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Mandela On Fire
Part 3: Revelation, Mother Earth - Maybe

Part 3: Revelation, Mother Earth - Maybe

There's an old Chinese proverb that tells a story that many interpret to be the basis of moral relativity... the idea that any experience is good or bad in a relative sense, rather than an absolute sense. I am paraphrasing and telling it from memory, so I'll probably get the particulars wrong. In any case, you'll get the gist of it.

One day, a farmer in his village was told that his wife was pregnant. The villagers seemed excited and told him "You must be happy. This must be a good thing."

"Maybe", he replied.

But the farmer's wife died during child birth. The villagers said, "You must be devastated, this is a terrible thing."

"Maybe", he replied.

When his child was a young man, he fell off a horse and broke his leg. The villagers again said, "How terrible".

"Maybe", he replied.

The following week the army arrived to gather all able men to join the war. But the young man couldn't go because of his broken leg. "That is good that your son doesn't have to go to war", said the villagers.

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"Maybe", he replied.

And so, the story goes. What does it mean? It seems to mean that the moral value of any circumstance is incomplete at best and possibly meaningless. It doesn't mean there isn't any suffering or negative consequences, or that there are no positive or joyous consequences. It suggests that if you get too caught up in those, however, they may be short sighted and short lived.

This might also be a metaphor for the Buddhist concept of detachment. This idea seems to suggest that being too attached, not just to material objects, but also to emotions, to other people, to circumstances and experiences, can be an anchor that weighs you down and prevents you from achieving enlightenment.

Both concepts also seem related to the core of Taoism, which seems to be about acceptance, understanding, and harmony. A Taoist might consider the farmer above like a river. Each event is like a valley or change in the landscape that makes the river bend instead of running straight. If the river can detach from running straight, and follow and harmonize with the land, then it will simply exist, contentedly. The changes in the landscape are neither good nor bad, they just are. They are simply part of the world in which the river exists. The river's purpose is to exist. Maybe the more you can become comfortable with being uncomfortable, the better off you are. Or, at least, that’s what my therapist tells me.