Our brains trick us into thinking that we see and know a lot more than we actually do. In reality, we miss out on a lot of what goes around us. To glean the profound wisdom in life, one has to learn to look at the world a bit differently. For instance, if you observe closely, you will notice that SOMETIMES
- Good is bad and bad is good
- Big is small and small is big
- More is less and less is more
- Yes is no and no is yes
- Right is wrong and wrong is right
- Short is long and long is short
- Fast is slow and slow is fast
- Genuine is fake and fake is genuine
- Joy is sorrow and sorrow is joy
- Wise is fool and fool is wise
- Special is ordinary and ordinary is special
- Gain is loss and loss is gain
- Sweet is bitter and bitter is sweet
- Rich is poor and poor is rich
- A friend is a foe and foe is a friend
- Reality is illusion and illusion is reality
- The remedy is disease and disease is the remedy
- Order is chaos and chaos is order
- Love is hate and hate is love
- The cause is effect and effect is cause
- The Atheist is theist and theist is atheist
- The teacher is a student and the student is a teacher
- True is false and false is true
- Success is failure and failure is success
- Simple is complex and complex is simple
- Masculine is feminine and feminine is masculine
- Freedom is bondage and bondage is freedom
- Mythology is history and history is mythology
- Knowledge is ignorance and ignorance is wisdom
- New is old and old is new
- Work is rest and rest is work
And sometimes life is about neither good nor bad; neither right nor wrong; neither masculine nor feminine, neither love nor hate, neither beautiful nor ugly, neither wisdom nor ignorance, neither perfect nor imperfect, neither leadership nor followership, neither finite nor infinite, neither black nor white but many shades of grey.
The binary thinking involves only two options, “either/or” and keeps us from looking deeper. In actual life, there is not always a right or a wrong answer but an answer that lies somewhere in-between. For instance, consider ambivert (neither extrovert nor introvert), agnostic (neither theist nor atheist), hermaphrodite or intersex (both male and female), wabi-sabi (perfectly imperfect), realist (neither optimist nor pessimist), elected autocrat, quasi-equity (neither equity nor debt), etc.
But why do we look at everything as either-or situation i.e. good versus evil, right versus wrong, left versus right, us versus them, hero versus villain, givers versus takers, eastern versus western, heaven versus hell and nothing in-between? In other words, why are we prone to black and white thinking and jumping to conclusions? Yes, it is supposed to simplify things but we do live in a complex world.
Just a slight change in our angle of perception can radically alter our world view and make our dualistic mind see the non-dual nature of things.
Indeed, life is not always black and white, it’s a million shades of grey. So let’s not get carried away by trying to figure out what’s right and what’s wrong and embrace the complexities of life through non-judgemental acceptance. Let the mind be free of any attachments, free from dualistic man-made rules because that’s how life is.
Also Read:
- The New Abnormal: Post Corona Business World
- Did God create the Coronavirus?
- Musings about Life And God
