See real, do right

Have you ever noticed that if something out of the ordinary happens at work or in your family, everyone you ask seems to have a different perception of the incident? After talking to others who witnessed the event, sometimes it seems as if people experienced an entirely different situation. How is it possible that when one thing happens, there can be so many perspectives on the same event? A number of factors come into play to explain this phenomenon.

Stages of human development

Let's begin by considering the level of development the person who is witnessing the event has achieved. There are five levels of development and each sees "truth" at their own level.

• Early humans with un-evolved emotional and mental development depended on physical instincts. They focused on succeeding in terms of physically surviving from day-to-day.
• Average human beings belong to the masses of humanity. They employ the power of emotions through lower passion. Material success and feeding their appetites and desires are key.
• Intelligentsia can be viewed as either the mental type or the mystical type. Many corporate executives, entrepreneurs, and other professionals can be classified as Intelligentsia. They have started to employ not only emotional intelligence and passion, but also the power of the concrete, logical mind. This group also utilises emotional conscience and insightful perception. They are primarily concerned with improving quality of life at individual, family and career levels.
• Advanced human beings use their philosophical as well as concrete mental faculties, plus their emotional intelligence and power of love. They have started to develop intuitive faculties, whether they are aware of it or not. Most, especially the mental type, are starting to integrate the power of the mind, emotions, vitality and physical body. They are in the process of integrating the qualities of success and fulfilment and are guided by a sense of service.
• Saints and sages are advanced people with highly developed inner faculties who embody the three qualities of success and fulfilment - will-power, love and creative intelligence. Especially, the mental type utilises their physical, vitality, emotional, mental, intuitive, and spiritual faculties. The mystical types do not emphasise the physical aspects of their health. Saints and sages actively and consciously apply spiritual virtues and components of success and fulfilment to live a balanced life that contributes to the world, both materially and spiritually.

Therefore, the "truth" for the masses is different from the "truth" for a sage, even though they are concerned with the same event.

Heart development

The development of the heart results in more than tender feelings for loved ones. It is also the source of conscience, which is the power to feel what is right and wrong through your heart. Love serves as a main catalysing ingredient to transform success into fulfilment because love, joy, inner peace and contentment create the feeling of self-fulfilment that go beyond the satisfaction of success. When the heart is developed and open, the person is loving and sensitive to the needs of others, resulting in a natural expression of compassion. The win-win approach entitles you to better and long-lasting results in life.

Love evolves from personal concerns to unconditional love. Once a person starts evolving and the heart centre is more active, intentions and prayers become wishes or invocations for groups, the community good, organisations, cities, countries and humanity as a whole. People who have evolved to this level can leave the world a legacy of monumental projects and service. Compassion and aspiration leading to inspiration are the qualities of saints and sages that lubricate their world service.

As the French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal said, "The heart has a reason that reasons know nothing of."

Virtue of objectivity and practicality

When it comes to what I call, "accurate perception and correct expression," the virtue of objective and practicality is evident. Look at some television news broadcasts and you'll see a sensationalised presentation of the events of the day. And, surely someone in your family or office has a tendency towards grandiose claims that exaggerate their contributions while others are likely to belittle their work.

All these tendencies swing beyond the fulcrum of vision and expression of truth characterised by the virtue of objectivity and practicality. This is the ability to report what is so without flourishes or self-depreciation. There is not fanaticism in either the viewing or retelling of an event. The virtue of objectivity and practicality develops the power to know and perceive the truth properly and the ability to adapt a method or action that is suitable and appropriate to the situation. It is an attitude of being realistic and grounded.

As there are many levels of truth, you need different levels of faculties to perceive truth and information. Then, after concluding the facts properly, act upon and use them properly. Perceiving truth accurately is the first step, an expressing the truth or information in a practical manner is the second step. Many brilliant people research information and conclude the facts, but do not use the data for practical application. On the other hand, many practical people perceive the right information, but due to lack of wisdom, express the data wrong and destructively. Both accurate and objective perception is a must, and practical application is required.