The Tyranny of Events

If I ever come across a really nice quote, I write it on a piece of paper and stick it on the wall near my desk, so that I am reminded of it frequently. One such quote is something I read in the book “The Four Agreements” -

Don’t get caught up in the tyranny of events

The way I interpret this is that nothing that happens in this world is intrinsically good or bad. We put these labels on the events ourselves and then suffer as a result of it.

For instance, consider a cricket game, with millions of people watching. Now the result of the same game would leave half the people happy and the other half devastated. So what is it then? was the outcome of the game good or bad?

There’s a famous zen story in which two Buddhist monks are arguing over a flag. One of the monks says that it’s the flat that is moving, while the other says that it’s the wind that is moving. Their teacher sees them and tells them that it’s their minds that are doing all the moving.

Even the same person might have different opinions about an event at different times. You might get fired, and hate it at that moment. But later you get another Job opportunity and in hindsight, you are grateful that you got fired. That event now appears good to you.

Wouldn’t it be great if we just always assumed that whatever is happening is for the absolute best?