Ying and Yang, this eastern philosophy states that we must have evil to equal good and bring balance to life. This however denotes an endless cycle of life and death with no end and no true beginning, accepting with out questioning the occurrences of life. This is hopelessness. One life, one cycle, one action, has no bearing no importance for it is but one of many and balanced by the opposite. Love is pointless; it will simply be balanced by an equal hatred. Reaching a point of nothingness is the ultimate goal, a life removed from reality, slipping out of existence. Where is hope in this? The cycle must be broken. Human nature has not changed for all our existence. Many scientists would say that evolution has led us to this point in history. If we are evolving then why is the only aspect that has progressed knowledge. We still war, we still hate, we still ignore, we still covet, we still lust, we still lie, we still wish to prove that God is our invention. To prove that life is nothing more than action and reaction. A process that if controlled will lead to utopia. The perfect city of human creation.
Perhaps balance is not in the fact that everything must have an opposite, but in placing ourselves in position to not fall. When riding a bike our weight must be centered. It is possible to have more of our body to one side or the other and still not fall, if we keep our weight centered. We must do the same with our perspectives and beliefs. Sometimes we must entertain extremes to bring us centered again, to keep us rolling. Our desire should be always to rest at the fulcrum of truth. Sometimes this will require a great weight to be placed opposite us because we have wandered so far from the center. Also, we may at times serve as that weight for others holding them up if they wander far away. When children are small it is always a matter of pride to be able to balance yourself on the teeter-totter. The process is started by jumping up and quickly moving back and forth until equilibrium is reached, Success! Our perspectives are many times the same. Shifting back and forth trying reach a precarious position of stillness. On the teeter-totter if we bring our friends in we can easily balance with a bit of communication and teamwork. The same is true with the communities we live in; we can try and reach balance on our own or bring others in to help us.
About Me
- BaristaN
- A meandering man searching,passionately hoping, that this world can turn out less messed up than it is now...
3 comments:
Nathan, this is an interesting perspective and induced a lot of thoughts in me, however, I was wondering whether the idea of balancing on a bicycle is similar to the Ying Yang philosophy. The force pulling you to the left is equal to the force pulling you to the right, a 'golden middle' is found. In physics this is true also, for every action there is an equal reaction. Even in Christianity there are the two opposites, God's light to Satan's dark. Aren't these all eternal battles which have no end? I personally do not think the idea is hopelessness. In fact, I think it is our best hope; To know that there always is a force, somewhere, trying to find the 'golden middle'.
The whole idea of 'what is good' can also be debated, is it based on morals? I say this because good can only be determined with complete retrospection. For example, a small good deed may lead to a major catastrophe which could be the pinnacle of evil. Would this good deed still be classed as 'good' retrospectively? We are, of course, not in any position to judge.
If there is ultimate balance, throughout time and space, I do not think that reaching a point of nothingness is the human race's ultimate goal. There are infinite players in the game with us, each having different effects on our universe at different times. Armed with valuable intelligence, humans can make choices to push the balance in the favour of 'Life', at least for now, whilst individually searching for balance on the 'fulcrum of truth'.
I have different beliefs to you and most people. I do beleive that the idea of God is an invention of man, the only answer to the question 'Why?' that seemed to make sense. An attempt to quell our fears of uncertainty throughout civilised history. This viewpiont of mine is, and always will be, open to change. I still have the same moral viewpoints as a deeply religious person, although I have the adaptability to accept any truth.
The only way to progress is to challenge current ideas, to tip-toe towards the other side of the scale and see what we find. In this respect I agree with you, sometimes we need to entertain one extreme to balance ourselves once more. As with the teeter-totter, it can be made easier with the help of friends and family.
Robert, You pose excellent questions, you always have. The idea of the bicycle is similar I admit, but the perspective I wished to portray with that analogy is the reason for the balance, not to simply be balanced, but to position oursevles to not fall. The idea of opposites is a truth through out the universe, but is it THE truth. with Light and Dark, I would argue that God and satan are not balanced and not nearly equal. However, to go down that path, we will save for another conversation.The question of what is good is a difficult one, It brings up the question of nature v. nurture, and once again are we beings with supernatural connections or only Mammals. For me the starting point of many of these questions is, "Is God real, With a personal Interest in this planet?" this is where you and I will struggle find middle ground. However, let me say this, My life, trusting in God, has at times led to far more uncertainty, Why should i Live my life in a war torn country when, i could make lots of money and live comfortably In the USA traveling to see those places, occasionaly sending money to make myself feel better? I know you beliefs are different, and I respect them, I hope the last couple of years have portrayed that. So, In closing, my writing is to do just this, challenge perspectives. Lets keep talking. Let me know your thoughts on this next blog.
Again, your comment has been thought provoking and made me re-evaluate my own thoughts. Thanks for that, its just what I need (And isn't this an act of balancing in itself?). I have to agree with you about the uncertainty of this 'ultimate balance' being THE truth. I would not be so presumtuous as to say otherwise.
It is interesting to look at the idea of 'the truth' in more detail. It is a concept which would encompass all things, past and future, with absolute certainty. As a man who believes science is helping us to uncover some truths about our universe, I also am aware that it seems to falter at some fundamental levels. An example would be at the beginning of a big-bang universe. To explain this big bang, the explosion would have had to expand faster than the speed of light. This is an impossibility when using physical laws to govern all other principals.
This inconsistency is troubling for me and means that I cannot fully believe in these laws. There is something missing. They are not 'the truth'.
In a similar respect, although my ignorance is greater within the field of spirituality and religion, I find these same inconsistencies. (Who made the maker?)As a result, I find it difficult to accept the idea of an all-knowing God who creates.
Concluding, 'THE truth' is something of an impossibilty in itself, an ideal which relies on complete knowledge of everything, past and future to even begin to comprehend it. One thing that could understand truth would be, a little ironically, a God, but not a God in the traditional sense of the word. I imagine this God would be like the mathematical equation which predicts the progression of the universe, an idea more than something physical. To give it intelligence and personality would be to assume that it has mass or energy, therefore bound by certain rules.
Coming back to the original thread, I do understand your analogy to postion yourself not to fall, it is so very important to keep perspective.
The act of making these hard decisions and going to live in a troubled country, seeing life struggling and people fighting has allowed you to see the much wider picture, thus giving you a perspective more comprehensive than most people's.
You went there looking for answers, maybe you found some, but I'm sure you came back with even more questions. This is the interesting thing about life, man-kind has always searched for the answers to qusetions but I fear we will never answer most of them. Could the trick be to start asking the right questions?
Keep wondering, Nathan, and I'll wander along with you.
Post a Comment