WHY BEING-RIGHT... IS NOT RIGHT














Pic.: Sherry Haridas





“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it, always.” 

― Mahatma Gandhi


I have, always, found a lot of solace in the statement: “Being peaceful is more important than being right.”

If I believe in its opposite – “Being right is more important than being peaceful,” I should be prepared for a life of never-ending conflicts, enmity, compromise with ethics, company of disgruntled people, and, above all, isolation…

In the long run, the human heart aspires to be at rest… To let go and feel the quiet space inside…

So, the being-right mindset is, always, donned by the one who has put his own ego-thrill before anyone else’s welfare…The larger-good is a foreign vocabulary in such a person’s kingdom… Losing is tough to accept for him… Proving the other person wrong is a blind pursuit, an insane obsession with him!

The moment I choose the path of being-right, I choose the path of isolation… And, in isolation, mind coups, conspires... Tyrants and dictators come from this mind-space; the sadists are born from this space!

Love and forbearance is tough for me to accept once I choose the path of being-right... Even if I know I am wrong, I still won’t accept it… When I am right, and by letting go of my need to prove it, if the world around me can become a better place to live in, then, letting go of my need to prove the other person wrong is the right thing to do…

Fortunately, this world has more people who prefer being-peaceful to being-right. The world is saved by these people… The hope is sustained by them… Yes, the Kingdom of God belongs to them, as the Beatitudes promise…

The History is a witness: every sadist, every tyrant and every despot has ended-up miserably… Kamsa or Harod, Hitler, Idi Amin or Sadam Hussein… Even Bindranwale, Prabhkaran or Bin Laden!


Choosing to be peaceful comes from the awareness, that this life is too short to indulge in ego-battles… That, such battles only drag us more and more into the vortex of negativity, from where, it would be, almost, impossible for us to return… Yes, it is the proverbial ‘tiger-ride’… Once we mount on his back, he won’t let us climb down, even if we want to!

Choosing to be peaceful, also, comes from the awareness that the best of life exists in the ‘now’: If we want to say how much we love someone, we must say it now… If we want to relish the fruits of good friendships, we must do it now… If heart is at peace now, it will make more and more room for peace and fulfill what is said: “The Kingdom of Heaven is within you!”

We are not Jesus Christ’s or Mahatma Gandhi’s. Agreed. But, neither Christ nor Gandhi advocated love and forgiveness as a weapon of the weak. It is the other way around!

The bullies can’t last…

The tyrants and despots will fall…

Only truth and love wins, eventfully…

So, let’s choose to be peaceful… not right. And, when others do the opposite, let's remember this: they won’t last long!


GERALD D’CUNHA


Comments

Roshan D'Souza said…
Nobody has ever 'won' the ego-war. Life, indeed, is too short!
December 15, 2014 at 3:18 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MUTHU KODI KAWARI HADA

Image
Pic.; Ashwin Mohta M y Hindi was always bad. It still is. One reason for this was, that they introduced Hindi for us only in 6 th standard. Or, was it in 8 th ? I don’t remember… I only remember struggling to write and read… leave alone speak! But, I loved Hindi movies, and, strangely, I could understand the dialogues and the lyrics of the songs… I used to sing those songs (of course when no one was around me!) as if I was the lyricist… One of the songs was a very funny one. ‘Muthu Kodi Kawari Hada’. It was from Mehmood’s super-hit comedy – ‘Do Phool’. I was a 15-year-old high-school boy when I had heard that song (not watched the movie). I could grasp the meaning of two words – ‘Muthu Kodi’… which meant ‘Give kiss’… But, what ‘Kawari Hada’ meant, I have no clue till date! It was just like ‘Why this kolaveri di’... Yes, why ask? Simply enjoy the beats… And, the beats are great… The rest... Who cares? Really! So, whatever bit of Hi...
Read more

SELLING MIRRORS IN THE CITY OF THE BLIND

Image
“I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty. I laugh when I hear that people go on pilgrimage to find God.” - Kabir T here is a universal human weakness – and it dates back to the days of fallen civilizations – and it is: to place people on pedestal and trying to be smothered by them, feel loved and protected in their company… worship them as mentors, heroes,  gurus, Mahagurus and Satgurus… Make these mortals larger-than-life cut-outs, worship them as flawless, pure and give one’s all… And, then, ‘take’ everything from them blindly as divine… Give everything to them blindly… Eventually, what happens is:  one more dangerous bondage… What was supposed to free you now becomes a new prison… It’s sad to see this happen! T his room, where I am writing this Post, has no image of any deity. I have no image of any Guru or Master around me… My question is: “Am I not able to feel close to Almighty God?  How ...
Read more

"HAPPILY EVER AFTER IS NOT A FAIRY-TALE... IT IS A CHOICE"

Image
“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone… It has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.” – Ursula K. Le Guin,  The Lathe of Heaven T welve years ago, when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie got married, the world began to hail the couple as ‘Brangelina’. It became a fashion for couples around us to call themselves so… Norbert and Teresa renamed them as ‘Noresa’…  Amol and Vishaka baptized their relationship as ‘Amoshka’… and, Salman and Nargis became ‘Salgis’! I and my wife, too, got tempted to re-christian our matrimonial relationship as ‘Germa’... That is, Gerald and Anima, to be precise! B efore I proceed any further, let me make it very clear, here… that, I have no business to judge on the break-up of Brad Pitt and Angelina’ Jolie’s marriage. I have no inclination to go into why, how, what when etc behind it… The couple ‘chose’ to split. And, it’s their choice… Only they know how good or bad… how joyful or pain...
Read more
THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...