Nature has bestowed upon human beings the ability to perceive ideas and thoughts in many ways. The conceiving of perception depends upon people’s way of life, their overall surroundings, environment they live in, and the family, social, financial, educational, and spiritual baggage they carry. The uniqueness of the environment forces people to think and perceive differently in similar situations. This is the reason that their actions, behaviours, and responses vary depending upon the issues they encounter. To my mind, nobody is wrong or right but how we perceive each situation matters. In some sects, societies, or countries, what we think wrong can be right for them and vice versa.
As per Hindu scriptures, Dharma (Righteousness) and Adharma (non-righteousness) both are two sides of the same coin. It is like day is happening on one side of the Earth then night is also happening on the other side. Unless Adharma takes place, the importance of Dharma cannot be understood. And similarly, if Adharma happens then with the help of Dharma, it can be contained. Therefore, both are complementary to each other. It depends upon the society or sects, which side (Dharma or Adharma) they choose to be on. And accordingly, the quality of the society is determined.
Incidentally, I came across the following topic of Paulo Coelho sent to me on WhatsApp. Paulo Coelho, a Brazilian lyricist, and writer has quoted this in his book ‘The Archer’. I have not read his book; therefore, I may have a misguided perception of the quote. Still, I have dared to express my cerebral outburst to respond to the quote on WhatsApp. Kindly excuse me for my erroneous perception, if any.
To decodify the excerpt from his book, I have broken the sentences into pieces and then I have tried to make a logical analysis of the same. I hope you are going to like it with the help of your accumulated knowledge and wisdom.
QUOTE
“People always judge others by taking as a model their own limitations, and other people’s opinions are often full of prejudice and fear. Join with all those who experiment, take risks, fall, get hurt and then take more risks. Stay away from those who affirm truths, who criticize those who do not think like them, people who have never once taken a step unless they were sure they would be respected for doing so, and who prefer certainties to doubts.”
“People always judge others by taking as a model their own limitations, and other people’s opinions are often full of prejudice and fear.”
I fully agree with the statement. In case of humans, there is no yardstick to measure their level of understanding, intellect, book knowledge, worldly knowledge, their family, and social background, cultural, and spiritual knowledge, or misunderstandings, etc. As a result, they create perceptions, opinions or biases in their minds based on the said factors and they try to see or judge other people from the same monocular vision. And it may be full of prejudice and fear or full of praise and positivity.
Judging people with their own limitations (although they might foolishly think that they are omniscient and sagacious) creates suspicion, misunderstanding, mistrust, and confusion. While ignorance is bliss, half knowledge can be dangerous. And if their judgement is based on half-baked information then certainly their opinion may create a sense of prejudices and fear.
In my several years of experience, I have come across of many so-called educated professionals, loaded with half cooked worldly information, or feeding themselves with the malicious and agenda-based information being floated around. They may be the best professionally in their field, but they may not be the best otherwise. Knowledge is like an ocean, and nobody can claim to gain all available information in the world. In that case, they may be considered as partially literate. Therefore, to obtain the right advice or information, one will have to use their skills in judging the quality, standard and wisdom of the provider of opinion.
“Join with all those who experiment, take risks, fall, get hurt and then take more risks”.
I am an advocate for taking risks in life. ‘No risk, no gain’. One cannot achieve or obtain unimaginable outcomes without taking a reasonable amount of risk. Any experiment gives birth to new ideas, outcomes and thought processes However, this statement may be hypocritical in the absence of certain fundamentals.
Experiments can be of two types. First, starting from scratch in the absence of any non-existent ideas, thoughts, resources, or parameters. Second, experiment based on the info, thoughts, and resources already existent in the world. This availability of ideas, thoughts, or resources can also come from the people who have already earned a lot of worldly knowledge and experience, and they are capable of perceiving or visualising certain outcomes in advance from a new experiment in comparison to naive or young or new ones with plenty of book knowledge but no worldly experiences to estimate the possible outcome. And the result may be good, bad, or hazardous.
Therefore, it must be seen that when we talk about experiment and taking risks, then we must consider whether it is a new experiment without the existence of the worldly knowledge or resources (this includes human advice); or experimenting without considering the available knowledge and resources. If we choose to grope in the dark under the influence of foolish advice, then certainly we may fall and get hurt. In such cases, only luck or God can provide desired results by fluke.
To my mind, one must take risks but based on the consultation with the right sources of info, knowledge, or expertise. This is called calculated risk. Uncalculated risks or in other words, foolish risks can be very hurtful, and the results may tear the person apart emotionally, physically, mentally, or financially.
In case of blind folded experiment and taking risks, the damage can be irreparable or irreversible. This type of risk can be taken by only those who have no sense of responsibility towards oneself, family, society, or the world at large. It is something like gamble where a gambler loses most of the time with the uncertainty of getting winning numbers. Again, if the gambler wins then it is not the skill of the gambler, but it depends upon his capacity to lose until the probability of winning one in 10, 100, 1000 or a million, kicks in.
“Stay away from those who affirm truths, who criticize those who do not think like them, people who have never once taken a step unless they were sure they would be respected for doing so, and who prefer certainties to doubts.”
Staying away from those who affirm or swear truth is also not an answer to the solution. They may sound like the critic, but their truthfulness depends upon their level of understanding, maturity, level of worldly education (not college or professional degrees), social, cultural, and spiritual background. Even if they have not taken a step or risk in their lives, they may still have a lot of worldly knowledge gathered from different sources having similar experiences. It must be evaluated judiciously before developing any bias. With their experience, if they are convinced and very certain over doubts, then it may be taken as a pinch of salt, based on the factors already explained above.
As per Myers-Briggs, there are 16 types of personality around us, and every personality is important in their own way, and we cannot ignore or discard any one of them due to their personality traits. It is unto us to decide for what purpose, under what circumstances, and to whom we are going to consult. If we make improper selection in consulting, then their opinion may be enigmatic.
I remember the famous couplets in Hindi from the great Indian mystic poet of 15th century ‘Saint Kabir Das’:
निंदक नियरे राखिए ऑंगन कुटी छवाय,
बिन पानी, साबुन बिना, निर्मल करे सुभाय।
(Nindak Niyare Raakhie Ongan Kutee Chhavaay,
Bin Paanee, Saabun Bina, Nirmal Kare Subhaay.)
The literal meaning in English:
“Keep your critics near to you, the way a courtyard looks nice within a house. Because the critics near you act in cleaning your thoughts without soap and water.”
The quote of Saint Kabir Das is no ordinary quote. It carries a lateral hidden meaning of life. It means that the critics are your best friend who criticizes you for your own good. They provide you a chance to rethink on the issues of importance, so that you do not land in problems due to your inept action.
However, critics can be of different types and every critic cannot be relied upon. It is the skill of a person being criticized to evaluate the underlying message being conveyed by the critics. The criticism may be positive to enthuse you and provide you a direction; or a negative criticism to pull you down or purposely derail you from your motive or action. The criticism can be also political, which is very prominent these days, to demean or defame somebody for political mileage.
Therefore, it is one’s own judgment to determine the quality of criticism bequeathed upon and act accordingly.
If you like the above analysis with my limited knowledge of the world, then you may post a comment for the enlightenment of the reader of this article/blog.
Suman Sinha
A pursuer of logical quest
Camp: Baltimore, USA
May 7th, 2022
