What is this life -full of contradictions?

jayasala42 · Dec 7, 2014

"There should be harmony in what you think, say and do'-This is what scriptures say and this is what has been dinned into our ears for years.
But in reality the world is a bundle of contradictions. What is law today may not be legal or lawful tomorrow.

We want rains. If there is continous rain, we are tensed about the nasty road;If there is too much sun shine we feel really hot;If it is too cold we need warmth.We live amomg good-bad, pain-pleasure,weep and smiles.

Human society can be full of of contradictions. It can be unfair;
unforgiving, too. Yet we cannot afford to dismiss it and turn our backs
to the world. Given a choice whether to sink or swim, we must swim to
the very end, no matter how the seas around us may rage.

During the youthful period of mankind's spiritual evolution human
fantasy created gods in man's own image, who, by the operations of their will were supposed to determine, or at any rate to influence, the
phenomenal world.Men appeal to the Divine Being in prayers and plead for the
fulfillment of their wishes. Nobody, certainly, will deny that the idea
of the existence of an omnipotent, just, and omnibeneficent personal God is able to accord man solace, help, and guidance; also, by virtue of
its simplicity it is accessible even to the most undeveloped mind.

But, on the other hand, there are decisive weaknesses attached to this idea in
itself, which have been painfully felt since the beginning of history.
That is, if this being is omnipotent, then every occurrence, including
every human action, every human thought, and every human feeling and
aspiration is also His work; how is it possible to think of holding men
responsible for their deeds and thoughts before such an almighty Being?
In giving out punishment and rewards He would to a certain extent be
passing judgment on Himself. How can this be combined with the goodness
and righteousness ascribed to Him?

This fact has been questioned by many scientists .
I've always been a "good guy" - but I sometimes have "bad thoughts"

I'm kind of bright but struggle with common sense

I have a lot of faith and confidence in myself but I have awfully
low esteem - I feel I must accomplish something great to be worth
anything

I don't think I'm every good enough - but I can be very judgmental.

One of my close relatives had three post graduate degrees with top rank in the University. But he was virtually an educated idiot of the highest order, incorrigible to the core. His wife, only studied upto 5th Std, was extremely smart and stole the entire show.

There are contradictions in almost all the laws, perhaps just to accommodate the unlawful.The very fact there are are more exceptions to the rules reveals a lot about
contradictory statements.
Not to talk of banks, who relax all the statutory norms for advances, depending on the debtor's intimacy with top brass.

In family disputes and land matters ,MIL-DIL disputes, sibling fights, Promotions to higher ranks,political associations,business tenders, Stock market operations, Grant of subsidies, tax regulations- everywhere a norm prevails;That is, 'show me the person, I shall quote you the rule'.

It is very puzzling for us to see people doing something, but professing to be doing something else. It is even worse when what they profess is not what they actually believe, and what they believe itself is often an amalgam of what they have been told they are supposed to believe; often a situation where they do not know whether their beliefs are their own, or merely what they have been telling themselves they should believe.

Whenever there is a dichotomy between belief and thought, and thought and speech, and speech and action, there will be conflict. Whenever you set out to achieve a set of conflicting objectives, there will be dissonance.

Can you point out a single field free from controversies and contradictions?All the epics, and Puranas, mythologies, bible or Quran abound in such conflicting ideas.
Fine arts or music or painting are no exceptions to these contradictions.
Hard work Vs Good Luck, Destiny Vs Free Will, Fate Vs karma,Wealth Vs happiness,
Academic attainments Vs official success--all these discussions are based on contradictions only.Even divine Avatars are not free from this controversy.

But psychologists are of firm opinion that contradictions alone help in development of healthy brain and mind.

Is there a difference between telling lies and contradicting one's own ideas?

Lies are stated to be sugar coated capsules to convey the bitter truths in life.The liars that have social acceptance are the poets, actors,dramatists,historians and fiction writers who are specialized in the art of weaving series of lies .They escape the scandal because of the professional tag attached .

Contradiction has a beautiful nomenclature as'second opinion' in case of medical professionals . Legal experts cover contradictions under the guise of 'technically true' category and they are experts in making you believe what is not true.

But what will happen if there are no contradictions?The life may not be colourful.

Relentlessly standing fast in the midst of the same ideas — out of
pride, stubbornness, ignorance or a combination of the three — is a
death knell for your career, your business, and your ability to make a
true, realistic impact on the world around you.

Staying nimble and deepening intelligence is about:
listening and hearing more information than you have;
considering that information using critical thinking skills;
applying that information to what you know;
expanding your knowledge, adapting your theories, and evolving your
expression of all of the above to reflect what you’ve learned over time, even if that means you have to admit that you were wrong before.

Contradicting yourself is actually healthy.
If you haven’t looked back on your viewpoints and questioned yourself at least once, you’re likely surrounding yourself with yes-men and
sycophants, falling terrible victim to confirmation bias, or severely
limiting your experiences by staying inside your comfort zone.

