Teacher: “If I gave you 2 cats and another 2 cats and another 2, how many would you have?”
Johnny: “Seven.”
Teacher: “No, listen carefully… If I gave you two cats, and another two cats, and another two, how many would you have?”
Johnny: “Seven.”
Teacher: “Let me put it to you differently. If I gave you two apples, and another two apples, and another two, how many would you have?”
Johnny: “Six.”
Teacher: “Good. Now if I gave you two cats, and another two cats, and another two, how many would you have?”
Johnny: “Seven!”
Teacher: “Johnny, where in the heck do you get seven from?!”
Johnny: “Because I’ve already got a freaking cat!”
You may also like: What Gender Is Computer?
Credit: Source unknown.
In this daring talk, Professor Elizabeth Loftus, brings to light the fallible nature of our memories. Rather than thinking of memories as recordings we must view them as “reconstuctions”. These reconstructions can be both creative and fallible leading to false memories.
This talk also highlights the fragility of the “stories” we tell ourselves. When we nurse hurts we build up a case mentally against our alleged perpetrators and how evil they are. We use our biases and selective recall of events to build up a “case” in our heads which may be largely fictional. This then continues to consume us and destroy our lives. That is why every religious and spiritual tradition advocates forgiveness and humilty so that we do not spend our lives and energies with false memories.
The idea of Avalokitesvara resides with the notion of a Buddha postponing his own enlightenment for the sake of humanity. This Buddha is very close to enlightenment but remains attached to this world and helps us.
This is one of the Dalai Lama’s favourite prayers. It is extracted from “A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life” by Shantideva, a Buddhist master from the monastic university of Nalanda, India. It was composed in the eighth century, inspired by an Avalokitesvara:
May no living creature suffer,
Commit evil, or ever fall ill.
May no one be afraid or belittled,
With a mind weighed down by depression.
May the blind see forms
And the deaf hear sounds,
May those whose bodies are worn with toil
Be restored on finding repose.
May the naked find clothing,
The hungry find food;
May the thirsty find water
And delicious drinks.
Continue reading
