The Philosopher's Answer

Here is a great parable to demonstrate the principle of perception.

The Philosophers Answer

The story is told of a philosopher who stood at the gate of an ancient city greeting travelers as they entered. One of them questioned him: "What kind of people live in your city?"
The philosopher met the question with a counter question: "What kind of people lived in the city from whence you came?"
"Oh they were very bad people." Answered the traveler. "Cruel, deceitful, devil worshipping."
"That is the kind of people who live in this city,," declared the philosopher.
Another traveler came by and asked the same question, to which the philosopher replied:"What kind of people lived in the city from whence you came?"
"OH they were very good people, answered the second traveler, kind and truthful, and God loving."
The philosopher replied, "That's the kind of people who live in this city."



Perception is, in a nutshell, our beliefs based on our experience. The way we perceive the present day world is based on how our world has been in the past, and the meanings we put on those experiences are based on that perception.

There is no right or wrong in perception. Perception simply is! It is made up of either illusion or reality. Illusion is defined as anything that is temporary in nature, that was thought up by man, and had a perception placed on it. When two people agree on this illusion, it then becomes their reality.

Perception can make whatever picture the mind desires. This is especially important to remember in the way we perceive others.
When ever we judge anyone negatively, we are really judging those aspects in ourselves. It is impossible to see something in someone else unless we perceive it in ourselves on some level of experience. "What we resists persist"

Perception is a mirror not a fact. What we look at is our state of mind, reflected outward.

Taken from the Rapid Eye Life Skills Manual.