Reflections

by AL MD

Maya Marshall McLuhan is quoted as saying I do not know who discovered water but it was not a fish. For us to recognize something, it has to appear intermittently and be highlighted by its opposite. Imagine a world pervaded by light with no darkness - we would not know light and think it was a normal part of our environment. We can extend this concept to everything - good and evil, joy and sorrow, pain and health. The experience of one emotion is proportional to the intensity of the other. Someone who has seen abject poverty may need less wealth to experience the same intensity of 'richness' as someone born into wealth.

Maya or illusion masks all experiences. One can choose to either live in the illusion and make the ups and downs of life exciting or take a step back, experience everything in its transitory nature and use minimum effort to keep afloat over passing circumstances.