Know all things to be like this:
A mirage, a cloud castle,
A dream, an apparition,
Without essence, but with qualities that can be seen.

Know all things to be like this:
As the moon in a bright sky
In some clear lake reflected,
Though to that lake the moon has never moved.

Know all things to be like this:
As an echo that derives
From music, sounds and weeping,
Yet in that echo is no melody.

Know all things to be like this:
As a magician makes illusions
Of horses, oxen, carts and other things,
Nothing is as it appears.

The Buddha I have been trying in the past months to learn a new skill. The skill of not making assumptions. So often we perceive things to be a certain way. Every event that filled our lives up to that point leads us to have certain perception and preconceived ideas. The problem is that we often judge a situation with all the ‘ ammunition’ that we have gathered in our lives. We assume, we know what the meaning, thoughts, emotions and feelings of others are or what they are going to be. This is futile because we cannot know, we cannot predict. Our individuality precludes us from making predictions or assumptions of that nature. What I have learned is to wait, and to listen, and so to find out what the other person wants to convey. It will be a while before I perfect this skill, I’ve been making assumptions about people and things all my life, but I find that the surprise of finding out another human beings true thoughts and feelings rather than my projected reasoning is very illuminating.