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
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