Right vs. Left

Growing up, I've noticed the stigma that people have about the left. My parents have always enforced the rule of giving and accepting things, eating, etc. with the right hand, and now, using my left hand for most things feels weird. I remember that when I asked my dad why our right hands are so important, years ago, he said it is because the left hand is dirty. That didn't really make sense to me, but I just went with it anyway. I had no idea that there were even people who were "pro-left." Yesterday, we talked about the difference between the right and the left in the context of Tantric ritual, like how for Hindus, the right symbolizes equality with Shiva, and the left symbolizes being the same as Shiva, and how with the right there is still a base impurity and the left embodies a liberated reality. For some reason, I fail to see how the right could be considered better than the left (or vice versa, for that matter) and how such a stigma could exist.

Sorry for such a short post. This was just something I had been thinking about since yesterday's lecture.