As I was walking outside tonight, I noticed two bright ‘stars’ in the sky. They were actually Venus and Jupiter which as I understand are significantly closer than normal. They do appear to be very close, but in reality they are still very far from another. Our perception is that we see them as being near, but the reality is that they are not so close. So in this case, our perceptions are not accurate. Many of our perceptions in life are not so accurate either. What it is may not be what it is. We cannot let our perceptions have too much power over our rational thinking. Sometimes our perceptions are correct, but often this is not so. It would be easy to assume that it would not be that hard to get from Jupiter to Venus, but of course it would be. The two planets are quite different but we cannot tell that from our position of the ground of the Earth. We may not have all the facts we need to make a wise decision. So too are decisions we make every day. We can be easily fooled by people, thinking they are one way when in fact they are another way. We are quick to judge before all the facts are in. We jump to conclusions and often jump in the wrong place. If we maintain a Tao mind, we can avoid these pitfalls. A Tao mind is not in a hurry.
