The Big Think: Strategic Peace and तत् त्वम् असि

I like the liberals.  They have the best food, interesting conversation, and have a great sense of fashion. Well, at least sometimes.

I like the conservatives. They make me feel secure and in touch with my past and future.  Well, at least sometimes.

It’s politics that I don’t like.

Now, if you go back a few posts when I talked about how consensus often destroys innovation, I offered up the example of two people wanting to paint a house.  One wants white and the other wants red.  They compromise, move to the generic center, and pick pink.  What a terrible solution.    But, that may really be the way to sustain the peace.  A strategic peace build upon the traditions of the both sides.

Side one:  We are all one.  A profound reality that simply says “Tat Tvam Asi” (Sanskrit: तत् त्वम् असि ), the timeless Sanskrit sentence, translating variously to “Thou art that”.  Or, “love your neighbor as yourself”.   Which, in this reality, translates more directly into “you are your neighbor”.  This is the esoteric reality that expresses the reality beyond flesh and void of the imperfections of humanity. (Sidebar:  it’s still a reality accessable to us all, kinda like flat abs, it just takes a lot of work.)

Side two:  Peace through strength. I am woman hear me roar.  Let’s get ready to rumble.  Or, from a more practical and sinister perspective, the atomic bomb.  Yes, highly effective.  And perhaps, from a very “human”view, a solid choice.

Put these two together in a room and soon the granola bars and Ronald Reagan pictures all end up as weapons tossed across the room in a battle of ideology.  It just seems that the two sides (white and red) just can’t get along.

This issue is that given the imperfection of humanity (and the curious evolution of consciousness), pink maybe a good color after all.

In our democracy, ideology seems to be the wedge that splits the effectiveness our our governing bodies.  Yet we cling to these ideologies as a final truth.

The “human” condition is imperfect.  And solutions, in that context, may very well be the same–an imperfect compromise for an imperfect world.

तत् त्वम् असि or तत्त्वमसि)

This entry was posted on February 28, 2010 at February 28, 2010 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.