Within ‘At The Moment’ (此时此刻), in ‘The Promise Of Karuizawa’ (说好的轻井泽), a married man and a married woman discover their spouses to be having affairs with each other’s spouses. With a mix of perhaps disappointment, grief, anger, vengeance, temptation and desperation ‘at the moment’, they became physically intimate, leading to an affair on their side too.
Their affair now makes them just as in the wrong as their spouses. Does this make their spouses more understandable and forgivable, or all parties equally inexcusable? Why become the expected ‘twist’ by being rash, to become confounding clichés? Why create an equally great problem in the midst of an already great one? Perhaps because there will be less drama without this?
If the protagonists reflect, others doing wrong to them does not make it right for them to do them wrong in return. Why should others’ dishonourability make us dishonourable? As Marcus Aurelius wrote, ‘The best revenge is to not be like your enemy.’ It might seem fair to be vengeful, but this only makes one as wrong as the other. And how is this fair to your own precious integrity?
All wrongs are done ‘at the moment’, in the moment, when there are lapses of Right Mindfulness. Even a repeated affair that has become habitual began in the moment. Why follow the heat of passion in the moment time and again, knowing it will lead to much regret sooner or later? Why not be more mindful from moment to moment to morally protect oneself and others from moment to moment? Taking care of just this one moment, you will be taking care of all time.
Surely, if there is true love, it can wait, for proper union after proper seperation. Why must there be overhelming lust that takes over? Momentary lust is surely not lasting love. Are sudden affairs not more expression of true lust than true love?
Before making a new promise with someone new to rendezvous at Karuizawa, there should be remembering of the same promise with someone else before. Even if there is decision to not keep the old promise any more, there should be informing with apologising first. Undo an old knot before tying a new one. Life is but the seeking and applying of solution after solution, for resolution after resolution, from moment to moment.
