Anecdote: The Perfect Mask

A man went to a magician. He had heard that the magician had the power to put a person in any mask he wants.

"I want to be a popular man. Do you have a mask of a popular man?”

“Yes, I have. Here, wear this mask.”

Saying this, the magician put him in a mask.

The man went home with the mask. He was now a popular man; everybody appeared pleased with him, and praised him all the time.

He loved all the attention he was getting.

But, soon, he started feeling anxious. "What if tomorrow I do something wrong? All these people will then stop loving me.” the man thought to himself. He couldn’t sleep that night.

Next day he worked extra hard to make others happy, so that he could remain popular. But at the end of a day, he felt more anxious than before.

This went on for a while. After some time, the man couldn't take it anymore. He went back to the magician.

"I don't want this mask. It is making me anxious all the time. Please give me a different mask - I don't want to care about people all the time."

“Alright." Said the magician, and handed out another mask. "Here, try this one."

The man went back. He realized that he no longer cared about what people thought of him. He was no longer anxious about whether he was popular or not. He felt relieved.

But soon, he started resenting everybody and everything. He felt very angry all the time — sometimes, he thought his head is going to burst.

He couldn't take it any longer. This was not a life worth living.

The man again went back "I don't like this mask either, can you give me another mask?"

He tried other masks, one after another, but he didn't like any of them.

Finally, as the main despaired, the magician took pity on him.

"Let me suggest something different this time." He took out a new mask and handed it to the man.

"This is the very special mask. It works differently from the others — you get to decide how effective this mask will be." said the magician.

The man went home with the mask. This time, he experienced a deep sense of calm — he had never felt this way before.

Intrigued, the man went back to the magician.

"How is this mask working for you?" Asked the magician.

"This mask is a very strange mask."

"How so? Did it change you as a person?" Asked the magician.

"I am myself, but yet I am different. My behaviour sometimes makes me popular, sometimes unpopular; sometimes I feel happy, sometimes not. I am aware of my feelings, but I am unaffected by them. Its like I am standing aside, and looking at my feelings as an observer. I think I am getting to know myself better now."

"This is the mask of self-awareness. You have found your perfect mask" said the magician.

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Korean_folkdance_mask.jpg