There is an opinion that it is Buddhists who are better than others at seeing life in bright colors. Mathieu Ricard, a Buddhist monk and close associate of the Dalai Lama, reveals to us the meaning of the serene facial expression of Buddha images in order to reveal one of the paths to finding inner harmony.
There are many ways to perceive the world. Seeing life “in a rainbow light” first of all means clearly realizing that in every living being, that is, in ourselves, by nature there is a colossal potential that encourages us to spiritual development.
And to perceive the surrounding reality “in gloomy colors” means to believe that our life is initially devoid of a positive perspective and that it is impossible to overcome this doom, just as it is impossible to carve a beautiful statue from rotten wood.
Pessimism speaks of our inner predisposition to suffering, which can sometimes turn into a genuine aversion to life.
The essence of true optimism is to use every moment for meaningful work on yourself, leading ultimately to the improvement of the world, instead of filling your time with fruitless reflection on the past and fear of the future. As Alain** wrote in his book A Conversation of Happiness: “How wonderful human society would be if everyone threw wood on the common fire instead of weeping over the ashes!”
Eyes of Knowledge
The Buddha does not close his eyes to the world, but only looks into the depths of his own soul in order to better understand it. He is like a goldfish swimming with wide eyes in the ocean of ignorance and suffering, and his eyes are full of understanding and sympathy.
“It’s NATURAL TO ACCEPT THE WHOLE WORLD WITHOUT TRYING TO HIDE BEHIND THE FEELING OF YOUR EXCLUSIVENESS”
The Buddha is in harmony with reality because he knows the higher nature of things: he knows the interdependence of all phenomena in the universe and that apart from the rest of the world our “I” does not exist. Even through the clouds of confusion that overwhelms many of us, he is able to discern the inherent ability for spiritual growth in every person.
The smile of selfless love
Buddha’s smile is an expression of boundless and selfless love. It reflects unconditional benevolence: it is fueled by the desire to help all living beings, without exception, find happiness by opening its inexhaustible sources – wisdom, inner freedom, compassion – and free themselves from suffering and its underlying causes – ignorance, hatred, lust.
We are alien to complacency, which dresses up in the clothes of optimism and tries, contrary to logic, to color the sad facts of the imperfect reality surrounding us in a rainbow color. Our enlightened optimism is an openness and creativity that allows us to naturally, spontaneously accept the whole world, without trying to hide behind a false sense of our own exclusiveness.
Spirit of the fullness of being
Instinct tells us that consciousness comes from the heart, science locates it in the brain, and Buddhism describes it as a phenomenon independent of the outside world. But be that as it may, all the events taking place in our psyche, of course, are associated with the excitation, suppression or synchronization of the activity of different parts of the brain.
The point of meditation is to learn a new way to act and be by working on your own spirit. Physically, this kind of work results due to the plasticity of our brain, which changes as we become richer internally and begin to perceive the external world differently. It changes the way we interpret what is happening and experience our emotions. It is the work of the spirit that gives us the opportunity to reveal ourselves and feel the fullness of being at every moment of our existence.
* Matthieu Ricard – a geneticist, in 1972 he abandoned his scientific career and settled in India and Nepal, where he devoted himself entirely to the study of Tibetan Buddhism. A monk and personal translator for the 1868th Dalai Lama, he is the author of several philosophical books.