New Way of Seeing

A New Way of Seeing- If being right is your goal, you will find error in the world, and seek to correct it. But do not expect peace of mind. If peace of mind is your goal, look for the errors in your beliefs and expectations. Seek to change them, not the world. And be always prepared to be wrong.


Being able to experience reality as it is, undistorted by our hopes and fears, is often referred to as "enlightenment." The reference "light" in this word is usually thought of in the sense of illumination. A mind that is enlightened is said to be an "illumined" mind. It is a mind that has "seen the light," or sees things in a new light. There is, however, another sense of the word "enlighten" that is equally appropriate. That is "a lightening of the load.
"

The heaviest burdens in this life are not our physical burdens but our mental ones. We are weighed down by our concern for the past, and our worries about the future. This is the load we bear, the weariness that comes from our timefulness.


To en-lighten the mind is to relieve it of this load. An enlightened mind is a mind no longer weighed down by attachments; it is a mind that is free. Being free, it is a mind that is no longer so serious about things -- it takes things more lightly.

Could this be why enlightened people often laugh and smile more?