1175. Attitude....!

 “Attitude is Everything” says a poster. “Your Attitude determines Your Altitude” says another.

What exactly is this “Attitude”???

Attitude is the preconditioning of behaviour or response. Attitude is an acquired state of mind got from enduring the experiences in life. By using it one is liable for his actions and reactions that can be evaluated as negative or positive. Either way the person is labelled as “having too much attitude” but this remark also holds different meanings. In doing things confidently a person is regraded as one with positive attitude. On the other hand if a person is too egoistic he is seen as displaying a negative attitude towards others. So, there can be many definitions of attitude depending upon the perspective. The ability to face a situation in a right manner is to have a positive attitude. This positive attitude depends more on the condition rather than on the effect in regard with the cause.

A Zen master who was in a high altitude monastery was unable to tolerate the extreme cold. When all the firewood accumulated to survive the winter got exhausted, he broke the wooden statue of Buddha into pieces and put them in the fire. When the astonished disciples asked him why he did so, he said “I want the inner Buddha to be alive.” Zen attitude differs from what Buddha had preached. Buddhism concentrated on cause and the aftermath (Effect) while Zen speaks about the cause and conditions (Present). Our action depends on cause and effect as per Buddha point of view but action could also depend on the cause and conditions from Zen masters views.

If an example is to be considered here, two persons are sleeping on the railway platform of a remote village. One of them has lost his home in a fire and has made the platform his shelter for the day and the other guy is from the neighbouring village who takes shelter in the platform as it is safe for him to be there. For the person who had lost his home sleeping on the platform is effect, while for the person from the next village it was a condition to sleep on the platform. This explains the attitude of seeing things. Attitude is always confronted by perception. If “A” says “B” has “Attitude” problem then “B” thinks “A” has “Perception” problem.  

Attitude also helps in perceiving the situation so that a solution can be derived at. 

In the Ramayana, instead of arguing with Kaikeyi and trying to claim His rights over the throne, Shri Rama dealt with the situation from a higher level. He disclosed that he was in fact waiting for such an opportunity where he could unload his burden of responsibilities and learn from the Sages in the forest. When an eagle is chased by a horde of crows, it doesn’t fight back it chooses to fly higher and out of the crows reach. This is the attitude of an eagle. Instead of delving into negative situations, Shri Rama chose to focus on the positives that could be awaiting Him.

When Arjuna visited the Indralokha (Heaven) the celestial nymph, Urvashi cursed him to become a eunuch for rejecting her proposal. He converted that curse into an opportunity by using it to his advantage during the one year of incognito stay at Kingdom of King Virata.

In both the cases it was the condition which was used to the advantage.

So using the prevailing condition to the best of advantage is “ATTITUDE”.