Ass u me.

Your Understanding Depends on Your Assumptions.

Everything we understand—whether it is a situation, a person, a story, or a problem—comes through the filter of our assumptions.

Assumptions are the invisible beliefs, expectations, or ideas we already hold before we even begin to understand something.

Assumptions act like lenses.

Just as a pair of tinted glasses changes how you see the world, your assumptions change how you interpret information.

Two people with different assumptions can look at the same situation and understand it completely differently.

Their conclusions are not formed only by the facts, but by the assumptions they bring to those facts.

Assumptions can be conscious or unconscious.

Some we know (“I assume this person is honest”).

Some we don’t even realize we carry (“I assume elders are always right,” “I assume silence means anger,” etc.).

Your understanding expands when your assumptions broaden.

If you revise the lens, the view changes.

1. Seeing clouds

Two people look at a dark sky.

One assumes: “Dark clouds mean rain.”

→ They understand it as “A storm is coming.”

Other assumes: “This region often has clouds but no rain.”

→ They understand it as “It will pass.”

Same sky, different understanding because of different assumptions.

2. A friend is silent

If you assume: “Silence means anger,”

→ You think: “He is upset with me.”

If you assume: “He must be tired,”

→ You think: “Let him rest.”

The meaning changes because the assumption changed.

3. Reading a story

Your understanding of a story from the Mahabharata depends on whether you assume:

Dharma is absolute

or

Dharma is situational.

Your conclusion about characters like Bhishma, Karna, or Duryodhana changes.

Most Indian philosophical traditions teach something similar:

Advaita: What you assume to be real shapes your perception of truth.

Nyāya: All knowledge starts with a pramāṇa (means of knowing), but every pramāṇa begins with assumptions.

Buddhism: Suffering arises from mistaken assumptions about permanence and self.

What you understand is only as correct as the assumptions you start with.

You don’t see the world as it is.

You see the world as your assumptions let you see it.

Change your assumptions → change your understanding → change your world.