Good And Bad

[Guest guest]

Hare Krishna, Namaskarams.

 

One of the principal opposites in life is the one between the male and

female side of human nature. The sublime union between these two

aspects is symbolised by Lord Siva's depiction as a dynamic

unification of the two, as the half-male, half-female Ardhanareeshwar.

Purusha and Prakriti are but the two poles of the same thing, the

intermediate planes being merely degrees of vibration. In our life,

too, there is a constant dynamic interplay between the two extremes of

opposites and one has to strike a balance between the two.

 

The thermometer shows many degrees of temperature, the lowest pole

being called " cold, " and the highest " heat. " Between these two poles

are many degrees of " heat " or " cold, " call them either and you are

equally correct. So with " East and West " - travel around the world in

an eastward direction, and you reach a point which is called west at

your starting point, and you return from that westward point. The

scale of color is the same-higher and lower vibrations being the only

difference between high violet and low red. Everything in this world

is cyclic and in any cycle from one point of reference there exists

always an opposite.

 

Good and Bad are not absolute we call one end of the scale Good and

the other Bad, or one end Good and the other Evil, according to the

use of the terms. A thing is " less good " than the thing higher in the

scale; but that " less good " thing, in turn, is " more good " than the

thing next below it-and so on, the " more or less " being regulated by

the position on the scale In modern science, existence of opposite

extremes in nature is best described by the concept of positively and

negatively charged particles of matter which combine during chemical

reaction to achieve neutrality. Mathematically, also, equal positive

and negative values add up to zero, mingling into oneness.

 

On the Mental Plane. " Love and Hate " are generally regarded as being

things diametrically opposed to each other; entirely different;

unreconcilable. But we apply the Principle of Polarity; we find that

there is no such thing as Absolute Love or Absolute Hate, as

distinguished from each other. There are degrees of Love and Hate, and

there is a middle point where " Like and Dislike " become so faint that

it is difficult to distinguish between them.

 

The Pairs of Opposites exist everywhere. We live in a world of

opposites where gain and loss, good and bad, pleasure and pain, life

and death are as inevitable as the two sides of a coin. Yet, there is

an underlying unity between the two contrasts. Opposites are merely

two sides of the same reality and can ultimately be reconciled in a

single whole.The Bhagavad Gita asks us to lead the unattached life of

a self-controlled man, a karma yogi unmoved by pairs of opposites:

" The Supreme Brahman is rooted in the knowledge of the self-controlled

man whose mind is perfectly serene in the midst of pairs of opposites.

 

Baskaran

 

P.S. Edited and redrafted from the following articles on the internet.

1. " Pairs and Opposites " compiled from the Kybalion on the website The

Nazerene Way of Essenic Studies.

2. Life and Death: pairs of opposites and the golden mean by Akil Chandra

[Guest guest]

Thank you Baskara!

 

Very Wise Observations.

 

(The Pairs of Opposites exist everywhere. We live in a world of

opposites where gain and loss, good and bad, pleasure and pain, life

and death are as inevitable as the two sides of a coin. Yet, there

is an underlying unity between the two contrasts. Opposites are

merely two sides of the same reality and can ultimately be

reconciled in a single whole.The Bhagavad Gita asks us to lead the

unattached life of a self-controlled man, a karma yogi unmoved by

pairs of opposites: " The Supreme Brahman is rooted in the knowledge

of the self-controlled man whose mind is perfectly serene in the

midst of pairs of opposites.)

 

After reading your post , Baskaranji , the following lines from

Khalil Gibran's prophet comes to mind !

 

" You are good when you are one with yourself.

Yet when you are not one with yourself you are not evil.

For a divided house is not a den of thieves; it is only a divided

house.

And a ship without rudder may wander aimlessly among perilous isles

yet sink not to the bottom.

You are good when you strive to give of yourself.

Yet you are not evil when you seek gain for yourself.

For when you strive for gain you are but a root that clings to the

earth and sucks at her breast.

Surely the fruit cannot say to the root, " Be like me, ripe and full

and ever giving of your abundance.

For to the fruit giving is a need, as receiving is a need to the

root. "

 

Good and bad are both different sides of the same coin.

 

Sufi saint Kabir das ji says in one of his couplets

 

Bura Jo Dekhan Main Chala, Bura Naa Milya Koye

Jo Munn Khoja Apnaa, To Mujhse Bura Naa Koye

 

I searched for the crooked, met not a single one

When searched myself, " I " found the crooked one

 

There is no such thing as absolute good or absolute evil.

 

At any point of time, a Sattwic result may come out of a tamasic act

and a tamasic act may result in a sattwic result ! For example, SrI I

Rama's act of slaying Ravana by itself was a 'tamasic' act but the

consequences were 'sattwic' for the rest of humanity as it ended the

rule of Rakshasas ! In fact , Ravana himself attained liberation

while being slain by Sri Rama . Similaly , the disrobing of Draupadi

by Dusshasana was a 'tamasic' act but the results were Sattwic - It

was this humiliation to Draupadi That brought about the Kurukshetra

war and BUT for the Kurukshetra war ,there would have been

no 'Bhagawad Gita. "

 

A knife has two uses - it can be used to kill another or slice an

apple ! The knife itself is not a bad instrument but the use to

which it is put makes it bad or good!DEVI'S SWORD IS LIKE THAT ! iT

SLAYS THE ASURIC SAMPATTI IN US -

 

As Plato says " There is only only one good, namely knowledge, and

only one evil, namely ignorance. ... " - TO PARAPHARASE , rEAL

KNOLEDGE IS KNOWLEDGE OF THE SELF (ATMA VIDYA) and Ignorance is

avidya ....

 

LOVE AND REGARDS