21. Similarities and Differences

I asked my son, what he thought was similar between a circle and a triangle. He told me that both were ‘shapes’. And when I asked him what the difference between them, he told me – of course the ‘shape’.

Mind is a good tool, to judge objects. Mostly this is done in comparison to other objects. Such objects could be from memory as well. When we say, today, I am not feel as good as yesterday, we have noted a difference. So life has put in mind, to play the game of grasping objects and also also evaluate it based on comparison. So we live in a relative world. The relative world, becomes our real world. As soon as we 'get real' by dropping reality, for relativity, we can beat the essence of the game, that keeps us trapped in separation.
Games people play is only noting what is similar or what the difference is.  Seeing the similarity and the difference is just a method for the mind to make storage of events simpler into the memory bank.  Its like saving a word file in the computer. The similarity is that -it is a word file and the difference is -in the name of the file - and this is how the categories are made for memory. The categories are for memory only and not for the event or the file. The event or the file does not make a difference as to how it is stored for being retrieved.

So it is the shape that made them a common factor and it is the shape that made them uncommon with each other. Both the similarities and differences, have in this case, arisen from context and contents of shapes.  The context is ‘one only’ and they all united in as far as shapes and forms are concerned and divided due to this very form. It is more like - under some circumstances from outside , they are ‘seen’ as similar and in some other circumstances ( from within )they are ‘seen’ as dissimilar.  So, as the mind gets broader and broader in its seeing, the differences reduce further.

For the mind, this game is common. It makes an explanation to suit the circumstance. All leaves are leaves to the mind, until it has only has leaf itself for investigation. In this case all leaves are different. Whatever may be the case, the explanation is ready. This explanation is actually coming into our head from some sort of a software to which we are programmed. This programme is what keeps us hooked to the programme itself. This is bondage. The software structure called  ‘thought – structure’ is running on its own.  Its only activity is to comment on what is happening. If nothing is happening, then the mind  is not required. So in order to keeps its continuity, it will pick a thought, take out a particular word and comment a new thought on that word. It will then use past and future to assemble a comment and run this commentary. Picking up new storylines keeps the thought process unending and thereby maintains a pseudo thinker entity active.

Comparison, based on memory, is the ‘key’ work of the mind. It can mean similar or dis-similar. The mind knows only this game. At times, out of such comparison arises new concepts and trends. There is no ‘mind’ in a true manner of speaking, but to understand how human being works, we use this mind concept, as everyone thinks that he has his own mind. It becomes easy to assume this and move ahead.

Shapes and colours are what we see. There is nothing more to it. This set of shapes and colours are regarded as forms.  In our early age, we learn to identify forms by giving them names. No two forms are similar. Similarity and differences are not an attribute of the form. They are a method of maintaining a link between the person and the object. They are a link into memory for reuse of the data. The data itself is only a comment of similarity and dis-similarity. To know that a triangle is a triangle, one must have few more shapes. This strengthens the speed of linking up with the shape whenever that shape comes into focus .  It is only helpful in communicating with other minds as all minds are exposed to a common frame of learning called beliefs from early evolution.

By use of the approach of similarity or differences, or simply called the formation of opposites, the mind makes a concrete meaning of the forms. Actually names to forms have no actual meaning in reality. But for the ease of communication, having an agreed meaning between two minds, makes the data transfer more simpler. Like when seeing a colour, we name it red. The redness has no meaning by itself. The colour that is seen is what is. Red is only a name of common acceptance.  Now the mind has to work on it from all angles so as to make a concrete meaning of red so that red colour is a truth. It will add more meanings to the word red to give some life to the redness. It will link the colour to all that is red and make red to exist on its own. More meanings like - red means a colour of love and also hate like in case of ‘danger’ etc etc.  So these divisions then come of help to narrow down the meaning of red or bring in clarity to the colour only for ease of communication. However the use of opposites, to make meaning between minds, is by far the most effective ways developed until now. As and when it fails to make effective communication, the format may change. But, until then, this thought system is what is only available at work. So we say words like left /right, or up /down or many other words to explain an understanding and this seems to fall in place only because all accept this way of functioning. 

So similarities and differences are a tool for memorising an event rather than a truth by which the event is stored.  So when we say, he is a bad person, it only means that he is bad in comparison with another who is better and there are no ‘bad’ persons. When the habit of believing in the difference as an attribute of the event itself sets in, it also brings in beliefs  to make groups matching differences and similarities from among people. The method of uniting or dividing is a result of such mind game. If one understands the uses of similarities and differences, then one can step back a little to see a wider category, fitting the difference to find a similarity. In this way, all differences can be dissolved into the whole.