OUR QUEST FOR HARMONY AND THE MIDDLE WAY Are you interested in harmony? I am. I am committed to plumbing inner and outer harmony. It’s hard (or even impossible) to conceive of happiness, peace and progress in an environment filled with conflicts. We think of ourselves as making a lot of progress, yet, modern life is filled with myriad conflicts – in our souls, and our external world - a tragic projection of what lies within! Our harrowing experience of disharmony reflects the gulf between us and the essence of life. We’ve lost the meaning. We’ve elevated trifles. Beneath the facade of confidence and well-being, myriads are lost – their souls filled with corroding sorrow. What are some of the causes of disharmony and conflicts? They include vanity, ignorance, flouting the law of homogeneity; selfishness… The self is the most powerful deity on earth now. Love for our fellow-men is something we pay lip-service to! Most of us have lost our way. The pressures of a purely materialistic ethos threaten to smother us. It’s a terrifying treadmill! What is more pathetic than a traveler who has lost his knowledge of his destination, the reason why he started the journey, and the path to the destination? We often think that our perception and conception is the ONLY right way! Imagine what happens when two parties feel that way, and they are unwillingly to find a middle way. What happens? Well, you know. Fostering harmony requires humility, the willingness to listen and understand, the desire to explore alternatives beyond the obvious, and a true yearning to radiate peace. Harmony is so rare, that it is striking when one experiences it, or observes it. I had the rare honor of being present at a meeting about 6 weeks ago. It’s a group working on translating a book from German and English to Yoruba. Contrary to what some of my younger friends think, my Yoruba is just passable. I am one of the sad products of colonialism. If you take away people’s regard for their culture and language, you don’t need to do anything anymore…just wait, and watch them self- destruct. They become stilt-walkers, they hang in the air – they no longer have a connection to their roots and they can never become Europeans. Never. They morph into pathetic caricatures. But, let’s go back to the meeting. I was as good as invisible in the meeting. There were people who had a grasp of Yoruba, German and English. An older dude, one of the principal contributors has a PhD in German. I kept quiet and was learning…absorbing. There were 23 people in attendance. The vibrations of harmony pervaded the hall. At a point, an issue divided the house into two camps – and the thought leaders argued their case. It was intriguing – while listening to one party, I felt ‘yes’ this is it. I bought the viewpoint. Then, I listen to the other party… preaching something contrary…and then felt ‘yes’ this is it. I bought the viewpoint. The ‘argument’ went back and forth. It was a tad confusing. At a point, a gentleman who had been listening quietly at the back shared a short –story, about how a similar issue had been resolved somewhere in the past. He then suggested something that blended both ‘conflicting’ viewpoints. I was astonished. He pointed us all to the middle – way. I was like: Man! The atmosphere of harmony returned. We often think that our way is the only right way. A reflection of vanity, and indolence -- it takes effort to strive to genuinely brainstorm and understand all the options available and to craft optimal solutions that are harmonious. Michael Newman
Posted on: Sat, 07 Jun 2014 06:44:50 +0000
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