The book, and the upcoming film with the same title, '50 shades of Grey' has become synonymous with erotic literature. It has given the license to many an innocent nerd claiming to have read "porn". Well, it's not. Like a dear friend of mine had put it to me so nicely, "In matters with regards these, because of their uninhibited urge to perform, the amateurs always churn out the better stuff."
Anyways, I mentioned that specimen of fiction because over the course of the next few paragraphs I'll be trying to bore you with some recent philosophical tinglings I've felt. And I don't want you people to jolt out of your slumber when you see the words "50 shades of Grey" in between. My mention of the phrase has nothing to do with the book.
So, what is this tingling I've had that is currently labouring to be introduced to you? It's something that has been discussed and dissected by people far wiser than us. What I intend to do is channel some of my own personal experience and inferences before quoting what they had to tell us.
The basic premise was laid out when I was torn between deciding whether what I was going to do to be right or wrong? This question of morality lead me to forging the following statement,
"What is morality, but the guilty feeling you get when you are truly enjoying yourself..."
The concept of duality has always fascinated me. We tend to always think in terms of black and white, right and wrong. Everything is fine as long as the elements in our environment stick to these mutually exclusive zones. But when there are transgressions, and there are always transgressions, it is like throwing a spanner into the mechanized machine that is our thought process. We don't know what to do.
To give an example, I was unsure of what to do. The act I was about to perform was always banished into the "wrong" zone by me. So, if I did it, I would either have to accept that it has been shifted into the "right" zone or that I was about to move into the "bad" category of people - both options which I found rather depressing to pursue.
It was then that I came into another branch of thought process, which reminded me of the 50 shades of Grey. Between the demarcated zones of black and white, lies the various shades of Grey. Anything is a combination of black and white, just in different proportions. So, what I was about to do could be termed both as right and wrong, and that would save me a lot of mental burden.
But in the deepest recesses of my mind, I knew that was a weak excuse given to facilitate doing such things. That was when I finally settled into this school of thought - the thought process which does away with the concept of duality and preaches non-duality. And that is where I found peace of mind - in knowing that there's right and wrong, but both are the same.
As someone put it, "The though process of a successful serial killer and a successful detective are the same."
With that, we shall proceed on to the "5 things" for this week.
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1. Anthon St. Maarten, Divine Living: The Essential Guide To Your True Destiny
“If we never experience the chill of a dark winter, it is very unlikely that we will ever cherish the warmth of a bright summer’s day. Nothing stimulates our appetite for the simple joys of life more than the starvation caused by sadness or desperation. In order to complete our amazing life journey successfully, it is vital that we turn each and every dark tear into a pearl of wisdom, and find the blessing in every curse.”
"There are neither good nor bad qualities in the Self. The Self is free from all qualities. Qualities pertain to the mind only. It is beyond quality. If there is unity, there will also be duality. The numerical one gives rise to other numbers. The truth is neither one nor two. It is as it is."
3. Sutta Nipata (a Buddhist Scripture)
"Develop the mind of equilibrium.
You will always be getting praise and blame,
but do not let either affect the poise of the mind:
follow the calmness, the absence of pride."
4. Eric Micha'el Leventhal
“To see through the illusion of duality, remember that fear and darkness have no substance in themselves, for they do not indicate the presence of a second universal force, but are only names given to the one Light unperceived.”
5. The Bhagavad Gita
Yada bhuta-prthag-bhavam
ekastham anupasyati;
Tata eva ca vistaram
Brahma sampadyate tada.
It is when one realizes that all beings and things which are existing separately are living in ‘It’and are ‘It’, and are expanding with ‘It’, then only one attains Brahman [Non Duality].
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In the above quotes, we have been taught the concept of duality as two polar opposites; the reason why we feel a need for duality in all things - to represent the struggle we call as life; how to break away from the concept of duality - by realizing that we perceive things as dual and that that perception is wrong; and what we shall achieve by embracing non-dualism - Brahman.
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Since time immemorial people have been chasing the shadows of non-duality in search of salvation. In my search for wise quotes on non-duality, I came across this gem of a message. Read it thrice and start living in the moments.
"Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves - slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future; Live the actual moment. Only this moment is life." - Thich Nhat Hahn
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Well, that's all for this week.
Hope you have a great weekend.
'til next week.
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