Life is always
imperfect, and living is forever a bed of roses with some thorns. We are
imperfect human beings living in an imperfect world. As such, the art of living
involves the wisdom of knowing who you really are, and how things happen and
work in your life. Without this profound understanding, you will forever be
haunted by the awareness of the darker side of life.
The Bible calls the
darker side of human nature “sin.” None of us is exempt from sin. Life is
always an inner struggle between what is perceived in an individual’s moral
system as “right” and the dark opposing force inside to do just the opposite.
To make matters worse, most of us are really quite good at
self-deception. Either we deceive ourselves into thinking that the dark
opposing force does not exist in ourselves, or we simply inflate our own
personal virtues to overshadow the dark force within us.
Robert
Louis Stevenson, the famous Scottish novelist, calls this darker side of human
nature the duality of
man. In his famous story of “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” he
presents Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde both having a dark side within them, where
evil is lurking to surface anytime. Both of them hide their evil away,
pretending it never exists. In the end, it turns out that Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde are actually one and the same person.
If the darker of
life is deemed as something “evil” as depicted by Robert Louis
Stevenson, it may immediately lead to self-denial and downright rejection.
The darker side is ideally described as a “not-so-good” quality, or just human
flaws and weaknesses that we see in others as well as in ourselves. Whatever
the definition may be, the darker of life, ironically enough, makes life
wholesome, without which life is incomplete and unreal—at best, a
self-delusion. Human darkness is part and parcel of human existence. Denying
its existence only leads to more pain, regret, and resignation. But
understanding the dualistic human nature offers a way to return to wholeness,
which is an important ingredient in the art of living well.
Also, find out more
about the essentials of Tao
wisdom.
Tao wisdom is the essence in the art of living well. It is the
profound wisdom of the ancient Chinese sage, Lao Tzu, the author of
the immortal classic Tao Te Ching, one of the most
translated works in world literature. The book has been popular for thousands
of years due to its wisdom, which is simple but controversial, profound and yet
intriguing. To fully understand it, you need to get all the essentials of Tao
wisdom.
Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen
Lau
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