, and listen, with our hearts. If kindness resides in our hearts, we will see it, hear it and feel it in others.
This all takes time and our society is so fast paced that we have developed an entire toolbox of techniques to make quick decisions about others. Our world is beset with animosity and tribalism. Sure, those two demons have always existed, but our brains have evolved a great deal since then.
It is up to us whether we will use these advanced cognitive abilities to expand our circle or to make snap judgments that further isolate us from one another.
Suburban Buddhism 