The Paradoxes In Spirituality

Neelam Nimare

**The paradoxes in spirituality**

As a newbie seeker, when I began exploring the spiritual path, I came across several paradoxes. These paradoxes were the pairs of contradictory statements. One statement seemed exactly the opposite of another one. This must be the experience of many seekers. The seeker hears one thing from the teacher and at another time the teacher says exactly the opposite. This leaves the seeker quite puzzled as which one of them is true. Exposed to this new game of spiritual paradoxes leaves the seeker amused as well as confused. Sometimes it also seems like spiritual vocabulary is just some fancy ornamental language and has not much to do with practicality. It all seems mumbo jumbo of words.

So, there arise many questions. Why are there so many paradoxes in spirituality? Do they really make sense? Which of these opposing sentences is true?

There are many examples of such paradoxical sentences like
*The body is an illusion, dont be too attached with it versus The body is your temple to be taken care of.
You seek till you arrive that there is no seeker,
That which is seen is unreal and that which is real is unseen.
After knowing, the seeker come to know that there is nothing to know.
The illusion is destroyed through the illusion. 
You are free but surrender is a required quality for the seeker.
There is no path, yet you walk it.
You are not the doer, yet actions are taken.
Stay in the world but out of the world
Everything is perfect yet we see imperfections everywhere
You are seeking what you are already*

Quite amusing isnt it !
Paradoxes when taken separately are meaningful but when joined together do not make sense. So what is the purpose of these paradoxes. Are they deliberate on a spiritual path. Are both parts true ?
Paradoxes are not flaws in spirituality. They seem confusing because of the limitations of the mind. Mind thinks in a logical way. It works in a binary. For understanding anything, mind breaks down things. This is the dualistic way of the mind. One needs to go beyond the mind. This is the arena of non duality, the Absolute truth. The mind works in the relative truth. It is because of these different contexts that spiritual statements seem paradoxical. This frustrates the intellect and either it rejects both the paradoxes or the mind admits its limitations and surrenders.

**Understanding paradoxes**

If we place these paradoxical statements together and compare, they will not make any sense. Judging through logic and comparison is not the way. It is that they are understood at different levels. Trying to understand both using the same criteria will lead to confusion. They should be understood at different levels. Teachings at one level cannot be compared with teachings at another level. Paradoxes are not contradictions, but two truths held simultaneously. Both parts of the
paradox are True at their levels. One is at the level of absolute Truth and the other at the level of relative Truth. One is from the perspective of ultimate reality while another is from the practical perspective. Like for example if it is said *Everything is perfect* yet, there is need for evolution. From the level of Existence all is perfect, whereas if we drop at the level of world, body and mind, there is still scope for improvement. Here the solution is that this imperfection is also perfect and trying to improve is also perfect. Understand that imperfection is an illusion. So paradox is not meant to be solved but it must be your direct experience. If it is your direct experience, it is true. Here the truth is not about which part of paradox is correct, it is about which one aligns with your direct experience.

When the mind encounters a paradox, it shuts down on recognising its own limitation. Probably that must be the purpose of paradoxes, to transcend the mind. So one needs to sit down and contemplate on the paradox and see if it is your direct experience or not.