Don’t Hesitate to Contradict Yourself

“Contradiction is not a sign of falsity, nor the lack of contradiction a sign of truth.”  –  Blaise Pascal

There are no straight lines nature. Everything, from land to water to air, negotiates with it self and its environs in a ‘curvy’, ‘to and fro’ manner. Ambiguity is one of the principles of creation.There won’t be mountains and valleys, and the beautiful winding rivers if they all moved in linear style from one point to the next in straight forward direction. Then why is the human being alone expected to think in straight lines? Why is so much of negativity attached to self-contradictory views? People who go back on their words because they changed their mind  are judged as inconsistent people and are rarely regarded as trust worthy by the society.
Contradictory thinking occurs when the thought process changes direction either because the mind’s scope of thinking widens, or  something external triggers a change in the direction of the thought process. What ever be the case – change in thinking, mindset, opinion, or contradicting ones own views – it is simply the indication of an active, dynamic mind. It’s a sign of mental growth or evolvement. At times, a self-contradicting mind may look chaotic, inconsistent and lacking in clarity, but it is in motion nevertheless, which is a better state of mind than static . It should be understood that we don’t grow with time, but with experience. With each experience, seemingly big or small, apparently significant or less significant, we grow; our mind evolves. It is not the same mind ‘now’ which took ‘that decision’ 24 hrs ago. The more a person exposes him/her to the changes and challenges of life, the more will be the growth rate of their mind; and in such cases, change of mind, change in stand and self-contradictory opinions become an inevitable part of growing up. So the next time you happen to change your mind about something, and if people judge you that you are inconsistent in your thinking and contradicting yourself , don’t hesitate….Allow yourself to grow and outgrow your past. More the twists and turns in a river, more is the music in it.

A quote

“I want to be like water. I want to slip through fingers, but hold up a ship.“

– Michelle Williams

Do not judge!

“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.”

F. Nietzsche
Image from National Geographic

To do: Nothing

Don’t feel guilty about it.  Since ages, society has conditioned us to be competitive, a doer, go getter, or a ‘die hard person’. There is a strong preconceived notion that the one who is workaholic is a worthwhile being. The one who takes the least vacation breaks or no breaks at all, which is even better, is the most trusted employee. Just go a layer deeper beneath the ‘skin’ of these so called workaholics and you will find an unhappy, desperate person trying hard to attach his or her identity with the work they do. Such an attitude is a trap. Self identification with anything external,  however holy it might seem, is a trap. It is a trap to your freedom of growth.  What I mean by “to do : nothing”  is to do absolutely nothing. Not even partying or picnicking with friends or family. I mean to say, by doing nothing, you are spending time with YOUR SELF – The center of your universe. Unless You are conscious and healthy you cannot relate or respond to all that is around you, including your most loved ones. It’s extremely important to allot a ‘do nothing’  time for yourself and spend quality time with you and yourself. Strictly between you and yourself. You may do whatever you wish… sing, paint, listen to music, read and reflect upon a book, enjoy the nature, or anything or ‘nothing’ that cleanses your inner being and space of all the ego and emotional rust and dust that got collected during the course of the week. The more often you clean your inner self, the more neat and healthy you are, inwardly, which is the pivotal point of all your outward activities.

“We join spokes together in a wheel, 
but it is the center hole 
that makes the wagon move.

We shape clay into a pot, 
but it is the emptiness inside
that holds whatever we want.

We hammer wood for a house, 
but it is the inner space
that makes it livable.

We work with being, 
but non-being is what we use.”

– Lao Tzu

I just took some time off my ‘To-do-nothing day’ to post this blog. Rest of the day is going to be me, myself, and Beethoven’s music.

Life’s opportunities

Sometimes, you may see an angel, and at times, you can be an angel ! Opportunities abound in the lane of Life.

Joy

Simple, beautiful joys of Life,

Those joys that does not thrive on someone else’s sorrow,

Those joys that are free for all, anywhere, any time,

And knows ‘no pain or fear or guilt’,

The one who cannot afford such joys , for what ever reason, is the real loser.

But my God lives in such joys.

Salt Man and the Theorists – a story

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“Once it happened that there was a great festival near a sea, on the beach. Thousands of people were gathered there and suddenly they all became engrossed in a question — whether the sea is immeasurable or measurable; whether there is a bottom to it or not; fathomable or unfathomable? By chance, one man completely made of salt was also there. He said, ‘You wait, and you discuss, and I will go into the ocean and find out, because how can one know unless one goes into it?’

