Tuesday, January 15, 2008
No Right, No Wrong
Whatever decision you make, it is neither right or wrong. It depends much on the options you have at the moment, the conditions at that time. There is no point regretting about the past decisions being made, cuz that was the best you chose at that moment given the condition you are in (be it sleepy, stressed, awake etc...). The options you have then are pretty much the info you knew so far (beliefs, education, preferences etc...)
I was posed a question during the Y_Fellowship training after a competetive game. We were asked whether would we be still kind and cooperative to each other when our survival is at stake? Although i've gone through many similar activities as such, i've never thoroughly reflected on this point... or maybe i did but forgotten.
I feel that it is very much related to our spiritual development. The amount of control and restraint of ourselves. One good analogy is the post Vietnam war effect on American troops. It was in a documentary long time ago.
A group of soldiers were ordered to kill civilians in a village. As soldiers, they have to follow orders or else they will get court marshalled and probably be sent to a military prison to face hardships for a long time. However, a soldier refused to obey that order because he felt it was wrong to do so. He was sent to a military prison when they returned to America while the other soldiers returned to their families and were celebrated as war heroes. Over time, social and psychological problems caught up to those soldiers that killed the villagers. When the soldier who did not kill the villagers was released from military prison, he got back to a normal life while the other soldiers who killed the villagers had to go through lots of counselling and psychiatric treatment.
We have the ability to choose... but the options are limited by the knowledge and perception we have. Gotama Buddha, during his past lives as a Bodhisatta, he gave up his life just to feed a few hungry lion cubs with his body. Some people may think it was a bad decision as he could develop his spiritual training in some other way, but to the Bodhisatta, it was the best option for Him then. He had the knowledge that there is rebirth and he could continue his training in His next life, He understood non-self, that is why He was able to do it.
Another point to bring up during Buddhist discussions... people always get confused between 'street smart' and 'wisdom'. When we mention people putting money into alms bowl of bogus monks, we cannot say that they have compassion but no wisdom.... they just do not know of the customs and traditions. But lets say we informed the person that he had given money to a fraud and he reacts:-
1) calmly as he is able to let go of his money and attachment<-- this is wisdom
2) getting agitated and angry<-- no wisdom
To me, wisdom is the ability to overcome unwholesome states of the mind by knowing how to apply mindfulness in our daily lives.
I was posed a question during the Y_Fellowship training after a competetive game. We were asked whether would we be still kind and cooperative to each other when our survival is at stake? Although i've gone through many similar activities as such, i've never thoroughly reflected on this point... or maybe i did but forgotten.
I feel that it is very much related to our spiritual development. The amount of control and restraint of ourselves. One good analogy is the post Vietnam war effect on American troops. It was in a documentary long time ago.
A group of soldiers were ordered to kill civilians in a village. As soldiers, they have to follow orders or else they will get court marshalled and probably be sent to a military prison to face hardships for a long time. However, a soldier refused to obey that order because he felt it was wrong to do so. He was sent to a military prison when they returned to America while the other soldiers returned to their families and were celebrated as war heroes. Over time, social and psychological problems caught up to those soldiers that killed the villagers. When the soldier who did not kill the villagers was released from military prison, he got back to a normal life while the other soldiers who killed the villagers had to go through lots of counselling and psychiatric treatment.
We have the ability to choose... but the options are limited by the knowledge and perception we have. Gotama Buddha, during his past lives as a Bodhisatta, he gave up his life just to feed a few hungry lion cubs with his body. Some people may think it was a bad decision as he could develop his spiritual training in some other way, but to the Bodhisatta, it was the best option for Him then. He had the knowledge that there is rebirth and he could continue his training in His next life, He understood non-self, that is why He was able to do it.
Another point to bring up during Buddhist discussions... people always get confused between 'street smart' and 'wisdom'. When we mention people putting money into alms bowl of bogus monks, we cannot say that they have compassion but no wisdom.... they just do not know of the customs and traditions. But lets say we informed the person that he had given money to a fraud and he reacts:-
1) calmly as he is able to let go of his money and attachment<-- this is wisdom
2) getting agitated and angry<-- no wisdom
To me, wisdom is the ability to overcome unwholesome states of the mind by knowing how to apply mindfulness in our daily lives.
# posted by Chun Kiang @ 4:23 AM 
