Navigating the abyss between appearance and truth

Since time immemorial, it is a well-established fact that there is a wide difference between the way things appear and the way they are in reality. An apparent thing must have concealed many secrets in itself. A glittering object should not be as it appears. The shiny surface of a river may contain filth in the bottom. The scintillating water of a lake can deceive a person in broad daylight. It may contain dirt at the bottom that is unpleasant. A person with a charming personality can have a wolf’s heart, while a person with a wasp in his or her voice can have a soft heart. A beautiful garden may have poisonous weeds while a barren land may contain beautiful and colourful flowers.

If this is the case, there should be some criteria for judging things. What are those parameters that should be kept in mind? How can a person lift the veil from good-looking things? If we delve deeper into this, there are chances that we can reach the bottom of a thing. So, what are the parameters to be followed? Let us discuss some of these.

The first is to know one’s destination. If one’s destination is Hereafter, he or she will reflect on everything. He will prepare accordingly for this. Any person or thing that looks like helping your cause, may not be. He will judge the person’s or a thing’s reality, by considering many factors.

A person’s sweet talk will have no effect on you because you know that this sweet talk is not going to help you in any way. The person’s only motive is materialism but my way allows me to desire the material things in a limited manner. Materialism is for me but I am for something else. The Sun, the Moon, the mountain ranges, the beautiful landscapes, etc are helpful for me in the sense that they help me in reaching my destination. If not, then these things are not of any use to me. I will look for darkness that can be beneficial to me and help me in achieving what I desire for. This is the first step of this process. So, one should tread this path very carefully.

The second is considering what is the real meaning of life. Is life about enjoying blindly or is it about pondering over the necessity of creation? This paves the way for understanding God’s plan of creation. In this way, things will become quite apparent. If God has created things minutely, we should also look at things in the same manner. The difference in living in different communities should open the doors for deep insight. When life is to introspect, there is no chance of blindly loving the material things and allowing the line of demarcation to get blurred.

Third is considering the real nature of things. If things are temporary in nature, there should be no concern for their absence while the permanent things should always be cherished. The Sun, the Moon, the Earth, etc are temporary. They shouldn’t be loved permanently. For some time, they have been gifted to us. One day will come when there will remain nothing. So, it makes no sense to mix real and unreal. When things are ephemeral, why blur the line of differentiation between right and wrong?

In the present world, the line of demarcation has blurred a lot. There should be a difference between appearance and reality. It can help us in getting something good out of all the things. It needs both collective as well as individual approaches. If we use our faculties of life, we can be able to differentiate between real and unreal. The ball is in our court to do it. Let us not deceive ourselves more and more and make a decision between the two as soon as possible.