One Reality... And Multiple Worlds

Why do people have differing interpretations of reality? In some cases, these interpretations are so far apart that they seem to stem from different worlds .

I think a good analogy that explains this phenomenon is that of building blocks. I compare experiences that we come across in life as building blocks.

Throughout our lives, when something happens to us, we are handed a building block with a certain shape and size. You take that block and place it on the ground. Another experience (building block) occurs. It has its own unique shape and size. You then start thinking if there is a relationship between this block the one before. When you don't find any, you just place it somewhere next to it.

With time, you accumulate hundreds of blocks and relationships start to appear. You begin to discover that this block actually fits perfectly over that one over there, and the block that you set aside several years ago actually fits here wonderfully. And so on. Yes, there are some that just don't fit anywhere, but there are still hundreds and hundreds that do! You begin to realize there is a relationship! Meaning starts to surface and you begin to "understand."

At a certain age, you "finish" building the house. It's wonderful. It's "perfect". And it should be because you've spent years building it through a painstaking process that involved much reflection and thought. But it was no doubt worth the effort because now you "know" what life is. Now you truly understand the relationships between the different elements in life.

Or do you?

You see, although your house is wonderful, although your house is complete, and although your building blocks do fit together admirably, you have made the fatal assumption that your house is the only house out there. You assume your house is reality. And therein lies the problem!

In my opinion, reality is an accumulation of multitudes and multitudes of houses of different shapes and sizes with each person building his own house which represents his perception of that small part of reality. This is simply because each of the experiences we encounter in our lives are different. We are not handed an identical set of building blocks. Yes, some blocks might be identical but not all of them.

Let me illustrate. One person might have lots of experience suggesting that people are generally kind at heart if they are treated properly. He sees the world in that light. Another may have abundant experience suggesting that people are generally evil and selfish. He has come to see the world from a differing perspective than that of the previous. The reality of the matter is that people have both aspects in them; people can be kind and can be selfish. When you hear these people argue, you sense that each has been living in a different planet than the other. An interesting aside is that because of each of their opposing paradigms of people, each will elicit different behavior from others because of the way each will treat them because of his negative or positive view. Their assumptions will then be confirmed and they will self-fulfill their own prophecies!

It is quite understandable why all of us, to varying degrees, can easily adopt this assumption. As human beings, we are in continuous search for meaning; always trying to understand. Not understanding gives us a sense of insecurity; we don't know when bad things might happen because we don't know why or how they happened in the first place. As a result, we are quick to assume understanding, even though we don't understand; we do this just to fill that frightening void of uncertainty.

Now, some will build small houses. Others, who have a broader range of experience, will build even bigger houses.

Yet, there are those who have enough entrenched peace and security to hold on to those obscure building blocks, and decide, although their house is finished, they won't throw them away like the others did. These people keep accumulating and setting building blocks aside until a structure that is different, yet, parallel to their own, starts to appear!

These people come to the realization that, although it is one reality, there are many worlds, each human with his own unique world/ house. Although many houses have many shared characteristics, they are unique and elegant in their own right.

These people, who have acquired this valuable insight, stop assuming that people live in houses exactly like theirs. They begin to ask permission to enter other's houses by practicing respect, understanding, and love. People start letting them in, and showing around their homes!

Soon, they begin to see the world like no other can!