J.D Salinger wrote this in ‘The Catcher in the Rye’:
‘Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around – nobody big, I mean – except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff – I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all.’
If there is a creator of everything, of the rye, cliff and kids, will he be the catcher in the rye? If he will catch all before they fall, why do some still fall to evil and hellish suffering? Why would a good creator create a field with a dangerous cliff, or a beautiful garden with a cunning poisonous snake, that he knows is able to urge its inhabitants to eat a poisonous fruit, that unjustly infects all their descendents?
If we won’t build a sanctuary, temple or church with any negative element in it, and we are not even perfectly good, how can there be a perfectly good creator of everything who allows so much evil to be abound, that is also created and sustained by him? In contrast, Buddhas create Pure Lands with their great compassion and wisdom, which ensure evil will not arise, where the inhabitants who enter it will advance towards enlightenment without fail. The Buddhas are not creators of Samsara, but they are the true catchers, with their Pure Lands open to all.
That’s the reason why in Buddhism we learn about transcending beyond the dualistic polarities of good and evil. There are two ends to a see saw. When one end goes up. The other end goes down. But the middle portion if the see saw remains unmoved even though the two ends are going up and down. The doers of good and evil. They are no more than ourselves who delight in the game of samsara. Only when a light is cast is a shadow formed. The laws of non activity is also an activity. The laws of no communication is also a form of communication. To know what’s right and not do what’s right is to be an accomplice of the wrong.
If providence is wise and mighty. With great powers come great responsibilities. When he chose to sneeze and cough, to do nothing or even to have nothing to do with something, he affects everything with his indifference and inaction. If there is indeed wisdom in evil, we should adopt by example.
What does the middle of the see-saw represent? Indifference of so-called ‘providence’? If so, it is evil. But if so, how is it different from the down side of the see-saw?
This comes to the Fundamental problem of dualism. How can the middle of the see saw that lends support to both sides be fundamentally good. Dualistic principles are fond of contradicting each other. That’s why it can b paradoxical. But if by nature such paradoxes are merely a form of balance. Then it’s only part of a natural process. But to have right and wrong dictate by a will and ego then it is due to the provision by the will and ego of the entity that made it so which is entirely unacceptable. The Buddha said in his sutra why promote discord and not foster harmony? Sometimes when one think about dualistic principles of good and evil, we can’t help feeling that evil is taking the rap for whatever is good to make good look so good. Is there not evil in good? When a man knows evil. A man can avoid. But what is the real reason for a chaotic world? When man who is evil pretends to b good and think that he is good. That really turn the world upside down. Whatever a man maybe. The real motive of a man is eventually marked by the aim and motivation one tries to achieve? This is what we mean by 原形毕露.
What does the middle of the see-saw represent? How can the middle of the see saw that lends support to both sides be fundamentally good?
Most kids I know don’t like the book cuz they’re forced to read it for class, which is understandable. I wish they could see the beauty, and heartbreaking universality of Holden’s story, though. It is something J.D. Salinger had the talent to grasp, and share it with the rest of the world.