Throughout life, we often overlook our perspective and never think about how important it is.
Perspective can also be called our viewpoint. Sometimes those at a higher level cannot see the issues below. When looking from a lower perspective, we may not understand or see clearly, so we need to elevate our viewpoint. Sometimes, when you’re at the peak of a mountain, you cannot see what the peak looks like and you need to be out of that peak to see it!
Why do we go hiking today? Is it to enjoy the scenery and find beauty? The scenery we see can be expansive at times, narrow at others, sometimes full of light, and sometimes filled with darkness. The scenery is always changing. So, don’t think that we’re going to seek beauty, but rather think: What can we learn from this level? Then naturally, wherever we go, we can find joy. We should take time to pause and look around, and ask ourselves: Why?
If we walk too fast, just to reach a destination and come back, or if we go searching for a beautiful spot and think that’s success, that’s not it. We walk to see what level our life is at right now, what perspective we are in. With such a perspective, why can’t we feel happy at this very moment? Or why do we feel joy and satisfaction right now? Why is that?
Walking has no inherent meaning, but we should give it a meaning: our perspective.
Life is just like your walk right now. You need to change your elevation. Sometimes you are at a very low elevation, and you need to go higher to have a better view. Other times, you may drop down to a lower elevation to see your surroundings better, and certain angles help you see better than others. Sometimes, you cannot stand on the same mountain to view it; you need to be out of it and look back at it. If you only stay within Buddhism, you won’t be able to understand Buddhism because you lack comparison. You jump out of Buddhism, embrace a different faith, and from that different faith, you look back at Buddhism. You realize. You realize not because you understand, but because you see it from another angle. Thus, elevation or viewpoint is what we are always seeking. Why do we hike? Not just because we want to reach the summit for an unobstructed view, but also because we want to change our perspective.
The teacher asked: According to you, Sister T, are you happy with your life right now?
Sister T: Yes, I am.
Teacher: So what’s the next step you need to take regarding your perspective?
Sister T: I need to elevate my perspective.
Teacher: How do you know when to elevate your perspective? How do you know when to lower it? Sometimes, elevating your perspective means you practice in seclusion. Sometimes, lowering it means engaging with the world. It’s not always better to go higher or lower; we need to know what we need.
Sometimes we need to be in an open, flat space like here. Sometimes we need many friends. Sometimes we need to connect with more people.
Understanding that makes our spiritual journey beautiful. If not, we keep thinking we must always go higher. What happens when we reach the summit? At that point, there’s only one choice: to come back down!
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