Monday, September 7, 2009

Balance the equation?

So, this non-dual vs dual nature of universe has been on my mind lately. The more I look, the more I find good and bad together. Seems like there is a design for some of us to do bad, so that others have a chance to do good. Those who are doing "bad", firmly believe that what they are doing is right, which means from their perspective, they are doing good. It is very clear to me know that there is no definition of good or bad. It is a matter of perception, depends on where you are standing and what your circumstances are. And yes, it applies to every thing.

Well, on top of this, I ended up watching the last two movies in Matrix trilogy. It was not a planned activity but happened because I am on vacation and can afford to watch TV late into the night. I think the person who wrote matrix is enlightened. I don't know how they know so much but boy, they do have some facts straight at least. So, the one that resonated most with me was the unbalanced vs balanced equation. The things that were bothering me for some time are --

1. Why is there good and bad?
2. People who do bad are convinced that what they are doing is not bad, so in their mind, they are doing right.
3. There is no self, so there is no entity making up its mind about good or bad.

The statement in matrix was that there are some of us unbalancing equation and others are balancing. If this was not happening, probably no one would have anything to do! And my finding is that every one is balancing and unbalancing the equation. We all are a mix of good and evil, some less, some more.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

The Universe is Dual

How could have I not noticed this earlier? I must have read Dogen talk about duality a dozen times but it was not sinking in. Anyhow, it came to my attention that Universe is dual in nature..it is its suchness..there is heat and cold, black and white, summer and winter, happiness and sadness etc etc. One does not come without the other! It is a package deal!!! Oh my my..is that right? It is a package deal? I only want good, warmth, summer, light, happiness etc etc and not the other part. But how is that possible? The universe cannot hand anything out without its counter part. Day will come with night, summer with winter and happiness (the kind that you get when your wish is fulfilled) with disappointments! Well, no one told me that!!!! Can we accept the reality that one pole does not exist without the other and hence we cannot expect that we can get only half the package every time? What is the difference in expectations and attitude when we start accepting the package and not just one half? Think about it.