Monday, October 22, 2007

darkness spilled out?

this phrase caught my attention recently in a fairly depressing book i was reading (the piano teacher by elfriede jelinek).



we are all familiar with the phrase 'light spilled out' but not 'darkness spilled out'. this implies that light moves into areas where there is no light and drives away darkness, so to speak.

darkness can never drive away light. darkness cannot survive where there is light.

the same is also applicable to knowledge.
- knowledge drives away ignorance.
- ignorance cannot survive with knowledge.
- knowledge spreads ... not ignorance. (though rumors tend to spread like wild-fire :-) i believe rumors are a version of the truth!)
- we are never comfortable with ignorance (though we do say ignorance is bliss!)... knowledge never feels like a burden.



and now when you apply this to happiness,
- whenever the cause of sorrow is removed we become happy... it shines forth from within us.
- sorrow departs from within us and what remains is happiness.
- sorrow can be spread but you don't find any eager buyers for it. happiness can be spread and nobody turns it away.
- and happiness is never a burden... unlike sorrow.



according to vedanta, knowledge and happiness are aspects of our true nature. and anything which is our true nature will always come naturally to us. we will never shun it... it is never a burden.

2 comments:

MG said...

what a coincidence... last month, i saw the french movie made on this novel and i will quote your opening line... "fairly depressing" movie as well.

Quoting you again, the unhappiness depicted in the central character's life drove her to insanity beyond my imagination. Although its her true nature (after all that has happened/and is happening in her life) that comes naturally to her, but its a burden to everyone who comes in her contact and leads them to shun her.

Nice collage of smiles though. I myself needed one after i was done watching the movie :-) French movies are weird but they hit a nerve...

Manasi

Guruprasad said...

hi manasi :

amazing coincidence. i am not surprised the movie was depressing.

but i have noticed that there are people who like such movies and like the realism it portrays. or i guess they are able to identify with some aspect of such films.

i believe that this is more true of westerners, and more so of europeans. which is why there so much portrayal of such pain and anguish and self-desrtuctive depravaity in their literature and films and art. whereas asians, and more so indians, prefer to protray the lighter and happier aspects of life. don;t you agree?

i wonder why this is so?

guru