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DIR Return to: The Way of the Warrior
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#Post#: 6--------------------------------------------------
The good, the bad and the nonexistent.
DIR By: Sensei Stephens
Date: January 3, 2013, 8:49 am
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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.
#Post#: 12--------------------------------------------------
Re: The good, the bad and the nonexistent.
DIR By: Inu
Date: January 3, 2013, 8:33 pm
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I think the great Author Bohdi Sanders said it best when he told
me that if I want more peace in my life I should," Realize that
things do not have to be about positive or negative, It can be
about simply observing life and relating it to ourselves."
I am working on following his advice, as he was the second to
give said advice to me this month. Just after one day I already
realize that how I define things in terms of good and bad do
impact my stress level a great deal. I am realizing that things
are neither good or bad. It is a human quality to try to
quantify things into compartments and label them with concepts
that we can both understand and control. However, I am now
leaning toward the belief that good and bad are relative and
things really have to be neither. There are two things about "
things"; Things just are,,,,and things will change.
Inu
--
All the world is my Dojo,
Maggi Inu Stephens
#Post#: 64--------------------------------------------------
Re: The good, the bad and the nonexistent.
DIR By: Jason
Date: January 5, 2013, 4:13 pm
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It is human nature to want to live, and hate to die; to desire
pleasant experiences, and avoid unpleasant ones. This is very
basic and instructive, as the universe is constantly attempting
to bring the body to great experiences of delight. We call the
pleasant experiences "good", and seek them; the unpleasant
experiences we call "bad" and avoid them - so the "bad"
experiences chase us towards "good" experiences. This is called
guidance.
For all of the planning and study, the calculation and
preparation, there are always forces and factors in motion that
go unseen - things do not always work out according to plan. It
is easy to become frustrated in these times, or feel dismayed
about the bad things that happen. The mis set alarm clock, the
forgotten item, the dead car battery, the flat tire on the road
- each incident altering the plans one had made for one's self
ever so slightly, a setback. Arriving late, with a splash of
mud and shivering with cold from the tire-change, it is easy to
regard such an experience as unpleasant, to say the least.
What goes on unseen can be the most amazing experience of all.
The alarm not going off when planned allowed a fragment of
dream, perhaps not even remembered, the turning back for the
coat delayed one just long enough to miss the angry person at
the gas station, the dead battery made necessary the calling of
a friend who desperately needed to feel useful that day, and
having the flat tire stopped the car just a mile short of what
would have been a fatal collision, if one had been there at that
time ... the time one had planned. Arriving to the meeting
late, the presentation is given later in the meeting, instead of
sooner - the mood of the room has changed. The outer evidence
of the morning's ordeal still clinging to that oh so carefully
selected set of clothing makes the audience sympathetic in a way
that one's slickly presented and carefully rehersed speech could
never have done.
So, what might have seemed like a bad day, upon examination, was
a series of miraculous blessings; guidance provided by the
universe leading to the experience of fulfillment. One can
curse their misfortune on such days, or take a moment to be
thankful. One cannot always control an outcome, but one can
always choose how to percieve any event.
#Post#: 68--------------------------------------------------
Re: The good, the bad and the nonexistent.
DIR By: Inu
Date: January 6, 2013, 12:22 pm
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Very nice post Jason. I concur. I enjoyed reading this very
much. I am thrilled that you are jumping on board the forums. We
need more people posting here.
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