So the man of salt jumped into the ocean. Hours passed, days passed, then months passed, and people started to go to their homes. They had waited long enough, and the man of salt was not coming back.
The man of salt, the moment he entered the ocean, started melting, and by the time he reached the bottom he was no more there. He dissolved into the Ocean. He came to know about the Ocean, but became the Ocean itself  and couldn’t come back to tell his experience. And those who didn’t know, they discussed it for a long time. They may theories and counter theories , and finally arrived at some conclusion, because the mind loves to reach conclusions.
Once a conclusion is reached, mind feels at ease — hence so many philosophies exist. All philosophies exist to fulfill a need: the mind asks and the mind cannot remain with the question, it is uneasy; to remain with the question feels inconvenient. An answer is needed — even if it is false it will do; mind is put at rest. we are all men of salt as far as the ocean is concerned — the ocean of life and death. We are men of salt, we will melt into it because we come out of it. We are made by it, of it. We will melt!
So mind is always afraid of going into the ocean; it is made of salt, it is bound to dissolve. It is afraid, so it remains on the bank, discussing things, debating, arguing, creating theories: all false — because they are based on fear. A courageous man will take the jump, and he will resist accepting any answer which is not known by himself.
Jesus says, ‘Truth liberates.’ Have you seen anybody being liberated by theories? Experience liberates, yes, but theories about every experience? No, never! But the mind is afraid to take the jump, because mind is made of the same stuff as the universe; if you take the jump you will be lost. You will come to know, but you will know only when you are not.
The salt man came to know. He touched the very depth. He reached the very center but he couldn’t come back. Even if he could, how would he relate…? Even if he comes, his language will belong to the center, to the depth, which is Silence, and your language belongs to the bank, to the periphery which is theory, philosophy and words.”

– edited from a talk by Osho.

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Veil of words, veil of theories and ideas, all just to feed the mind, to keep oneself engaged ! The more we talk, the more we are avoiding the Truth. That is why Lao Tzu said,

“He who knows, does not speak. He who speaks, does not know.”

Photo source: http://www.lexphoto.co.uk/

Karma or free will? Let inner Silence guide

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“What is the difference between Karma and free will?”

Someone put this question to a great spiritual Guru of India –

He replied, “Your height is your Karma, your weight is free will.”

Smart answer! But the situations in life are not always as black and white as the ‘height and weight’ example. Most of the time we find it very hard to figure out which is karma, the unchangeable, and which is free will, the changeable. Day and night we are bombarded with questions like ‘let go of what and hang on to what? Surrender to what and fight what?’ Even with genuine application of our rationality, we still lack clarity in understanding life’s situations. The very mind that helps us to reason out, can also play trickster in clouding our perceptions. If only rationality and reasoning could solve all the problems, then this world would be a perfect place. But it is not. So, reasoning is not the only way to understand the nature of a situation, especially when the situation and context are defying all ‘logic’.

The faculty of reasoning cannot guide us much because reasoning is just a state of mind, which is  influenced by our needs, and constrained by our limited knowledge. But Karma and free will are forces that operate beyond the faculties of reasoning. These are universal, dynamic force that connects everything with everything and are in a state of perpetual flux. Trying to grasp these tremendous forces with this tiny tool called mind, is near to impossible. So the solution has to be something other than the mind. To be specific, something other than the thinking, reasoning mind.

Mind is a natural chatterbox. Depending on the person, it could be an emotional chatter, or an intellectual chatter, but it is chatter nevertheless.  Society believes this mental chatter to be a sign of a ‘thinking’ or a ‘feeling’ man. I am not going to criticize this mindset of the society. Enough is to say that there is a state of mind that is superior to thinking. It is the silent mind. Experiencing it is similar to the freshness and clarity we feel after a good sleep, but in a much higher degree because when we sleep, our mind goes to the sub conscious state, but in a silent, still mind, we are fully awake, conscious and aware. It is very vital to give breaks to the constantly chattering and manipulating mind to feel the intensity and direction of the flow of life. It is only by quieting the mind, or by meditating, if you prefer that word, that we can decode complex situations of life. Karma and free will are not two discreet forces but they are two constantly negotiating, interchanging and evolving forces .It won’t be possible to seek clarity at root cause level while being influenced by the mind which incessantly tries to define and interpret situations.

Physics says that a perfect balance state is essentially a motionless state, a state of no activity. But it’s this very stillness that holds the motion.  So with the still mind. It is in such a state that the whole activity of the cosmos is contained.  It is the only state where the forces of dualities cease to influence us. It is in this state that the faculties of the mind, namely the reasoning and emotions, reset themselves and align with the natural flow of life. It is here that the inner guiding voice can be heard clearly.

Meditation is a big subject in itself. It is not the aim of this article to discuss it in depth. But if we could take it as a lead and start practicing silence/meditation at least for a few minutes in a day as a beginning, then we may realize how the quality of our perception of life has greatly improved. Let the silence speak and guide us through the labyrinth of Karma and free will into a more beautiful life. I will conclude with one of my favorite quotes of Lao Tzu;

“To a mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders”

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Photo credit: Trigger Image