Dusthāna

Anything that hurts, challenges or limits is bad - this is what we have come to believe. Avoid risks, don’t fight, don’t question, stay secure is what our good-intended parents (especially of the developing nations) taught us.

Unfortunately we are not only defined by what is our exterior, our formal-education, our successes or our good-parentage or the company we keep - these are all the known, which we see in the light. We are also what we are not and that includes:

1.    What we know that we are not, and
2.    What we don’t know we are not!

To complete the picture we the inclusion of one’s fears, resistance, conflicts, weaknesses – that is the ugly dark side is essential. And there is a bright side to the dark side J it’s also part of our foundations

·         Fears define behaviors … very early in life
·         Traumas temper character
·         Enemies build strength

Sportspeople will relate to this quicker, a win is more celebrated if its over a ‘worthy opponent’. In fact the stronger the opponent, epic the victory.

·         Fear of the failure -> change strategy
·         Opponent strength -> harder they train
·         Trauma of the past failure -> recognize one’s weaknesses and become humbler

Unlike the light side, the dark contours can only be identified by persistent (and sometimes prodding) introspection. There would not be a human without an inherent fear. One need not have an enemy in real life, but he/she will definitely dislike some times of characters. We are all susceptible to certain kinds of ailments and/or face similar impediments recurring in life.

“Your weirdness will make you stronger
Your dark side will keep you whole
Your vulnerability will connect you to the rest of our suffering world
Your creativity will set you free
There’s nothing wrong with you” -Andrea Balt