Obviously, I have hard time following my
schedule. A month just went by. When I started this, I haven´t envisioned my
blog as a random pop up happening. I wanted for it to be a regular thing, but
as I am the proof of how life takes us roads we haven´t anticipated, it should
not come to me as a surprise, that yes, a month can go by just like that and that
I cannot follow my own plan. Anyways, today it happened again. The need for me
to write something down has emerged. It was triggered while I was watching a
show on TV, Enlightened. You know it? Well for those who do not, just a little
summary. It is about a woman who, after
a nervous breakdown at a job (love issues and betrayal), goes through months of
soul searching journey in some Hippy Dippy camp, only to return back home to
work at the same company with newly emerged need to help change the world
around her. The show is a delight, smart and funny, but I am not here to give a
review. Actually, I was intrigued by the thought of doubt about sincerity
behind her actions in order to do “Good” and feeling genuine love (read
acceptance) for people around her. What is more, I asked myself on what
conclusion one can decide what is good for others?
The character in the series is supposed to be
the enlightened one. I still haven´t figure out, if the series is about her
actually being enlightened or she is yet to become that. If the second is true
I have no problem with it, however, if the first holds, than I cannot stay calm
at this disfigurement of what being enlightened is supposed to mean. I can
deduce from it one single fact, that there is a difference between acting and actually
being enlightened. See, I cannot get rid of the feeling that her character is
acting upon what she perceives as good and is not what actually IS good. Her
actions are walking on a thin line between revenge and justice. Speaking of the
latter, we do lean on it way too many times when we reason our actions. So my
question here now is, does the perceived correspond with actual reality? Or,
for that matter, what is reality?
Once, I mentioned here the double-slit
experiment. You can see more about it here. The
interesting part is not the weird nature of light particles that behave like
wave and particle at the same time, but the frogs you put in front of that
screen light is shone on. It involves two. One is placed in front of the area
that is lit in every scenario. That is, when particles are observed and when not.
And the other is placed on the area that is lit when particles are observed and
dark when not. To remind you, particles,
when not observed, display a particle-like nature, making the famous
diffraction pattern on the screen. And when observed, they show a single
diffused light pattern. Now, if we imagine those frogs having a conversation in
the second scenario there is no dispute between them. They both claim for light
to be emitted. They see it. However, if asked whether or not light is emitted in
the first scenario, those frogs could end up in having a huge fight. The first
one would claim for the light to be emitted, whereas the second would swear no
light is visible. So which one speaks the truth? From their perspective they
both do. You cannot argue with them, the first sees light the second does not.
Or you can choose to argue with them, but they would both be right. Their
personal experiences support what they are claiming to be true. However, you,
as a know-it-all, as the one that makes the experiment, you know that light is
actually on in both scenarios. It is an invisible law that underlines the
experiment that makes things appear different to them. From your perspective,
light is emitted in every scenario. So I ask you, what is truth? What is
reality? Whose assertion is more accurate? And if your experience tells you something,
you have an actual right to act according to the conclusion of how things
APPEAR to be. Appear! Now that is a strong word and it all comes down to that.
It is quite clear that in upper analogy we
people are the frogs. The know-it-all would be then god, or whatever entity you
like to call it. I call it time-space continuum. I am not sure, yet, if there
even is anything that would be aware of all the momentums of each and single
one particle in the Universe-the entity that would KNOW everything. If it does
exist, it sure makes its way to stay unnoticed and laughs at our inability
to comprehend, that we try to “humanize” its decision making. It is dealing
with far more information than we can ever imagine, so I do not think its
actions would be possible for us to understand, or to put our logic on them. So
we remain alone in trying to understand actions of others and justifying our
own. This finally brings me to the enlightened character of the series or any
person in this world, for that matter.
We act upon decisions we derive from our
personal experiences or people we know. That is the way
we learn. I think we all would agree on this. Our actions are therefore always
self motivated. I can even say they are selfish, for they always serve a
purpose we come upon (or up with) ourselves. May that purpose be yours, of people you know, of
society or of the Universe. It does not matter what great area they serve, we
cannot escape from the fact that they are deduced from a fraction of greater Reality
we call our own. Calling something good for someone, even you or society, does
not mean that it is good for everyone. There is always someone, who
perceives the outcome as negative. There is always a consequence to an action
that someone could perceive as bad. We cannot avoid that. We create our reality
from things that happen to us or because of us. There is always a bigger
picture to every small deed. That is what Zen Buddhism is about. Knowing that
you, with action or inaction, influence reality we all share. So who can claim
to be the know-it-all and decide upon, what others deserve, may it be justice
or a simple kindness. Many philosophers said there is no altruism, and I agree
with them. Any action that we make gives us a good feeling of fulfillment, joy
or righteousness. They make us feel good about ourselves. They make us imagine
we are selfless and giving, just or right. Are we? Can we be any of it at all?
I always thought that, in order to understand
how things work and then deciding to take action, we need to see the bigger
picture; that we need to go over ourselves. Lately I am not so sure anymore. I
believe, in order to act good, one has to be good himself. One has to go deep
into oneself instead. We are not as different as we think. We are
unique, but all the same at the same time. The enlightment does not come from
knowing, but acting and understanding what is going on and asking ourselves,
where the need to act comes from. We need to go inside, grasp the full depth of
Buddha´s saying: do to others what you wish for others to do to you. That does
not mean assuming to know what others need. It means, listening to other´s
needs, when actions are meant for others. But they really never are, are they?
One needs to walk a long way before one becomes selfless. So there is always
selfish need underlining every action. Listening without emotion, acting
without purpose, that is selfless. Taking responsibility for every being, that
is selfless. That is what being enlightened is about. Only in this scenario
knowing the whole truth plays no role at all. Because we never do know, do we?
It comes down to what Reality and Truth are. We
are making decisions for actions based on how we perceive them. So in a sense,
we all make our own. But that isn´t entirely true, is it? In a movie Cloud
atlas that swept the world off its feet with creativity and complexity, there
is a simple line that caught my attention and successfully defines the relation
between reality and truth: “Truth is singular. Its versions are mistruths”. There
is always one reality and one truth. That reality and truth are defined by
actions and words, not by interpretation and thinking. That reality is dry. It
is factual and ever evolving; and it does not change just by simply looking
back and finding a new aspect we could interpret it by. What is done is done.
The fact is, whatever happened, it happened because of the momentum of all
things that led the way to it at that particular time. The new aspect then isn´t found, it
is discovered. It was always there. And so the question remains. Why to act with purpose at all? There is obviously no need for it. Just act, it is the most you can do. It is the closest to being enlightened you will ever come. No explanation, no reasoning, no justifying. They include too much of Ego, anyways.
And there is that.
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