MELTING POT OF YIN AND YANG

Being a messenger of God, I was gliding upon the wings of the wind one day.
My presence in dazzling white and blazing glory was not visible to anyone. I could move around unnoticed by mortals; my job being to observe things, both in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, to carry out a variety of tasks to serve my Almighty

In due course that evening I came across a party on a sea beach.  There was an exquisitely manicured garden with a massive lush carpet of the finest grass and a glittering dance floor, in the background of an azure blue sea.
The splendid site charmed me. I desired to hover there for few moments to figure out what was happening before moving on. I however didn’t realize how time flew by.   Soon I was transfixed, absorbing the grandest royal evening party I had ever seen. It was so gorgeous that it was impossible for me to steer away from its grandeur.

Flowing dresses and smiling faces were roaming all around; graceful and elegant, despite the formal air. The guests seemed to be very relaxed enjoying the evening in the bounty of nature just as much I did.
I felt a tinge of pride in God’s creations on His beloved earth. People looked to be so happy in their worldly lives. Engrossed, I sipped in the evening’s delight, like manna.

The people gathered there were all great dignitaries from all over the world - ambassadors, managing directors of the business world, members of royal families, ministers, renowned bankers, journalists, great lawyers of the time, celebrated artists, actors ,writers, poets, painters and many more.

The small clusters of women resembled bouquets of exquisite flowers. They were shining both with their beauty and intellect.  Many of them were distinguished in their respective fields.
Floating around on their high heels and flowing gowns, they looked like fairies or angels.

Soon it was the time for families to introduce each other.

Each man spoke rather  highly of one’s wife.  They introduced their better-halves as  ‘worthy’ and’ much adored’ life partners. The ladies in question smiled courteously and said how inspiring’ and ‘noble’ the men in their lives were. They were all lucky and blessed in their companionship which was nothing less than a gift from God.  

A  handsome young journalist from that gathering said exuberantly,
“I am blessed to have Julie as my fiancé. She is so clever and fun at the same time.”
The lady had been quite the centre of attention that evening. Her brilliance and her innocence had every one smitten instantly. No wonder her beau was so proud of her. I had not seen such combination of beauty and intellect myself.

Another oriental couple with lovely melting eyes and rosy pouts drew my attention. The lady was watching everything with her quiet but elegant and watchful eyes, stood like pillar of support beside her husband, a renowned banker, who had the most blissful smile on his face.

A Royal couple from India was present too,
the Queen looking absolutely divine! Her admiring husband spoke endlessly about her spiritual experiences and illustrated in details how her divine power, from time to time had helped him to keep all the evil spirits away  from his kingdom. I found her very distinctive soul, and felt rather pleased.

There were many, many such illustrious people who drew my attention that evening. From artists to singers, from engineers to financial wizards, they were all brilliant in their respective fields and equally inspiring as couples, who seemed to have got their steps right and dancing  through life with easy grace.

Everything was so very captivating that it was many hours, before I retired along with guests.
But I had resolved to join the men again in their stag party next evening.
It was my long cherished dream to know the human beings from a very close range and this was a great opportunity.

The next evening, in the dazzling twilight, the gentle men assembled for a stag party. No ladies were allowed there. At first glance they looked happy as ever and full of good humour. They greeted each other cordially and started drinking and smoking filling the air with great revelry. But as the evening proceeded, and no sooner they were a  few pegs down, the atmosphere changed beyond my anticipation. It was so abrupt that I had to recoil for a few minutes to readjust myself to the new setting, its unexpectedness catching me by great surprise and a little  sadness.

Hush! Hush! I couldn’t believe my ears!
How many shades can a life have?  Human lives are not full of roses I knew but I was suddenly aware of  the  thousands of thorns that came with it.  My friends seemed to suffer from many problems which I was not aware of before!  

To my great surprise I noticed some of  the great and grand figures from the evening before, had started looking vulnerable and even stupid! Their poised behaviour from the evening before had vanished and had been replaced by foul mouthed allegations.


What a change!  It worried me a bit!

The pitch and the decibel of their chattering, increasing by the minute, made it impossible for me to hold on any longer. Amidst puffs from cigarettes that filled the air with nauseating gloom, their babble grew intolerably loud and their cackle sounded almost fiendish, at times.  It didn’t seem like a hearty affair anymore, some of them falling like nine pins amid all the commotion. What was I seeing?

Their incorrigible remarks on others – friends or foes, disturbed me even more.

Their passion for cutting poor and insensitive jokes on their  high profiled wives showed how much they lacked in judgment and sincerity. They were calling their wives all sorts of names and ripping them apart for their slightest flaws. They were not goddesses anymore. 
They were being described from being dull, dry, stuffy, stodgy, barren to even being characterless, spiritless, heartless, uninteresting and stale.
What a tremendous swing from the perception of the evening before!
Pity, most of them seemed to agree that their better halves didn’t understand them at all and that their conjugal happiness was just a façade. Far from being a blessing from heaven their lives were living hell.

My soaring ecstasy of night before evaporated to nothingness. I was both shocked and disappointed.

The Royal Highness got up to go meanwhile. “I must leave now”, he said.

“What’s the matter? Is there a war raging that you have to go so early? others asked

“That’s right. You don’t know Mira –my wife.  There is small war raging every day at my house.  She is so arrogant , trying to control other people all the time turning. She gets further stubborn when she cannot get them on line,” the king accused.

“She  can get murderous if I fail to reach home on time!

The face of the divine Queen flashed upon my inward-eye.

“Forget it!” one advised the king in a smiling face.

“I brush off all the allegations of my wife like petty burrs. Do as I do. We must not give them so much importance.”  

“My wife, is such a snob too!’’ started another with a sympathizing nod to the king.

“She has great respect for people from her own social status, and looks down on all others.  In addition, she believes, she is sharper than me and all her works are thousand times better than mine. For years I am listening to all these and I feel like murdering her myself.”

The evening rolled on in this way … very man on sight complaining about his wife and sharing the complaints of their wives against them.

I was aghast! Hardly a few hours…  The night before, I was appreciating the couples for their divine looks, developed minds and cultured bearings.  I appreciated the way they were paying tributes to their respective life partners. I was moved by the ways they had shown respect to each other. And a few hours later all that had changed dramatically.

Human beings have such dubious characters! They have masks of different personalities at different times, which no doubt is the source of all pain.

What a puzzle. I had rush to God to get some answers.

God smiled benignly when I reached him. He knew what I had in mind. He had something to share with me. He said,

“Both male and female are created out of me if you remember. They represent the Yin and Yang- the two complementary but opposing forces in me. Yin is symbolized by water. It is feminine in nature; Yang is symbolized by fire and is masculine in character.

Most forces in nature can be broken down into their Yin –Yang states. Their mutual interference with each other or intolerance with each other, can create great destruction but when used as complementary forces they attain godhood.
Life’s lessons are in looking for that middle path that can incorporate contradictions to complement one’s growth instead of getting destroyed by the pressure of one force. The essence of Truth in life is hidden in these complexities.

The men and women who are fragmented during their creation have knowledge about “many” but they must learn how to live as “one”, as a whole, in this Universe.

 

I got enlightened at last and left the place with peace restored in my heart once again. 

God’s words were ringing clear in the air… “Absolute is the melting-pot of all apparent differences in timeless eternity. Human beings have to learn this lesson and experience this truth through their struggles”.