A person was walking on a street; he came across a hoarding whose color was blue. He stopped and starting reading the hoarding. Another person came from the opposite direction and started reading the billboard too. The first one asked the second, “What’s written on the other side of this blue hoarding?” The second one replied, “It’s not blue, it’s green.” And so an argument began. A wise man that was passing by said, “If you two would just look at each other’s side of the board, you’d find the answer.”
This happens in the practical world, too. Everyone looks at the world through his own point of view; everyone wears a different color of spectacles and sees the world through them. When a child is born, his state of mind is blank but his parents, teachers and environment imbue various prejudices in his mind. So when he sees the world through the colored spectacles of his prejudices, he sees it colored the same way, and thinks that this is the absolute truth.
To see the thing right, one must be realistic. This requires that a person must open every door of his mind and heart, put aside his prejudices and see the world in an impartial way. Bias and partiality is the root of all differences.
It is true that being realistic is not easy. A person must not only put aside his prejudices but also his interests, likes and dislikes. He may have to hear discomforting words from his friends and family who are biased in some way. But the benefit of realistic and impartial thinking are great, which lead a person to the absolute truth. Closing one’s eyes like a pigeon who does not want to face the cat seems easy, but it will have dangerous consequences.
(Derived from the works of Muhammad Mubashir Nazir, Translation: Asma Nazir)
Think about it!
—– How could the differences be reconciled?
—– Do you think partially or impartially? Think about three instances when you made a decision in a biased way.