Meditation 34: Terrible Clarity

Is it wonderful to be clear about things, to know what's right and what's wrong, what's true or false?  You never have to think again, when everything is clear.  You have a position to maintain, a cause to promote, something to die for.  Meaning is not a problem. Ambiguities, irony, obscurity, clouds of unknowing do not obstruct the way.  You know where you stand, and the right opinions to hold.  It's living in the sunlight, a pleasure and a comfort, or might absolute clarity be an illusion?

It is good to be clear about things, including clarity itself.  We need to be able to analyze complex ideas, stay consistent in our thinking, define our terms and say what we mean.  But like a drug, clarity has unwanted side effects.  Perhaps the worst is using moral clarity as an excuse for the persecution of others.  If you are absolutely clear, for example, that other races are born to be ruled by one's own, that either women or men are superior to the opposite sex, that one political party is completely right and the others completely wrong, or that only one religion is the true religion, then clarity can produce terrible effects.

The clarity of revenge is particularly terrible.  In situations of high moral complexity, clarity simplifies our grasp of the world and our own nature. Everything is clear because the principle of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is clear.  You can forget about everything else in a single-minded hatred against an "enemy," anyone will do.  It is a bit like being in a war where it is either you or the other that survives.  The quarrel does not matter, as long as there is one.  When both sides are clear about the justice or necessity of their cause, we have slaughter in the name of high ideals.

The question in my mind is how to break the cycle of hatred and violence, how to overcome the clarity that insists on oversimplifying the complexities of the problems confronting us, in order to avoid the anxiety of living in a complex world.  The temptation is to get mad, not sad.  It is in vain.  There is no avoiding the anxiety of living as a mammal does.  The problem with clarity is that it masks the true complexity of the problem, and provides a spurious sense of rightness and superiority over others.  I have no answers.  The road of hatred, violence and war is so clear, while the road of peace is muddled and confused.  Perhaps suffering itself leads to this terrible clarity.