No Right - No Wrong....Only Appropriateness

MySAR for 7th November

No Right - No Wrong ......Only Appropriateness There is a beautiful story. The two wives of Vishnu, Laxmi, the goddess of fortune, and Alaxmi, the goddess of misfortune – both of them believed they were the most beautiful. So, on a certain day, they came and asked Vishnu, “Which one of us is the most beautiful?” Vishnu said to Laxmi, “When you are coming, you are the most beautiful.” And he told Alaxmi, “When you are going, you are the most beautiful.” Fortune is coming, misfortune is going – aren’t they most beautiful? That’s a smart answer, but what is the correct answer? Who is really beautiful? It is not just about a woman’s beauty, not about anything in the existence, there is no correct answer. There is not any wrong answer too. There is only an appropriate answer. Life is not about correctness or wrongness, life is about appropriateness. So then what is the correct thing to do? There is no correct thing to do.The real question is : "What is the appropriate thing to do..?" Only then you will be able to enjoy life. If you do correct things, you will make an utter idiot of yourself. If one starts looking for correctness of life, you become barren and empty. Life is essentially in its appropriateness.  People who believe they are good, have morals, values and ethics, they hang on to this right and wrong, this morality and value systems because they give them a false sense of superiority. People who believe they are good are always looking down at the world. It is a sure way to miss the world. Even the most beautiful woman will not look very beautiful when you look from the top. Because you are continuously looking down, everything looks ugly and black – unless they are bald and shiny. Good people are everywhere. They have their values, they have their principles, they are very ethical, but they could live here for years being completely untouched by what is happening here. It doesn’t matter what you do, they remain untouched in their goodness. They live with the hope that good people go to heaven. All you are trying to do with your morality and values is to simplify life and find some order in a place where you are not able to figure out what is the beginning, what is the end. The life process seems to be so chaotic and unbearable for you that you are trying to bring some silly sense of order by establishing your own principles, your own morality, your own ethics. If you bring your own silly sense of order to life, you will completely miss the magnificent order of the existence. There is no need to be orderly. Existence is in perfect order.  Shankaran Pillai was a very good man. After a brief illness, he died. Being a good man, he naturally went to heaven. At heaven, the angels welcomed him and then opened his account book. You know, they keep accounts of everything there. As they turned pages they found only good deeds, cover to cover. This caused a little confusion among the angels. They came to Shankaran Pillai and said, “Mr. Pillai, there is a little problem. We have various types of accommodation in heaven. For one bad deed, you get the highest level of heaven. For two bad deeds, the next level. Three bad deeds – the one below that. In this way, there are many levels of heaven. But for no bad deeds, there is no accommodation here. We have never received a man like you until now, without a single bad deed. So we don’t know what to do with you.” “What nonsense,” said Shankaran Pillai. “I was such a good man in the world, nobody wanted to come anywhere near me. I only lived with the hope of going to heaven. And now, there is a problem here as well?” The angels met amongst themselves and after a discussion they said, “Don’t you worry Mr. Pillai. We have found a solution. We are giving you three extra hours life. Your body is still intact, anyway. You go back and commit just one bad deed. We will then place you in the highest heaven. Nothing is lost.” And lo, he became alive once more. He sat up and began to think of ways to commit a bad deed. He had never committed one before. An hour-and-a-half later, he suddenly realized that there was a woman well past her prime in the neighborhood, who had been casting inviting glances at him. Being a good man, he never looked her way. Now he thought, “Okay, adultery is a bad deed.” So he went to the lady’s house and knocked on the door. As she opened it, Shankaran Pillai said, “I want you.” “Why Mr. Pillai, they told me just yesterday evening that you were on your death bed. What is this?” she said. “It doesn’t matter, I want you,” said Shankaran Pillai, and he went in. Whatever he lacked in practice, he made it up with his enthusiasm to go to heaven. Nature took over and things happened. Now, he looked at his watch, time ticking away. He didn’t want to die in her house. So he began to leave in a hurry. “I need to go. I need to go,” he said. He rushed to the door and the lady came to see him off. As he was leaving, the woman said, “Mr. Pillai, do you know what a good deed you have done for me today?” One more good deed. If you are too good, you will neither make it here nor there. Your goodness always comes in comparing yourself with somebody or something isn’t it? How do you certify yourself as a good person? You look at others – he’s not okay, she’s not okay – compared to all these people, I am a good person. If you have to be really good, you have to make everybody else in the world bad. Please see, those who think they are very good in their minds, nobody is okay in their opinion. In fact, they have done only appropriate what they have thought for.  The beauty of existence lies in doing what is appropriate. The important thing is to accept the results without thinking about right or wrong.  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------