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The Way of the Warrior / The good, the bad and the nonexistent.
« Last post by Sensei Stephens on January 03, 2013, 08:49:00 am »What is good? What is bad? I mean, really, what are they?
Some will say that good and bad are opposites. It is more likely that they are relative to each other, each one reliant on the existence of the other for it's own being. Good can only be measured by using bad as a barometer, and vice versa. People can not recognize good things (joy, comfort, peace) without first having experienced bad things (sadness, pain, conflict). At the same time, one can not recognize bad things without having first experienced good things.
In this light, if a person were to live their entire life having experienced nothing good(as seen by consensus), then they will take the instances that are not quite as bad and they will label them as "the good times". Should a person live their entire life having experienced nothing bad(as seen by consensus), then they will take the instances that were not quite as good and they will label them as "the hard times".
This gives rise to the idea that there is no such thing as good times or bad times, but only happenings that we interpret as good and bad according to our own life experiences. This habit is a social affliction that we learn as children and only reinforce as we grow older. The question is . . . How do we cure this affliction?
We could stop caring about the goings-on in our vacinity and simply "live", but this would trade one social affliction for another . . . Apathy. I suggest that we, instead, spend a little time(thirty days, maybe) looking at our life situations and scenarios. Lets take any situation that would seem bad at a surface examination and find the "good" in it. Let's also look at the situations that seem good at a surface examination and find the "bad" in it. After seeing that every cloud really does have a silver lining and, to quote a great philosopher, every silver lining has a touch of grey, we might see that good and bad, fortune and misfortune, are things that we not only choose to experience, but things that we invent for ourselves.
Can we throw out our perceptions of good and bad in order to have a more peaceful existence for ourselves? Or would a more peaceful existence be considered a good thing and, therefore not exist in such a mindset?
Feel free to comment and discuss.
Some will say that good and bad are opposites. It is more likely that they are relative to each other, each one reliant on the existence of the other for it's own being. Good can only be measured by using bad as a barometer, and vice versa. People can not recognize good things (joy, comfort, peace) without first having experienced bad things (sadness, pain, conflict). At the same time, one can not recognize bad things without having first experienced good things.
In this light, if a person were to live their entire life having experienced nothing good(as seen by consensus), then they will take the instances that are not quite as bad and they will label them as "the good times". Should a person live their entire life having experienced nothing bad(as seen by consensus), then they will take the instances that were not quite as good and they will label them as "the hard times".
This gives rise to the idea that there is no such thing as good times or bad times, but only happenings that we interpret as good and bad according to our own life experiences. This habit is a social affliction that we learn as children and only reinforce as we grow older. The question is . . . How do we cure this affliction?
We could stop caring about the goings-on in our vacinity and simply "live", but this would trade one social affliction for another . . . Apathy. I suggest that we, instead, spend a little time(thirty days, maybe) looking at our life situations and scenarios. Lets take any situation that would seem bad at a surface examination and find the "good" in it. Let's also look at the situations that seem good at a surface examination and find the "bad" in it. After seeing that every cloud really does have a silver lining and, to quote a great philosopher, every silver lining has a touch of grey, we might see that good and bad, fortune and misfortune, are things that we not only choose to experience, but things that we invent for ourselves.
Can we throw out our perceptions of good and bad in order to have a more peaceful existence for ourselves? Or would a more peaceful existence be considered a good thing and, therefore not exist in such a mindset?
Feel free to comment and discuss.