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Ask the Swami
by Swami
Beyondananda
Dear
Swami:
As an
olfactorally-sensitive individual, I sometimes have
problems with smells that don't affect other people.
Unfortunately, my biggest problem right now is under my
own roof. I love my live-in boyfriend, but he must be
some kind of throwback to the '60s because he insists on
burning this stinky incense all over the house. When I
protest that the smell is irritating me, he shrugs and
tells me it's not his problem. This makes me absolutely
furious. But the more angry I get, the more indifferent
he becomes. Isn't there anything I can do to help this
otherwise decent guy become more sensitive in this
regard?
Hedforda
Hills
Jamaica, New York
Dear
Hedforda:
I can
relate to your problem because I too have olfactory
sensitivity -- probably due to all those ol' factories
that spewed smoke back in Muskogee when I was a kid. I
sense you are incensed not just by the incense, but by
his insensitivity to how much the incense incenses you.
While an assault on the senses like the one you describe
is not a felony, it is definitely a missed-demeanor. (In
other words, the offender usually fails to notice the
pained expression on the victim's face.) That is why
some forward-thinking communities are beginning to offer
scentsitivity training for "inscentsitives"
like your boyfriend. And the first principle of sensory
scentsitivity is that it is a form of oppression to
impose an overpowering smell onto others without their
permission. In other words, all public smells must be
conscentual. And I totally agree with this common scents
approach.
*****
Dear
Swami:
Can
two wrongs ever make a right?
Anna
Trossity
Bedford
Falls, New York
Dear
Anna:
We have
often heard that "two wrongs can never make a
right," but I beg to differ. G. Gordon Liddy and
Oliver North prove that two wrongs can indeed make a
Right. But it is even more complicated than that,
because the Right is made up of many, many wrongs. This
explains the bumper sticker I saw recently which said,
"If Rush is Right, I'll take what's left." But
even if the Right is wrong, this doesn't necessarily
make the Left right. The Left may be right in thinking
there are wrongs to right, but these wrongs cannot be
righted simply by wronging the Right.
Psychologically
speaking, the Right is afraid of being left -- and the
Left is afraid of being right. I will explain. Many
people on the Right are moralists at heart who deep down
believe that God will judge or forsake them if they
stray from the path. In other words, unless they are
right, they will be left. And over on the Left, being
left is a sign of being right. That is because the Left
considers the electorate so hopelessly brainwashed that
if voters suddenly decided the Left was right, this
would really mean the Left was wrong. And so the Left
doesn't feel right unless it is left. This is how the
Right got right and the Left got left.
Meanwhile,
these two groups are attacking each other left and
right. "I'm right!" says the Right. "No,
I'm right!" says the Left. And sadly, this is the
level of our political discourse -- a left and a right,
and a right and a left, and the winner is the last one
to proclaim, "I'm right!" And this, my
children, is what the Catholics call "Last
rights."
*****
Read also:
"Who
Is Swami Beyondananda"
and
more
articles from the Swami
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