Changing Places

‘Changing places’ is a good lesson to learn and practise in daily life. What is it about ‘changing places’? It is all about how to think and see the world. We like to convince others that ‘I’ am right and ‘others’ are wrong and always take sides with ourselves. So there is conflict everywhere. To ‘change places’ can help us to live a happy life.

Before I explain this further, I would like to tell you a story called ‘change places’. This is the story;

In one elementary school, there was a major argument between two school boys. Each of them tried to convince the other that "I" was right and "he" was wrong. When the teacher came and saw this, he decided to teach them a very important lesson. He brought them up to the front of the class and placed each of them in different corner of the room. In the middle of the room, there was a desk with a large, round object on it. The boys could clearly see this.

Then the teacher asked the boys what colour the object was. "White", the boy in the right corner answered and “Black”, the boy in the left corner answered. Another argument started between them, this time about the colour of the object. To stop the new argument, the teacher told them to ‘change places’ and now he asked them what the color of the object was. “Black”, the boy in the right corner answered and "White", the boy in the left corner answered. Why did they change their answers? It was because an object had two differently coloured sides, and from one viewpoint it was white or black.
The teacher taught them a very important lesson to learn that day, how important it is to ‘change places’. We need to change places to see the other aspect in order to truly understand the others’ perspective. It is a good lesson, isn’t it? Because human beings usually take sides with themselves. They have never thought of themselves to be as others. So ‘changing places’ is good way to help us to live a happy life. The Buddha also taught something similar, he said, “Think of others as yourself, then you will understand more about life”.

If we change places, we think of others as being like ourselves. We will love others or be kind to others; be generous towards others, take responsibility for ourselves. We will be truthful to ourselves and others; be mindful and careful of our own actions, not harmful to ourselves and others. ‘Changing places’ will change our view of others and make us more accommodating of others. It is much easier to try and see the views of others than make them see the world like you. Do you agree with me?

Unknown author