IRONIC AWARENESS

[Guest guest]

prof laxmi narain (prof_narain)

 

Source and courtesy: Sri Ramana Kendram, Hyderabad

This article was published in Sri Ramana Jyothi,

monthly magazine of the Kendram.

 

IRONIC AWARENESS: `Ironic awareness' means being aware of the irony

and paradox of life in matters of everyday life. This phrase

originated as a term of literary criticism. In the context of

spirituality, ironic awareness enables one to live life robustly,

knowing well that we live in the shadow of death; to respect money,

knowing fully well that it can be the root of misery; to enjoy the

world, despite knowing that the world is an illusion. It involves

understanding the play of maya and being amused by it, rather than

being overwhelmed by it. Adi Sankara prays to the Lord to pardon his

three sins: " I have clothed You with form, knowing that You are

without a form; I have described Your qualities, knowing that You are

attribute-less; and I have visited the shrines knowing full well that

You are omnipresent. " The great acharya was only illustrating his

ironic awareness. Sankara, who established advaita, also has

scripted many hymns in praise of deities.

 

Ironic awareness should be differentiated from hypocrisy, which is

rooted in falsehood and cunning; ironic awareness is rooted in truth

and wisdom. It is also different from cynicism. Oscar Wilde described

a cynic as one who knows the price of everything and the value of

nothing. Ironic awareness is to know the value of everything and the

price of nothing.

 

Conflict among various sects arises essentially because of a lack of

ironic awareness. A classic case is belief in God as the formless

(nirguna upasana), and God with form (saguna upasana). Both can be

equally wrong and steeped in ignorance. Swearing by God with a

specific, exclusive form inhibits the mind. To insist too narrowly on

the formless can also inhibit the mind. The `formless' itself becomes

a form. A spiritual aspirant must train to see and appreciate equally

diverse points of view. Such appreciation must rise from informed

perception.

 

Another case is of apparent conflict among votaries of bhakti, jnana,

and karma. For a robust mind, that is, a mind strong in ironic

awareness there is no conflict whatsoever in the three approaches

because he can " see One in Many and Many in One " . Such a mind answers

the description of the person " who does not trouble the world and who

is not troubled by it. "

 

Ironic awareness is the ability to reconcile in an informed,

instinctive way the opposite sides of the coin, so as to be able to

see both sides in each side. This involves perceiving the essential

unity even as you wonder at and enjoy the diversity.–

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