Pandora's Jar

Pandora is a Greek woman created by a decree of God Zeus. He was angry because a chap named Prometheus stole the secret of fire. So he had Pandora created, as a punishment for Earth. Zeus gave her a jar (not a box as is commonly said) in which he kept all the evil and bad of the world.

Pandora was told not to open the jar and see its contents. But Pandora did. She apparently released all the contents - except hope. Later on however, hope was also released.

So let's ponder over this for a few minutes. Pandora's jar had all the evils in it - but why would hope be an evil?

Hope is the belief that there will be a positive outcome to a certain string of events. I've always associated it with the cloud that has the silver lining, the expectation of good and happiness.

So why did the Greeks consider it to be a dangerous emotion?

One has to look at hope in two ways. One way is that hope forms a way of combatting the day to day evils of the world. It allows you to have faith in the soul of mankind and deal with difficult situations hoping that tomorrow will be a brighter day.

But false hope can lead to disappointment, despair, frustration and agony. I think that this is why the Greeks thought it was an evil. Nietzsche apparently agreed and has gone on record to state that it was some sort of sadistic plot of Zeus to keep man constantly in turmoil by giving him hope. Nietzsche said "Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torments of man.".

So what do I think? Well, I don't think that hope should be confused with positive thinking. But I do think that hope is important. Allan K Chalmer's once said "The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for." I think it depends a lot on the person as well, like most things. If you're pessimist, you'll view hope as a sad reflection of what cannot possibly be accomplished. If you're an optimist, you see hope as a way of achieving the impossible. Elizabeth Gilbert (author of that excellent novel - Eat Pray Love) said "To sit patiently with a yearning that has not yet been fulfilled, and to trust that, that fulfillment will come, is quite possibly one of the most powerful 'magic skills' that human beings are capable of. It has been noted by almost every ancient wisdom tradition."

Everyone has their 15 minutes of fame. Every dog has its day. All good things will happen. You just have to work hard and wait. So what if Pandora opened her jar! As the Brahmakumaris would say, to change the world you have to change your thinking.