EDITORIAL : THE DAILY MIRROR, SRILANKA

SOME WISDOM FOR APRIL FOOLS DAY

While we crack jokes and laugh about fools and fool’s paradises on this April Fools’ Day or tell the April Fool to go to school and call his teacher a damn fool, it might also be wise to do some serious reflection today on the root causes of foolishness. First and foremost, we need to remember that doctorates and degrees, diplomas and distinctions alone are not enough because there is a big gap between knowledge and wisdom. Mahatma Gandhi, widely respected as one of the wisest men in history, summed it up when he said that people have learned to fly like birds and swim like fish but tragically had forgotten how to walk like human beings. Whatever the world or its systems like the globalised market economists say, the leaders of all religions have told us that ultimately our care for others is the measure of our greatness. In this spirit of enlightenment we need to search our heart and nature and honestly acknowledge that most of what we do and say is driven by self-centeredness, selfishness and self-interest. The awareness of the need for gradual liberation from our enslavement to self-centeredness is the first and vital step towards wisdom and away from foolishness. We need to be aware and acknowledge that it is self-centeredness and selfishness that make us insincere or hypocrites in what we do and say.

Often there is a huge difference between our inner nature and our external behaviour. Inside there is selfishness, jealousy, pride, un-forgiveness and a desire to dominate, use or abuse other people. But we put on an act and pretend to be helpful and caring towards them. That is why Shakespeare said that the world is a stage and most of us are actors. He was not referring to Julius Caesar or Romeo and Juliet but the great drama of real life.  Most of the time we are acting, others are acting, we know they are acting; they know we are acting and it goes on -- the big bluff of foolishness.  Shakespeare and religious leaders have spotlighted not only the problem but the solution also. The bard put it beautifully – to thine own self be true and then as day follows night, you cannot be false to any person.

Through whatever spiritual power we believe in and practise, we need to experience a gradual liberation from self-centerdness so that we could work for the common good of all instead of just seeking personal gain or glory, power, popularity or prestige, wealth or possessions.

It is in this spirit of liberation from the ego and the (I) factor that our spiritual eyes are open to see the everlasting values of sincere, sacrificial and feet washing service to others so that instead of just trying to fulfil ourselves, our vision will be for all beings to be happy and at peace. If this wisdom is practised, then April Fools’ Day could be transformed from a joke to a blessing for all.