Rise Above Biases To A Higher Way Of Thinking

Recently, a child in Uttar Pradesh was suspended by his school principal for bringing biryani in his lunch box. Around the same time, an elderly man on a train in Maharashtra was assaulted for carrying meat. In such an environment, it is wise to recall Hindu scriptures, particularly the Vyadh Gita or Butcher's Gita, a story within the Mahabharat .

A sage called Kaushik was very learned but had anger management issues. Once, a bird pooped on him while he was meditating. In a fit of rage, he cursed it and it dropped dead. On another occasion, a woman kept him waiting at her door, and he admonished her. She then lectured him on how real wisdom came not from parroting the scriptures but living them. She advised him to go meet Dharmavyadh, the butcher of Mithila, to understand the real meaning of righteous living . Though surprised, Kaushik was humble enough to follow her advice. Sure enough, his life was transformed.

The epics and myths within Hinduism are filled with deep ideas which cut through the boring predictable rational mind into subtle spaces that challenge you to navigate the paradox of existence. How else would you explain that a scavenger crow called Kakbhushundi unfolds the entire Ramayan to Garud, the king of the birds. Tulsidas was turning hierarchies and certitudes on their head.

These stories suggest that you can find wisdom in the most unlikely places - like from a butcher or a crow. Truth reveals itself occasionally - sometimes playfully, often momentarily if you are open and willing to pause. It's like that miniature painting of a tree with pretty white flowers falling to the ground. It appears to be a simple pastoral image. But when you observe it closely and join the dots, the flowers form an image of Krishn, a metaphor for playfulness and wisdom and the ultimate Truth of all things.

The embarrassingly ruthless Hinduism that periodically dominates the narrative of what is an inclusive, expansive faith in its essence, has very little to do with Hinduism. The Upanishads are about the unity of all beings and rely on gorgeous metaphors from nature: While bees gather nectar from many different flowers, ultimately the honey is one. Within the deceptively linear storyline of epics like the Mahabharat and Ramayan lie embedded many hologramic stories filled with a magic realism that subtly nudge you into challenging yourself and rising above your biases, beyond binary thought, into a higher way of thinking. But these are never prescriptions, they are disguised in hints and riddles that first throw you off and then, if you're lucky, tweak the infrastructure of your thoughts into leading a far more harmonious, rewarding life.

According to Vedanta, no one is good or bad, right or wrong, there is simply consequence governed by the laws of the universe - the same laws that make the sun rise every day and the apple fall from the tree. Gravity doesn't care whether you are rich or poor, or left- or right-leaning. In the end, there is only vast undifferentiated consciousness from which all beings come and into which we all dissolve the honey we all secretly crave.

Authored by: Namita Devidayal