1. A life of substitutes - We look at mirror to see ourselves. We meet Nature at Discovery Channel. We clip our wings and crawl in cars. We see our bank balance growing and believe that we are growing with it. We have been convinced that it is practical to settle for the substitutes.
But we have been fooled because shadows don't have warmth. And when night falls, they disappear, leaving us lonely and restless.
We don't meet Nature on TV. We don't meet Nature unless we feel it in our lungs, unless we let it penetrate our being, unless we become one with it. Cars do go fast, but they don't go very far. And bank balance don't fill the emptiness we live with 24*7. We can not con (or console) ourselves by numbers for long. Sooner than later we realize that there is no substitute of inner growth.
But most of us live with substitutes. And that's why we feel empty.
2. In terms of? - Hatred is not opposite of love, but it is love turned bitter. Hate is just another form of love. Both draw their life from same source. And both revolve around the same thing.
Christianity warns us of seven deadly sins (Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, Pride) and recommends corresponding seven cardinal virtues (Chastity, Temperance, Charity, Diligence, Patience, Kindness, Humility). Virtue, as defined, is nothing in itself without vice. It is anti-vice. It is just a denial of 'sinful' instincts.
But denial can not be a solution to any problem. Fasting doesn't quell hunger, rather it fuels it more. A hungry man can think of nothing else but food. He thinks in terms of food - its taste, its aroma, its feeling, having it or not having it. He resists food, and he keeps it cooking inside him.
Resistance is futile, because it keeps the enemy alive. Most of us live in terms of things that we dislike or disapprove, and not for what we like or admire. Isn't that so?
But we have been fooled because shadows don't have warmth. And when night falls, they disappear, leaving us lonely and restless.
We don't meet Nature on TV. We don't meet Nature unless we feel it in our lungs, unless we let it penetrate our being, unless we become one with it. Cars do go fast, but they don't go very far. And bank balance don't fill the emptiness we live with 24*7. We can not con (or console) ourselves by numbers for long. Sooner than later we realize that there is no substitute of inner growth.
But most of us live with substitutes. And that's why we feel empty.
2. In terms of? - Hatred is not opposite of love, but it is love turned bitter. Hate is just another form of love. Both draw their life from same source. And both revolve around the same thing.
Christianity warns us of seven deadly sins (Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, Pride) and recommends corresponding seven cardinal virtues (Chastity, Temperance, Charity, Diligence, Patience, Kindness, Humility). Virtue, as defined, is nothing in itself without vice. It is anti-vice. It is just a denial of 'sinful' instincts.
But denial can not be a solution to any problem. Fasting doesn't quell hunger, rather it fuels it more. A hungry man can think of nothing else but food. He thinks in terms of food - its taste, its aroma, its feeling, having it or not having it. He resists food, and he keeps it cooking inside him.
Resistance is futile, because it keeps the enemy alive. Most of us live in terms of things that we dislike or disapprove, and not for what we like or admire. Isn't that so?
4 comments:
Isn't that so? It isn't. I beg to disagree hoping that you would understand that we feel the same darkness differently.
The Christian view of human nature has always been a source of constant criticism; however, its true nature has been befuddled by years of disputable papal authority, and even more by the dilution of its Catholic intent into Protestant feebleness (or meekness). When you claim that virtue is a negation of sin, you trespass silently over the questioning grounds of faith and choice.
You also claim that fasting doesn't kill hunger; it fuels it more. I bear testimony to the fact that with each suffering experience, the soul becomes stronger, and gives birth to patience and wisdom. A hungry man can think of nothing else but food: But then, such a man is certainly in an animal act and not an act of being a man. I do not mean to dismiss Hunger, but hunger is something more than absence of food. It is absence of opportunity to food. That is a more grievous concern.
What I gather form the post -- two nice things -- are as follows, in order of importance:
1. "...because shadows don't have warmth" Beautifully phrased. Beautiful thought.
2. I perceive that man is also defined by what he chooses to react / respond. I have long accepted this idea, and have seen it manifested. It is, indeed, true that we often become by shaping ourselves against the wind. Perhaps, like branches evolve in resistance to darkness, by growing in the presence of sunlight. Thus, they do show preference for sunlight. By growing in the face of darkness, their growth becomes their rebellion.
... and Happy Valentine Day, my friend...
Sanket
Thanks for your critical comments. I am flattered. :)
I am not much well-acquainted with the history of Christian doctrines. But the 7 cardinal virtues are understood vis-a-vis the 7 deadly sins, and scarcely independently. Virtue is explained *in terms of* absence of sin. Your maximum score can not exceed naught here.
But mind works in a funny way, and it is ruled by what it represses. Think of not thinking about monkey and all your mind will think of them.
Secondly, perverse mechanisms like fasting make a man frigid and fragile, not healthy and pure. It was popularized by Gandhi in name of controlling carnal compulsions, by the same man who was hopelessly lustful in his early days, so mush so that he couldn't resist his passions even when his father was on death-bed (he knew that that night could be his father's last night). His whole sexual life was built around that shameful trauma. His celibacy was nothing but his lust turned inwards. His lust was fiery, and consequently his celibacy was icy cold, in same degree.
That's why Gandhi seems morbid to me in his extremity. All he recommends to eat is nuts! Even milk rouses lust! His virtue was not less than a mania for me, and obviously.
You are judging anachronistically.
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