12 October 2001, 12:11am IST
Narayani Ganesh.
If the opposite of right is wrong, and the antonym for ‘yes’ is ‘no’; if the alternative judgment of ‘guilty’ is ‘not guilty’ and the negation of black means white, then it follows that the antithesis of truth is falsehood. but it is also said that the obverse of a great truth is not a great lie but another great truth. that is why, although there have been many attempts to circumscribe the universe in certain mathematical terms, those very tools of measurement are subject to uncertainty. since uncertainty is an integral part of this universe, there can be no black and white situation; however much we try to classify situations or events, there is always plenty of room for ambiguity. therefore, we can never be certain about anything. this is probably why the statement of even simple laws of economics always conclude with the latin phrase, ceteris paribus — all other things being equal. in zen buddhism, a dilemma is presented to an initiate and she is asked to resolve it. in the process of reasoning and finding an answer, it is gently revealed that apart from taking either of two extreme positions, there is a very vital position that is described simply as mu. although it is thought best to let the individual experience mu, attempts have been made to provide an explanation in words. mu is the experience of cutting off the ego, or reaching a no-ego state. this enables the mind to become empty, making it free from prejudices. once unfettered, the mind can attempt resolving conflicts, free of illusions born out of perceived notions. this is possible only if we are willing to recognise that there is, indeed, a vast and neutral area that spans the space — for instance — between a ‘yes’ and a ‘no’. this is described as mu. therefore, mu is both everything and nothing. attempts in the subcontinent to explore the mystery of the mind resulted in the evolution of the concept of a third eye or the eye of the mind — to understand mind-body coordination. in the realm of human justice, for instance, the court pronounces an accused to be either guilty, or not guilty, after a trial where counsel present the case on the basis of evidence available. scottish law, however, is unique in that there is a third dimension, ‘not proven’ — indicating that the evidence is insufficient to establish whether the accused is guilty or not guilty. so this person can walk out free, with no stigma attached because ‘not proven’ does not mean that the person concerned has somehow deviously managed to outwit the law — it merely means there just isn’t enough evidence to conclusively prove that this person is either guilty or not guilty. some of us believe that we live in an ordered universe; we also like to believe that everything around us can be explained, in mathematical or other scientific terms. it follows, therefore, that everything is predictable. there will be no room for ambiguity. however, heisenberg’s uncertainty principle disproves this. schroedinger’s cat, too, was symbolic of this duality — is the cat alive, is it dead or could it be that it is both alive and dead? even as there is duality all around us, there is a huge expanse of largely uncharted space that krishna in the bhagavad gita describes as being free from opposites: ‘‘he should be known as a perpetual renunciate who neither hates nor desires. for, free from the pairs of opposites, he is easily set free from bondage’’(v.3). from physics and metaphysics to mathematics and spirituality or even everyday life, we are faced with our inability to deal with ambiguity. what the gita is trying to explain is that ‘‘longing and aversion both spring from false values. by giving both up one is freed from their bondage, while still remaining active’’. while everything is uncertain and nothing is free from ambiguity, what is indeed certain is uncertainty itself. coming back to that ‘space’ between extremes, variously known as mu, wu, or that which defies precise description, it might not be too far-out to suggest that by invoking this, most conflicts can possibly get transformed into non- conflicts — through a kind of non-acting action.
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