Dussehra is known as the day of victory of good over evil. But how do we define good and evil. What is good for one person may be bad for another and vice versa. So where do we draw the line?
You and I also know that both good and evil reside within us. It is a part of our nature just like the yin and the yang. What becomes dominant depends on what we feed to our psyche – positive uplifting thoughts or the negative dense thoughts.
What is good in one situation may be bad in another situation. For example lies – they can good if told for the benefit of someone and they can be bad if they are told with a malicious intent. Similarly violence – it is ok if it is for self protection and it is a crime if it is to harm someone with an intention of harm.
Intention and Consciousness
It all comes down to the intention behind your act.
But then again, we are not conscious beings. We are still operating from the subconscious patterns. So we may not know the complete picture or we may not completely understand the situation and its background. So labelling something as good and bad is beyond our scope. These labels will define our intentions behind the actions.
Ramayana from a Different Perspective
It is said that in Ramayana, Lakshman cut off Surupnakha’s nose because she expressed her interest in Lakshman. This action of Lakshman could be seen as a little too harsh. May be Surupnakha’s intentions towards Lakshman were pure, may be she just wanted attention and love.
Ravana was enraged by this act of Lakshman towards his sister. All he thought of was revenge. He wanted to teach them a lesson and maybe he was not thinking right. Maybe what he did was not with bad intentions towards Sita. There are so many maybes in this story if you can just open your mind and look at it.
Similarly in our life there are so many maybes. But we are most often too quick to decide and label something as good and bad.
Conclusion
So how about this Dussehra, we just drop these labels and start looking at the world from the eyes of a child – pure and innocent with no filters and preconceived ideas and notions. What would your world look like then?
Maybe Dussehra is a reminder to burn away the filters of our mind – our preconceived notions, ideas and beliefs – and look at the world as it really is.
Wishing you a very Happy Dussehra!