The universe doesn’t stand in one place, unmoving. Our lives,
experiences, businesses, or the whole of the information we take in
through the course of it all aren’t static.
Our points of view shouldn’t be, either.

Had there not been contradictions within oneself or with others ,there would not have been postulates, hypotheses and further research. Today's marvels of science are the products of contradictions only.
The great Advaitha siddhantha is a product of negating or contradicting'Nethi', Nethi' and finally arriving at 'Tat Tvam asi'

Welcome contradictions!

Jayasala 42

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Akanksha1982 · Dec 7, 2014

Nice snippet Jaysalama. I also wonder about the contradictions in life. I believe that the evolution of humans evolved in the same way as the evolution of computers. Initially, when God created creatures (birds, animals, plants) they behaved in the same way as they were programmed. Similar to the computers. Then God must have thought of putting some variability in his creation and created humans and gave them brain. Similar to the evolution in computers where people are creating robots with the ability to learn and think. So it is this human brain that drives the contradictions. The brain forgets the main function of God's creation and tries to build on the self, forgetting the fact that the self is sooner or later going to ashes. The brain is busy in the Maya of this world. Everyone feels that this world is because of him/her. Yet the world or its progress has never stopped whenever any one, however great, leaves the world.

Krishna, gives the purpose of this human life in Gita. Human form is the only form of life that can relive us from the birth and death cycle and attain Moksha. The world continues to progress and will progress as per His timeline and wishes. Humans are just instrumental to make the world progress.

So if we think of ourselves as just being instrumental in the plan of God, all these contradictions will vanish. Just like the dialog in the movie Anand,
"Hum to rangmanch ki kathputliya hai, Jiski dor upar wale ke haath mein hai" If we realize this, our contradictions will vanish and our minds will be clear.

parineetha · Dec 7, 2014

Dear Jaya Mam,

Nice one! Very philosophical!

The first thing that I’m reminded reading your snippet is the law of nature – the coexistence of paradoxes or the coexistence of contraries.
That’s how the universe is choicely designed. If the palette has a shade of white, it has black and greys as well. The good and the evil paints in all our portraits, it’s just the ratio of pixel that differs. So there cannot be good without the bad.

Where is the winner if there is no loser? For Dharma to win, there has to be Adharma. And Adharma done for sake of Dharma is Dharma, that’s what Lord Krishna said. So the elements of coexistence is embroidered in every speck of Life’s embellishment.
Or Rather the paradoxes is the quintessence of God’s creation :-D

Viswamitra · Dec 7, 2014

Dear Smt Jayasala:

Pair of opposites are responsible for sustaining the Universe without which all the creation will crumble. The divine play is to create choices and let the creations to choose one. If I don't understand what is pain, I would not even recognize how to feel happy. Everyday we wake up, we see this world as an independent entity even though it is part of the Creator. We see mother, father, brother, sister, husband, wife, son, daughter, friend, etc. as independent entities, interact with them and gain experiences. If we don't recognize them as independent, life ceases to exist.

Divine Consciousness residing in us is just a witness to everything which is what is described as one bird is doing all actions while other is watching. Even that contradiction is essential for performing action in this world. The tools we have called BMI (Body, Mind and Intellect) can be used either to walk away into dualism or walk into the oneness which in my opinion is the only free will we have.

It may appear selfish but it is all about us and how we progress in our character to win the grace of the Lord. The Creator is going to do whatever it takes to keep the world safe and sound as per His Will. Asathoma Sathgamaya, Tamasoma Jyothir Kamaya, Myrtyoma Amirtham Gamaya (From the unreal, lead me to the real, from darkness, lead me into light, from death lead me into immortality) is the teaching. For that we have to keep excluding unreal things saying Nethi Nethi to get to Tat Tvam Asi.

Brahman is all inclusive and recognizing a part of it as real is the myth. We see a dot in a circle and think it is life and dwell in it. There are many dots inside the circle and the objective is to see the whole circle. I always visualize life as follows. It is our mind that can make or break our growth. I imagine the Sun as the Universal Absolute. If I am walking towards Sun (Universal Absolute), my shadow (mind) is behind me. If my mind is ahead of me, it means I am walking away from the Sun (Universal Absolute).

Viswa

jayasala42 · Dec 7, 2014

Dear Akanksha,
What you have said is 100% true. The world has been created with contradictions and that is how it should be.Once we start accepting contradictions,the discrepancy vanishes and an equipoise or balance settles down.
Jayasala 42

jayasala42 · Dec 7, 2014

Dear Neetu,
If God has created everything Good, there is no necessity of any avatarfor'Dushta Nigraha', A crisp self explanatory response.Thank you.

Jayasala 42

jayasala42 · Dec 7, 2014

Dear Viswa,
Thank you very much for your wonderful philosophical response.Contradiction and conflicts are just bur constituents and two sides of life.We know the greatness of shade only when we go out in the scorching hot summer.We get along with conflicts only to realise the the Universal Consciousness which is untouched by any such contradictions.

Jayasala 42