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I can answer: 'yes, I am here, in a sense, and I know that I am also nothere, in another sense. At the same time as I am speaking to you, I am in my mind re-enacting being in London, giving a lecture at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Dr. L.M. Singhvi presiding over that lecture, as he is presiding over this one here. In that sense I am both here and not-here. It is perfectly conceivable that Dr. Singhvi, too, is simultaneously here and not-here.' It is equally conceivable, with no logical impossibility in it, that some of you, not feeling engaged with this lecture, are happily floating somewhere else though physically here. Who has not had the experience that he, or she, may be physically present but emotionally absent, and the other way round as well?
What all this means is that reality is not limited to either/or. Reality has in it many dimensions, some of them even contradictory to each other, and many different levels too: and this is a common human experience. The problem is that language, when used literally, in certain contexts misses meaning and reality completely.
The sage Devala, a great scholar, had a daughter, Suvarcalā. She had on her face the radiance of intelligence. When she came of age, he asked her: 'it is time for you to marry. Tell me what kind of man will you like to have as your husband?' Suvarcalā replied: 'I will like have as my husband a man who is blind and who is also not-blind.' 'What kind of talk is this? You must be mad.' 'You asked me a question, dear father and I gave you an honest reply.' 'In that case, dear daughter, you will remain unmarried for life. The kind of man you want as your husband, who is blind and who is also not-blind, does not exist in the world. In taking her literally, being a great scholar, confining meaning within the one-dimensional, eka-anta, Devala missed the meaning completely; as most scholars are apt to do. ...He ignored her, from his standpoint rightly, and invited several eligible young men for her to make a choice. When they assembled, Suvarcalā greeted them respectfully and very gently announced 'Should there be among you gentlemen a person who is blind and who is also not-blind, I would take him as my husband. They all thought it was a huge joke, felt insulted; and they all left, very angry; to the great embarrassment of the father. The following day a young man, Svetaketu,
gaat uşil 3776&-fattere, 2008
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