I have met him. Mark Twain. I know you would doubt that. It's true. Just like you have met me through this blog post, I have met Mark Twain through Huckelberry Finn, and Tom Sawyer. A long long time ago. As he is considered a greatest storyteller of his era, as well as all in American literature, I am sure most of you would have. So, the moment I read his quote I could not wonder into the past when I wrote the poem on Tidal Locking. So, it seems Mark Twain may have known the moon faces earth all the time, and its dark side is never seen by earthers. Meaning no human has seen it naked eye. So, see what he compares this with. The full quote is as follows.
“Everyone is a moon and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.” — Mark Twain
Why would this fun-loving cheering man (Its only my personal opinion) write something like that? I wondered. Somehow it seemed true. There is deep meaning to the quote than it implies by the words. And it is a good exercise for me to steer my brain over this, in this lovely evening. Hence, here we go.
If you are the moon, always facing the world, with your outer 'face' there is a chance, a good chance that you have another 'face' you are hiding from others. It may be a sad face, it may be an angry face, it may be a jealous face. Hence it may not be the sweet face you are showing the world. And we all do that from time to time. It may be like the picture of Dorien hidden in the attic, trying to make you rotten and disgusting. However, this is inevitable consequence of when you identify yourself. Because a self is made of just potential. A potential to be both good and bad.
Just like fire, which can cook a meal for you, it can burn your hand
Just like water, which can quench your thirst, it can drown you dead
Just like air, which can fill your lungs, it can poison your brain
Life is potential neither good nor bad, and simultaneously both.
I think it is a good way to look at, after all you will have to live with yourself. Forgiving yourself for having a dark face is something, you should often do. And sometimes I notice, acknowledging this without fighting over it, will make it disappear. As there is good in the world, only because there is bad, as there is peace in the world only because there is war. As there is happiness in the world only there is sadness, it is not you at fault, but the faulty is the mind, which believes that there is.
Deep dive into philosophy of the moon.
Now, let's imagine understanding what the effect of our mind is. Imagine the moon, this time without the sun, to light it up, like it does, and the earthers to see as it is. Imagine the moon in a faraway isolated corner in the Milkey way, without a star nearby, nearest is some light years away. Such a moon would have no color, and the moon would not have a bright face and a dark face. Inherently moon is colorless, just like valuelessness of a thought. It is the interaction of the natural light of the sun with our observation which created a lightness and darkness of the moon, which is inherently neutral otherwise. To understand the analogy better, consider the sunlight as your judgements, or measurements on things you observe, this includes even you. Without judgments, nothing would have inherent good or badness to this. And without the observer there would be nothing existing as well. Hence, it seems what we observe is not what it is but who we are, and moment we pass judgment over the inherent valuelessness, the chaos, will begin. Disturbing the eternal peace that we are looking for.
Thank you for reading everyone is a moon -Mark Twain.
If you would like to understand the concepts better following articles would help
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