Acharya Mahaprajna
Central Chronicle
Superficially everyone strikes different from others; looked deeply no one appears different. 'My competence is superior to that of other'-this thought carves me out as an individual, as a completely autonomous being.
We make a great sh of cooperation and sympathy as part of group living and pretend to share one another's joys and sorrows. However, we remain disparate and many and refuse to have a sense of unity. It is because of our 'maniness' that there are social mores and conventions as well as social norms. Where there is oneness the need for these conventions and norms disappears. Moreover, we have no univeral criteria and norms. We simply apply our own to others.
It is my multiple contacts with others that reflect as many images of mine into others' eyes. But surely this does not mean that I have multiple beings. I know that I am one and this is also the truth. The feeling of disparateness is at best an imposition; it is not a characteristic of my own being. It is this imposed feeling which gives rise to nutual distrust and fault finding. This feeling is caused by the awareness of the independence of one's being and by one's ignorance of others. It is not individual independence but ignorance that one should get rid of. Inadequate acquaintance breaks mutual misunderstanding. True knowledge saves us from such a misunderstanding. The feeling that we are different from one another is the direct result of our ignorance or lack of proper knowledge. If we want to bring about social unity and cohesion it can be possible mainly through the removal of ignorance and wrong understanding.
According to me mutual understanding and knowledge between individuals is perfectly possible. There are three obstacles or hindrances in achieving it: ignorance, distrust and self-delusion.
Some people believe that knowledge causes unhappiness. It will oppose them not by saying that ignorance causes unhappiness, but that ignorance itself is unhappiness. Similarly, some prudent people vehemently oppose the tendency to trust others. I disagree. Distrust leads to infinite regress.
Moreover, while unsuspecting trust may sometimes prove dangerous, there is nothing more dangerous than distrust. The former can be dealt with by being alert, the latter is simply incurable. Again, one should not delude oneself into believing in the maxim, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth'. My guru has taught me to treat the virtuous and the wicked alike. One might object and say how light and darkness can be equated. But wisdom refuses to accept the dichotomy. At the bottom of all darkness lies light and all light is surrounded by darkness. My handling of both has a common aim-to free light from the covering of darkness.