Vedanta - Fool, Never be Foolproof

ISHAN CHAUDHURI





April Fool's Day is as good as any to start becoming serious about taking the world and oneself less seriously . One way in which you can judge a person's ability to negotiate with the world is how lightly he takes himself. Someone who values the clothes he wears will sooner or later be terrified of stepping out, especially if there are puddles on the road, never mind fellow humans.We are told about the importance of the Self, the value of the Brahmn that resides within us all, as well as how to influence friends and win people -or is it the other way round? All this is about the upkeep of a robust self-esteem.So, it may strike odd to argue that to value oneself, one should take oneself less seriously .
We are essentially bur lesque, rollicking beings. To treat ourselves in any other way would be like demeaning a great work of art by keeping it `safe and locked away' in a cupboard with flowers marking the spot. We are funny -in the sense of comic, if not always with a sense of humour -ludicrous, life-affirming, majestic in our tragiccomedy creatures.
Losing this notion is fooling ourselves. As one fool once told another, “You'd make me laugh if it wasn't prohibited.“
To which the other asks, “We have lost our rights?“ To which comes the diagnosis of the malaise, “We got rid of them.“
It is by being foolish, by being touched by a certain madness -and laughter is just one form -by rejecting the pedestal both for ourselves and others, that we rather make ourselves special. Never be foolproof.