BEYOND RIGHT and WRONG
There is a scene from Fiddler on the Roof that has taught me more about life than most holy books I've read.
In it, two men are heatedly arguing over the age of a horse. When they see Tevye, the town milkman/sage, walking by, they begin passionately pleading their case.
"Tevye!" blurts the first, "I've been cheated! Last month I bought a horse from this sorry excuse for a man. He told me the horse was six years old, but it's 12!"
Tevye listens carefully, strokes his beard, nods his head, and smiles. "You're right!" he says.
"WHAT?" screams the second. "No way! Not true! The horse I sold him was six years old and I have the papers to prove it!"
Again, Tevye listens, strokes his beard, nods his head, and smiles. "You're right!" he says again.
A third man, who'd been watching the argument from the beginning, boldly steps forward.
"Tevye... with all due respect. how can he be right" (pointing to the first man) "and he be right" (pointing to the second).
Tevye listens, strokes his beard, nods his head, and smiles. You're right!" he exclaims. Then he starts dancing like a madman, arms raised to the sky.
Next time you think you're right... remember Tevye.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Life is full of paradox, contradiction, and seeming dissonance. Everyone's got a point of view. Everyone thinks the way they see things is THE way to see things. Your choice? Like Tevye in the town square, to dance your way through it all without making anyone wrong. Look for the sweet spot, the oasis, the place beyond duality -- or what Rumi once referred to as "the field beyond right doing and wrong doing."
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