From the
Daniloff Tarot, Justice; from the Kuan Yin Sticks,Verse 71:
Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
To be just is to be without bias, guided by fairness and reason. But for most humans, it can be hard not to be swayed. Our brain immediately looks inside its mental file cabinet for some situation in the past to compare to the present circumstances. It desires to put everything in a neat little box - either black or white. Perhaps that is why this Lady Justice wears no blindfold; she wants to be grounded in the present. Somewhere between the absolutes of mercy and severity lies a compromise that will balance the scales (as King suggests in the quote above). Verse 71 of Kuan Yin's poem also seems to point to dualities:
When a woman is married to two husbands,
Most likely the match won't succeed.
How can a bow hold two arrows?
A dragon with a unicorn will always fight.
No one can live a life balanced on a high wire. This verse warns that it is better to choose than make no choice at all. Yet just as a bird needs two wings to fly, my decision needs to be rooted in both wisdom and compassion.
I'd probably need an annex in my box, I have trouble recognizing middle ground at all
ReplyDeleteMaybe build a trap door in the box. :D
DeleteWe can only be unbiased in the present moment. This is absolutely true. To see everything as if we encounter it for the first time is hard when we have so many experiences which seem to be similar but in fact aren't
ReplyDeleteI think these generalizations (from past experiences) are how so much prejudice and assumptions get created.
DeleteThat Justice appears to be a pretender. She does not hold the scales and those two angels, dark and light seem to be how she will make her judgement, based on what seems to be right or wrong to her. That is why is wears no blindfold because of her biases.
ReplyDeleteMaybe not holding the scales is like taking your thumb off them. :)
DeleteI'm not sure we can ever rid ourselves of biases (the lenses of our experiences) but with critical reflexivity we can gain a perspective on them so we do not blindly act on them.
ReplyDeleteI don't think so either, but as you said, being aware of the problem can be of help.
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