Trifling Sutras

"Why so serious".

Spoken by the late Heath Ledger from the Batman movie 'Dark Knight' - the stellar performance by Ledger as 'The Joker' was appreciated by critics and this quote in particular stuck in the mind of the audience.

To lighten up a tense situation the only ice breaker you need is to utter this quote, Ledger style:

The Joker: 'Why so serious? Let's put a smile on that face.'

With people living the fast life and having no time to spare, there is a bit of rush in every act they perform. At times resulting in losing temper and getting into a serious mode. 

If there is one virtue that I feel is the biggest asset in a person, that is having patience.

Living in a society where the rules defined are followed with a hint of fear and superstition, it is this stiffness part that sparks the odd temper loss. This holds true with religious contexts as much as to social contexts. None spared.

Ancient literature have been able to guide us in a knowledgeable way with sutras (collection of aphorism in form of concise text/poem/manual) - like Brahma Sutra, Nyaya Sutra, Samkhya Sutra, Kama Sutra, Shiva Sutra, Heart Sutra, Yoga Sutra etc. Along with this guidance we could also take note of knowledgeable verses spoken in a lighter vein. 

That is exactly what a Mulla Nasruddin story does. Nasruddin is an ancient Persian folk character, telling stories in the Sufi tradition of Rumi and Hafiz. In his stories he appears as a wise man, sometimes witty, at times a fool and the butt of jokes. The stories with subtle humor has a pedagogic nature and one can unearth many layers of meaning from it.

Just like Nasruddin stories, we could also take a note from sutras for modern times that might seem a bit trivial, but nevertheless lightens up the spirit.

Here is Murphy's Sutras that delivers just that -

On marriages -

- It's good to be married occasionally.

- A clever man tells a woman he understands her, a stupid man tries to prove it.

- Marriage is a three-ringed circus - engagement ring, wedding ring , suffer ring 

- Marriage may make the world go round, but so does a punch in the nose.

- Saving a marriage from divorce - the only way is not to show  up for the wedding.

- A woman is  God's second mistake - man is the first, obviously, and two wrongs together do not make a right.

- A woman is entitled to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of man.

And some more,

- If wives were good, God would have one.

- Some people are born silly, some people acquire silliness, and some fall in love.

- After man came woman, and she has been after him ever since.

- Be thrifty when you are young, and when you are old you will be able to afford the things that only the young can enjoy.

- Never miss an opportunity to make others happy, even if you have to leave them alone.

- Heredity is something people believe in if they have bright children.

- When in Rome, do as the Romans do – eat spaghetti.

- Some men have no solution for any difficulty, but will find a difficulty for any solution.

- There is no time like the present for postponing what you don’t want to do.

- Teamwork is essential – it allows you to blame someone else.

- You can make it foolproof, but you can’t make it damn foolproof.

- The height of futility is to tell a hair-raising story to a bald man.

- What is dumber than a dumb Italian? A dumb Indian.

- Adam was the happiest man on earth. Eve’s mother never told her that nice girls did not do it that way.

- You can’t get there from here, and besides there is no place else to go

As I mentioned, they are trifling sutras without a doubt, but the point is just to stop getting into a serious mode and eventually making it serious.

"Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive anyway" ~ ~