The Duality of Man

Ever heard about the concept of Yin and Yang?

It is an essential tenet of ancient Chinese Philosophy which stresses the concept of dualism. What is dualism then you may ask? Dualism is expressing two basic irreducible concepts which are separate and distinctly opposite to each other. 

Taoism, one of the chief philosophical beliefs in Chinese culture, however, reasons that this difference between the two concepts is perceptual and not factual. Suddenly Good and Evil, Intelligent and Foolish, Loyalty and Betrayal are not as simple as they seem to be.

I, once stated that as human beings we often simplify things to a great degree to come to terms with it, sometimes oversimplifying it to the point that it loses its true meaning. That is exactly what happens when we consider such concepts as mentioned above.

One of the best examples of this is good and evil, What is good and what is evil really? 

Man is a complex living breathing organism. No one is completely good or bad and yet we deem certain people to be completely evil and condemn them. No person is irredeemable in my opinion, however the people we condemn as evil more often than not, not worth the effort of rehabilitating, we're trying to be efficient, not always humane. That's because being humane isn't always the best option, it would have been so if we were all one dimensional and had a primary quality that defined us but as aforementioned it is not so.

We consider people who are addicted to drugs, for example as hopeless and indeed a stain upon society. Yet that is our perception which judges them so. Can you empathize with them for a moment? A son, a daughter bought up in poverty, with no solace nor peace find it in the arms of something that swallows them whole to turn them into something dependent on it. They want to be independent, they can see their whole lives crumbling around them! And yet... they are powerless, they can't do anything of their own volition and they are scorned by society and all around them as something that isn't even human anymore, something that doesn't even have its dignity.

We like to think that, we're right. That we know better than these masses of ill-informed people. We may not think of it as directly as that but the pride within us speaks many words unheard and unseen.

Consider a good person for a moment,

Mother Teresa is an iconic name in the fight against poverty and injustice. She was lovingly called the mother of the destitute and was known all over the world as a loving and pure individual. Someone who forsook every privilege she had and left all luxuries to comfort the poor in their pain and misery. Indeed she was even canonized by the Catholic Church as a saint, surely this means that she was a model human being!

And yet perception matters, although her actions seem selfless at first sight she was motivated by her desires too as any other human being. She said, "I'm not a social worker. I don't do it for this reason. I do it for Christ. I do it for the church". She never claimed to be something she was not, she found nobility in her cause and yet people perceived her actions differently and turned her into an icon. Many of her homes didn't have basic medical facilities and did nothing to save the dying from preventable diseases. She allegedly encouraged sisters in the homes to baptize the dying, before they passed away. She also believed that the dying shouldn't have respite from their pain and suffering and likened it to Christ suffering on the cross. All of this seems, vile and even maniacal at some times and certainly evil.

Yet, Teresa perceived her actions as right, she felt that her actions were indeed working towards the job ordained to her by God. And to her credit Teresa never claimed she was some sort of Angel, she never claimed that she wanted to treat the people she housed in her homes, rather it was the public perception that gave her this title of "Mother Teresa".

I could list endless examples and yet this would only serve to stir controversy for not everyone is yet capable of thinking with a clear mind about people they idolize or adore. It is no easy feat indeed.

However Teresa's deeds cannot be ignored, she knowingly or unknowingly brought the attention of millions of people to the pathetic state of the slums in Kolkata, leprosy and lepers gained much-needed attention after Teresa shined a light upon their lives and she accomplished much that many can only dream of. The good cannot be ignored nor can the bad and neither negates the other.

We are guilty of this albeit to a much more localized and smaller extents ourselves however. In such times it is important to be able to weight the good against the bad. We've all to some degree done things we are embarrassed of or ashamed of it is our choice to let the good or the bad we've done to define us. Mother Teresa is remembered as an angel, and that is mostly well deserved but I also implore you to understand her limitations, no one is perfect and Mother Teresa lived her life unapologetically at the least providing dignity to the dying which they were never fortunate to have before she arrived

So what are we to do the reader may wonder.

The answer to that is one that we must find on our own, I shall explain however what I think is the answer.

Let me bring back the concept of Yin and Yang, Black and White. I believe that as human beings we are inherently flawed in many ways, but the one favour that we have in our benefit is the endless capability to improve. We must understand that there is no way to distinguish things into two opposite poles in this imperfect reality of ours, and accept that we are somewhere in the middle. We are the grey.

We do things we perceive as good and shun that which we perceive as evil. To truly take the best course of action possible to us we must however consider one more quality in my opinion. Empathy.

To put yourself in another's shoes is a rare and indeed treasured quality, to understand things as another sees it and to take an action knowing the consequences on not only you but others as well that is the way forward. Understand that your opinion is your perception. It is imperfect and yet has truth in it, it is your responsibility to understand that truth.

If I could ask the reader to understand anyone concept from this rather abstract post, it would be to understand that what you see is not always the naked truth, it is your perception of the truth and in such matters, it would be most unwise to make hasty decisions. 

It would also be advisable to see all human beings as human beings, in the end, putting them on a pedestal whether by their will or without their will is not serving your interests.