Carrying baggage

In working through repetitive conflicts, we begin to see our shadows and old baggage more clearly. There's an old Zen story that makes this point very well:

"It concerns an interesting "couple," two monks who were walking in silence by a river at sunrise, early in the spring. Swollen with the melting snows, the river had overflowed its banks and swamped the small footbridge that was the only point of crossing for many miles.

A young woman, in much distress, stood forlornly by the swiftly running river, pleading with her eyes for the monks' help. Sweeping her into his arms, the older monk bore her aloft through the swirling current and put her down safely on the other side. The two monks walked in silence until sunset, when the vows of their order allowed them to talk.

The younger monk then turned on his brother with unbridled fury. "How could you have picked that woman up!" he accused. His face grew red as he shook his fists at the older monk. "You, of all people, know the vows of our Order. It is forbidden even to think of a woman, let alone to touch one! You have defiled yourself. Indeed, you have shamed the entire Order!"

The elder monk turned to him complacently. "My brother," he said. His eyes were soft with the wisdom of forgiveness. "I put that woman down on the other side of the river this morning. It is you who have been carrying her around all day." - courtesy www

We all carry baggages. They are our pre dispositions, prejudices and experiences from the past. We tend to view the present through jaundiced eyes of the past. This is a big danger, hampers clear thinking and open minded decision making.

How often have we heard the dreaded words 'In my good old day....'. To tell you the truth, out old days were not all that good. As years go by, the myths and legends of the childhood grow to such an extend that the line between reality and imagination gets blurred. Today is definitely much better than what it was couple of decades ago. Our children are much much more intelligent and smarter than we ever were at their age. Their knowledge levels, ambition, clarity in thinking are at a different higher plane from us.

Same is true of the young lot of employees whom I see joining the companies now. They are much more confident, productive and professional than we were when we started our career.

We need to shed the baggages, embrace the change that is happening around us and move on. I am not saying I do not have baggages from the past. I do, like everyone else. But I try to shed them whenever I feel the burden. Also, I welcome change. Not when it is change for the worse, but definitely when I detect that the change is for better.

Let us not judge the present through the prism of the past. Let us put the present in its right context and evaluate.

Shed those baggages as early as you can.