The Three Wise Apes: Metaphor To Help You Live A Happy Life
Most people have seen The Three Wise Monkeys before. It is usually the image of three monkeys: one covers the mouth, one covers the ears and the last covers the eyes. It is a wooden sculpture from the 18th century that refers to the ways to live a good life on broad terms.
The sculpture was erected in the Tōshō-gū shrine in Japan. Each of the three wise apes has a name: Mizaru, Kikazaru and Iwazaru. In order, these names do not see, do not hear and do not speak . But what does it have to do with living a happy life?
Everything seems to indicate that the sculpture constitutes a proverbial principle of Confucius. The famous principle says: “Do not see evil, do not hear evil, do not speak evil”. So the basic principle is not to get away from everything in the world, but to refuse to come into contact with evil things. This is part of the art of living a good life.
Confucius and the Three Wise Monkeys
Confucius’ principle tells us to avoid evil. But does this make sense? The first thing we think about is that we can refuse to see, hear or speak evil, but that does not mean that it will disappear from the world. However, we can ask ourselves another question: what do we get in life from knowing or talking about evil?
It is a paranoid trait deep within ourselves that finds satisfaction in evil things. It is possible that if we tell ourselves that by being aware of perversions, we are automatically protected from any threat. For example, if you know that there is an alley where many crimes take place, you will be able to avoid it and reduce the risk of being robbed.
It seems logical, but if you take a closer look, it really is not. Why? Because evil in the world is the exception and not what rules. There are many more honest and good people.
In addition, it has been proven that being nervous or tense is one of the things that robbers consider before attacking someone. In other words, both victims and culprits have certain things in common.
Interest in evil and living a happy life
If we can live without knowing about the latest breakthrough in quantum physics, then why should we not be able to live without knowing about the evil in the world? Here we must also mention that there are reasons to believe that witnessing heinous crimes, either in person or on television, increases our tendency to commit a crime or our victim potential.
This has to do with mirror neurons. The brain is not always able to separate reality from fantasy, and therefore we feel scared when we watch horror movies. We are fully aware that it is fiction, but it still arouses certain emotions inside us.
Therefore, seeing, hearing or talking about evil can have a toxic effect on our mind. It is possible that evil feeds our fear or the monster that hides deep within us. Thus, after all, perhaps Confucius was right.
Mental hygiene
The sculpture of The Three Wise Monkeys is a guide to living a happy life and a basic principle of mental hygiene. Seeing, hearing or talking about bad things can lead to a state of anxiety. We suddenly forget that there are more good people than bad people in the world both statistically and mathematically. Instead, we believe the opposite. We feel that we are in a reality where something terrible can happen to us at any time.
Many people think “what if I am a victim of real evil?” Confucius’ principle fits perfectly here. We must work to push these thoughts away.
Evil and scandalous things are topics that sell. It is part of a type of pain pornography that both scares and fascinates us at the same time.
Fear and fascination are neurotic. Part of the art of living a happy life is to change our perspective on the world and how we act on it. Thus, it is perfectly valid to refuse to be a witness to or participate in evil deeds.
