I like the symmetry of a post entitled Black and White following a post entitled Apples and Oranges
Let’s return to our problem of good and evil and make use of the common white hat/black hat analogy which originated in the old movie Westerns. In these movies, the good guy wore a white hat [first aspect], whereas his mirror opposite, the bad guy, wore a black one [second aspect]. We have one of the simplest, most clear-cut mirror oppositions…
But what is the True Opposite (third aspect) of both of these fellows? It’s the man who, metaphorically, wears no hat at all.
The person who wears no hat is the person who’s not taking sides – the person who does not see himself or herself in opposition to others.
The black hat/white hat view of good and evil can make an entertaining movie because the moral lines it draws are so simple and obvious that the story remains easy to follow right through to its poignant finish. In real life, however, the lines are infinitely complex, and the story has no ending. The black hat/white hat theory of good and evil doesn’t reflect our actual experience of life’s moral difficulties.
(Via Dashh: A Day In The Integral Life)
Read more HERE
Wearing a white hat must be so exhausting. As exhausting as wearing a black hat, maybe. Wearing any hat is tiresome. Better to say may be like the old Chinese farmer.
There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically. “May be,” the farmer replied. The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. “How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed. “May be,” replied the old man. The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. “May be,” answered the farmer. The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out. “May be,” said the farmer.
I found the story HERE and have quoted it before.
I don’t advocate the approach of those that ascribe to the gothic mode of evil like Shelley did. Good, evil, whatever, it’s all hollow sounding after a while as reality is not bound by words or other symbols which we invent. Jiddu Krishnamurti lectures illustrate this concept very well. By the same token, I don’t feel that maybe sums up the situation either because this is all based on thought rather than feeling. There’s no duende in the story. So if you see your horse galloping off in the distance do you remain emotionless and detached and don’t have a feeling about it? Maybe?
Interesting point Gerald.
I thought George Lucas did a good job of describing the “balance of the force” in the Star War series. There is no good and evil there is only balance and imbalance. Something works or it doesn’t. There is no middle way for the car stereo that’s broken. It is what it is.
I do believe that people love to push the envelope and often times, if not handled correctly, can cause an imbalance. Now the question is, what is correctly and how do we define it?
That Georgie is a smart man.