Abstract
This article addresses the significance of paradox as a steady presence in our lives. Contradictions and ambiguities often lead to aversive states of anxious uncertainty where straightforward answers are often unavailable yet sought after to alleviate existential insecurities. In conditions where narratives of ambivalence intensify, such as during the worldwide COVID-19 crises, our traditional socio-evolutionary inclinations to avoid them either through denial or active resistance become more noticeable. It also leads to distress in intersubjective spaces especially when uncertainty and perceptions of threat stand as correlates, and we start to fear what we do not understand. In this paper, I consider wisdom responses from a Buddhist perspective to help us acknowledge the value of paradox, highlighting how changes in the formulation of our self-concept can help with that. I draw upon select principles and insights from the Diamond Sutra and the Heart Sutra, two texts within the Mahaprajnaparamita sutras of Mahayana Buddhism. Through these, I examine some inherent paradoxes as vital components of a larger ontological unity, the recognition of which can act as an enabler to the Bodhisattva path. This path is worthy of exploration, allowing us to move past the need for closure and instead focus on reconciliation, disclosure, and epistemic humility.
Highlights
The article is an attempt to enable the reimagining of personal and collective wellbeing based on denaturalizing the need for constant certainty as a pre-requisite for the above
There has been research since the 1960s that has revealed various loopholes in the original experiment, evidence from historical and contemporary incidents ranging from the Holocaust to Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo to the more visible racial riots in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder in the summer of 2020 as well as the 6 January 2021 attack on the Capitol Hill to overturn the results of the presidential elections lend testimony to the unsettling unpredictability of human conduct under altered circumstances
I draw upon teachings from the Diamond Sutra, translated from Sanskrit and Chinese by Red Pine, as well as the Heart Sutra translated by Andre Doshim Halaw, both of which are part of the Prajnaparamita or Perfection of Wisdom collection of sutras
Summary
The article is an attempt to enable the reimagining of personal and collective wellbeing based on denaturalizing the need for constant certainty as a pre-requisite for the above It introduces the idea of acknowledging and valuing the prevalence of paradox as an integral component of life, leveraging on Buddhist insights that are able to highlight unified realities emerging from divergent forces, the push and pull of which point toward the richness of middle paths. I present the integrative aspect of compromise by means of glimpses into three paradoxes through a Buddhist lens connecting each to a relevant theme in our current context These are (1) emptiness and form in relation to identity, (2) detachment and compassion in relation to charity, and (3) thought and awareness in relation to autonomy. The second section offers insights through select meaning-making tools from Buddhist contemplative practice in order to get around this problem
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