Fool's gold
What does this guy mean to you?
Let me guess. An idol worshipped by godless and probably misguided people, right?
Let me tell you what it means to me.
What I see is the image of a person who is humble (modest clothing), generous (the sack filled with goodies to be given away), sturdy and patient (swallows the problems the world throws at him, hence the big tummy), and does it all with a big smile. Oh, and the gourd in his hand is medicine. To help heal other people.
It is the paragon of virtue, cast into an image for the benefit of peasants who cannot read thousands of years ago.
The statue is not meant to be worshipped. It is an instruction manual in 3D on how to be a good person. That's what I see.
If you know what this statue means, tell me. ^_^
-------------
Lets assume you're a guy and you're dating this girl who's giving you all the signals that she's interested in you and is serious about it. You walk on water all day. A pal of yours gets concerned. Rumor has it that your new girlfriend is getting engaged next week and obviously not to you. Should he tell you?
How about another scenario. You just got a surprise bonus in your paycheck. You've been planning to upgrade your car for a while now so you spend the whole weekend shopping for something that you feel will finally do you justice. You find it and put a $10k downpayment. This is so exciting, you feel. But your colleague doesn't seeem so excited. He knows something you don't - that it would be your last paycheck. You're about to get laid off, along with a few others who also received these "bonuses." Should he tell you?
Lets push the stakes higher. Your little sister has cancer. The doctor pulls you aside and quietly tells you that there is no hope. She's weeks away from "checking out." But she's so bubbly and cheerful, you tell yourself. She even told you what she wants for her birthday next month and all the things she plans to do when she leaves the hospital. How do you tell her?
What do these scenarios have in common? False hope. Something you see in everything from dodgy product promises to bad investments.
I know what you're gonna say. Just tell them the truth! The truth shall set them free! Or something like that.
If so, hear me out.
Humans can live without a lot of things but if there's one thing they cannot live without, apart from food and water, its hope. I think you'll agree with me on that.
Hope is why a man, flat broke and down to his last penny, would borrow from a loan shark to gamble, because a slim chance of winning some money to buy food is better than confirmed starvation.
Hope keeps people from giving up. You remove hope from someone and you might as well send him to his death.
So if that's the case, would you? Remove hope from someone I mean. Would you tell a poor man, "Don't gamble!" Or tell your sister, "Forget your birthday. You won't live long enough to see it." Or tell someone, "You'll never get out of this hellhole no matter what you do."
Would you tell the truth if it removes the last reason for someone to live?
Where would you draw the line?
(Oh, the connection between this topic and the laughing Buddha? I am trying to keep my humor while being mindful about life. Hey I'm still learning.)
8 comments:
wowie...really deep post . nice post damien :)
Well , this is the part where religion comes in ..
i would tell the guy who got his paycheck he's gonna get laid off , and trust that God will provide.
i would tell my sister she will not last , but there is life after death..destroying her hope but creating new hope ..
I won't be telling anyone of them in the 3 cases because they will not accept and they are not convinced. Majority dislike the truth. So therefore simply let be, let time tells them, hehe.
@gapnap,
Ah, but that assumes a person believes in religion and an afterlife. What happens if he doesn't (I like to see things from all angles). An atheist would say that faith is belief in the absence of proof, and believing in the afterlife is as real as believing in Santa Claus. They point out that no one has ever come back from the dead to tell them what heaven is like.
So to them, we would just be destroying one false hope to replace it with another piece of false hope, and that man chooses the Matrix (religion) because he won't be able to cope with the blunt honesty of biology and physics otherwise.
@Eagle,
Yeah, that's one way to deal with it. I guess I was wondering what would be the most compassionate approach. Compassion doesn't mean only sympathy. Its deeper than that.
yeah that is right ..actually it is bloody tiring to argue with an atheist ( you're not right ? )
whenever you answer them with something , they will use your answers and ask another question ..it will never end ..
but anyway , i believe when somebody is in a real life and death situation ..(even atheist) , they will realized how much they couldn't rely on themselves and that life is so vulnerable ..they will believe anything that they are told just to give them a new hope ..
like what you said . men cannot live without hope
anyway , i think the best way to answer is ..
it is true we cannot prove the existence of God , and life after death . But turn the tables around , an atheist cannot prove that God doesn't exist and they cannot prove that there is no life after death as well..
in this case , (sister getting cancer)..you can scientifically prove that she is going to die ...but you still cannot prove that there is no such thing as heaven
so is this false hope , similar to life after death's "false hope" ..i think not right ..
Haha, I actually respect all beliefs. I was a church-goer for many years and then I studied Buddhist philosophy (funny huh, usually its the other way round). So I'm able to see things from many perspectives at once.
Actually the way science works, it can only prove the existence of something, not its absence. For example, science cannot prove that there is no giant invisible chicken standing outside your window right now. Science is just not structured to prove a negative.
But I think I get what you are trying to say. From my brief stint in social work, I know that hope is a complex subject. Maybe I'll write a book about it some day. ^_^
if science cannot prove a negative..science isn't perfect and science has its limits ..there are too many things science couldn't explain ..
i like the idea that there is somebody watching my back , human beings have their limits and weaknesses ..so i prefer not to call myself God :)
but in the end , yeah i know you see a bigger picture than me . i think one has to be "in a religion" to fully understands it .. which is something i can never get . Christianity is beautiful enough for me
you should write that book ;P
Yeap, we can only comprehend what our 6 senses can pick up which is totally unimpressive. Even a dog can hear better than we can, and owls can see see better than we can. Last time, people stared into sace and saw nothing but black sky. And then we peeked through x-ray telescopes and noticed that the empty sky is not so empty after all.
So definitely what humans can see is far from complete.
Haha, I'm not that much into religion as I might sound. I just happen to have heightened senses so I tend to "see" more than what ordinary folks can see.
Post a Comment