The Dark Side of Life
Life
is always imperfect, and living is forever a bed of roses with some thorns,
if not too many. 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 as 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.
The
above is taken from my book: The Book
of Life and Living.
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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