Personal Jesus
I provoke many people with my opinion about right and wrong; even though it is not my intention. That opinion is of course that there is no ‘right or wrong’ (or ‘good or bad’ for that matter). It provokes. It has provoked my boyfriend, my friends and even complete strangers. It has provoked them so much that they will try and get a rise out of me by firing off examples of certain acts and asking, nay demanding, that I contradict myself.
‘But abuse.’ They say. ‘Sexual abuse of children. You can’t say that is right or good.’
‘I don’t say that it’s right or good.’ I reply. ‘But I don’t say it is wrong or bad either.’
‘But if it’s not right, it must be wrong. And how can you say that sexual abuse isn’t bad?’
And then the kicker.
‘How would you feel if it happened to your children?’
People get angry at me when they can’t shake me off my belief, because they infuse their own meaning into my words. They think I am condoning the infliction of pain. Then they bring it back to themselves. They imagine themselves feeling pain (or perhaps they really did experience that pain) and they get insulted because they think that I don’t think their pain matters. They feel unloved. I would say on the contrary, pain matters. Pain matters a good deal. It is the only thing that makes us grow. Physically; through disease and then immunity; emotionally through anguish and then more steadfast courage. Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
The people who would argue with me, see the world from a rather linear perspective. From the mind/ego point of view. And when you look at the world from the ego’s point of view, it is clear. What we call right or good, the way we justify our actions, how we act, is a mechanism in order to survive in our society. We are born and we try to postpone our death for as long as we possibly can. Murder is wrong and bad for example, because it decreases our chances of survival (as a society, perhaps not for an individual in certain circumstances). Right, wrong. Ethical, unethical. Legal, illegal. Appropriate, inappropriate. They are all judgements which contribute to the functioning of our society. A society rife with sexual abuse would not function. It is therefore designated ‘wrong’, illegal, inappropriate and unethical.
I don’t like to talk about others; everyone has their own journey and their own personal belief structure. But a note before I explain my own beliefs; by saying that sexual abuse is not wrong, I am not inferring that a person is ‘to blame’ for their abusive experience (I don’t believe in blame either), nor am I suggesting that it should not be stopped if uncovered. Furthermore, I have not been subject to sexual abuse and cannot know the weight and struggle of that particular experience. But I have (in my own small way) experienced some adversity. So from here on, I speak my own truth about my adversity (and if you wish to extrapolate it to your adversity, that’s your business).
Let us suppose first of all that there is a purpose to our existence (it’s a big premise, but we’ll come back to it later). I believe that as a specimen of life in human form, I am here to learn lessons. The goal of my lessons ultimately is to remember (since in life you are born with no memory) that I am part of a far larger creation, to make my way from total preoccupation with the self, to a profound awareness/connection to the divine source and deep joy. The goal of my life is a loss of the self and a path to utter bliss.
My own personal Gods do include some men who look like Jesus however
In order to realise this, I participate in a game (or an illusion of separation) called ‘life’ in which I enrolled willingly. The experiences in my life I chose to experience; from alcoholism, to adoption, to emotional abuse, to domestic violence (and so much more about which you don’t even know)… They are my lessons. This is my life. Just as maths or physics are not right or wrong, or good or bad (even though I thought that physics caused me a great deal of pain) neither are my life lessons. Physics lessons don’t inflict pain on me. If I experience pain, it is not the lessons themselves which ‘hurt me’. In fact nobody ‘hurts me’. It is a value I attribute to an experience. Out of the many so called ‘adverse’ experiences in my life, I would not get rid of a single one. In fact I have reached a point where I welcome them (although I certainly did not initially). But my lessons have changed. They used to be cruel, subconscious and self destructive; then I became aware that I had a choice in how I experienced my lessons and since they have become loving, challenging and conscious. Each one has distanced me further and further away from self involvement; they have taught me the more I try and control, the more everything is out of my control, the more I fear, the more I will encounter danger, the more I distrust, the more I will be conned. Conversely, the more I trust, the more I love, the more I let go…the greater the trust, the greater love and ultimately,the more connection and bliss I feel.
So what does this mean as a parent now? Does it mean that I will allow my children to be sexually abused or shall I not speak out injustice where I find it because it has a deeper purpose and will bring a lesson? Absolutely not. Whilst it certainly will bring lessons at many levels; I take my involvement in ‘life’ extremely seriously. Just as I would try with all my might to thrash you at Scrabble, I will also try to achieve equality, help people out of their pain as far as I can and protect my children…all the while realising that every ounce of pain experienced will bring invaluable learning.
But back to the original premise the assumption that we are here for a purpose…What would that change? The answer is nothing. My personal beliefs (you might call it religion for want of a better word) do not inflict mass genocide, nor do they oppress women, nor do they bind by rules and forced control. My beliefs are characterised by trust, freedom and love. That’s what I believe in. And if there is no purpose to our existence, well then surely all the more reason why I should live my life within those tenets. It is still the best path to deep bliss.
Category: Adulthood & Relationships
Basically you’re saying morals don’t exist outside of the human need to thrive as societies. You also point out that when you’re done thinking in philosophical terms, you pretty much act as all of us (or so I hope) would towards suffering and pain. So if you consider that bad is what makes people suffer, why not take it as the (however flawed) definition of good and bad? In that sense, that you think there is no absolute good and bad doesn’t really matter.
The point about the ‘good and bad’ terminology is that it is most often used as a stance of judgement into polarising people into two camps. Which is just my observation and why I prefer not to use those particular words.