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| | | Book Name: The Dhammapada - The Way of the Buddha, Vol 5 | Previous Next | |
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don't want to get serious."
"Hell, baby," he queried, "who's serious?"
Nobody seems to be serious. Everybody is clowning, everybody is laughing -- or at least pretending to laugh, at least pretending to be happy, at least bragging about his pleasures, the joys of life, and maybe not only deceiving others but being deceived by his own bragging. One may start believing in one's own lies: then they start appearing almost like truths.
Buddha is saying: ARE YOU LAUGHING? AND THE WORLD IS ON FIRE!
Certainly it shows only one thing:
YOU ARE DEEP IN THE DARK.
WILL YOU NOT ASK FOR LIGHT?
This is ancient language. Now, since Sigmund Freud, we can translate darkness as unconsciousness and light as consciousness. That will be easier to understand, because when you talk about darkness and light it looks poetic, and Buddha is very scientific though he is full of poetry. But his poetry is not mere poetry, it has a great science in it, great alchemy in it. His poetry is because of his experience, but his poetry is not just to entertain you. His poetry is out of his grace, his very being is poetic, but his message is scientific, as scientific as it can be. He is talking about the unconscious and the conscious.
He says you are deep in the dark if you are not aware that the world is on fire, that people are living in anguish -- and they may not even be aware of it. That way the anguish is doubled or multiplied, because if you are aware of your anguish you can get out of it. When the house is on fire and you are asleep, the danger is far more. If the house is on fire and you are awake, the danger is far less -- you can escape, you can get out of the house. Neighbors can help you to come out, you can make a phone call to the fire department. You can do something! At least you can jump out of the window. But if you are asleep then things are more difficult.
YOU ARE DEEP IN THE DARK. Buddha says: Looking at you it seems you are not conscious at all, you are living an unconscious life. Now it is a psychological truth. The whole contemporary psychology, whether Freudian or non-Freudian, Adlerian or Jungian, ALL the schools of
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