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Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Everyone is absolutely right

To say that "everyone is absolutely right" seems weird because a great deal of our daily conversations are about who is right and who is wrong. Arguing about opinions is common practice to most people, most of the time.

- Turn down the heat, it's too hot in here.
- No it is not. It is like we always have it.

- Let's eat, I'm starving.
- You can't be. We ate just an hour ago.

- It's way too long for a walk. Let's get a cab.
- 2 kilometers ain't too long. Let's walk.

- I can manage that.
- No, you need someone to help you.

- Poor people are hateful.
- No, poor people are helpful.

- Science is about discovering reality.
- No, science is alienating us from reality.

- That is strange.
- No, that is obvious.

... and so it goes on without anything ever being finally agreed upon. In best case we might say "Well, that's your opinion, but..." and "Well, that's your opinion, but...", and if we're lucky a fire breaks out and forces us to shut up and make use of ourselves instead of arguing about our opinions about our opinions about whether reality is this or that. Imagine reality actually being right or wrong, how that would affect our constant bickering. Then all of the above arguments would end with - Ok, I guess I was wrong then. But that rarely happens, right?

To believe reality can be defined as being this or that is a big mistake we do all the time. No matter if this idea seems totally stupid already at a quick glance, we usually act as if it was totally sensible, as if believing otherwise is complete nonsense. So we keep on trying to convince others that we're right, that we're not just having an opinion, and others keep saying we're wrong. Well, everyone is entitled to their opinion, even if they are totally ignorant. Funny thing is, that's what everyone says.

One way of laughing about this inability to acknowledge what should be pretty obvious is this imagined conversation between student and master:
- Please Master, tell me about the true nature of reality.
- Oh that, well ... reality is like a vast river, it...
- Excuse me but, how can reality be "like a vast river"?
- Ok, reality is not like a vast river.

The wise Master, knowing intimately the habits of mind, immediately sees where this is going, and kills the arguing on spot. The student will likely miss the brilliant teaching, thinking "Nature of reality is a very complicated thing that is almost inexplainable" or "My master seems not able to answer the most basic question".

What Master actually says is: If you trust me to know reality I will tell you this, how we choose to describe reality is not as important as we believe. You, believing it is important, will question whatever I say until I say something you already know and believe to be right. Instead of trying to adapt to the habits of your mind, the relentless questioning of everything coming its way, I will show you my mind. After all, that is what you want to tap into by asking your questions, isn't it? So my mind is like water, it flows within reality, not attaching to concepts or ideas about reality. When I deal with concepts, they are nothing but concepts, and therefore they are free to change into whatever shape or form suitable. What I communicate to you is adaption, because that is the essential nature of reality. Reality adapts to itself and changes its various forms as to keep flowing naturally. Reality does not question itself. The river doesn't stop in front of a rock, asking "why are you here" and "how dare you stand in my way"? It makes no argument about this particular place being "not allowed to rocks", but just keeps river-ing past the rock. Were you the rock, you would probably pride yourself of having the river admitting you won the argument. Was I the river, I would bow to your might, knowing that water remains water while rocks erode to grains of sand. Like that, you might find an answer that is right to you, but that is only a momentary relief. It will soon come under fire and fall prey to new questions. I'm telling you, after all effort I've made to learn the nature of reality, I've come to the conclusion that describing it will never be anything like knowing it, but if the nature of describing is known first hand, then you have gained a lot of useful knowledge, and then you will be less interested in asking me about my opinions. Then you will know the difference between opinion and truth.

So therefore, everyone is absolutely right. Everyone is right in having an opinion, because having opinions is what human mind does. It is the very essence of subjectivity, or Ego if you like, to host a million opinions about reality. But in reference to reality, no ones opinion is right. Reality can never be a matter of subjective opinions. Reality is unquestionable, indisputable. Indisputable as human mind is disputing and questioning, as a matter of fact.

Question: If questioning reality is an essential aspect of mind, what's up with that? Why would this extremely advanced piece of evolution rely on a function that seems to obscure objective reality rather than explain it?