Thursday, September 11, 2008

Evil versus Evil?

You all do it right?..
You know, from time to time, reflect on the 'way things are?'..
Find yourself questioning the wisdom of the ancients?..
For me, it starts with a word...
Since childhood I've been fascinated with concept of morality. Both Human and practiced by other species..
After a lot of repetitive thought I eventually came to a kind of foundation starting point on the subject..
Moral values are fluid..They are relative.
Relative to culture...Social customs...Personal preference...Species...
Also subject to change based on time, place, and degree..
As a grown up child I have revisited the subject during reflective moments and
drawn further conclusions..
Morality is a created value system activated by response to circumstances.
By created I mean concocted as opposed to for example,...gravity..
I would attempt to clarify by writing: Morality is a defined and adopted response
to circumstances rising from the interaction of positive and negative forces playing out in our daily lives..
Would you agree with that?..
Doin so would put you in line with a lot of folks who believe the existence of positive and negative forces are as much a part of reality as gravity..
I know I sure did...'Shit happens' and all that...
Lately though, journeying down my fledgling path of perception..I have been hampered by reoccurring pangs of doubt...
Like deciding to go hiking wearing shorts cuz the weather seems to dictate it..Then finding oneself trapped in the middle of a thistle patch..
For me, the diligence required to set out on the path is challenge enough...
My mind keeps getting in the way..
It hurts actually..
There is a constant battle going on and, my mind is sneaky..
It doesn't play fair...I think it's envy or something akin to jealousy..
It's opponent has no name...
My mind however has a name for it..."Nagging Virago"...
I am sure the Nag is not a separate avenue of thought within my own mind, as it communicates ideas my mind doesn't want to deal with..
One mean offensive tactic of my mind is it's capacity to create fatigue forcing me to turn away from the path of perception...
It follows up as a wicked Step Mother slyly promising to allow my return to the path at a later date..
"You can go there tomorrow...In the morning, when your rested....Oh, wait...Your going to be busy with other stuff tomorrow...Maybe the next day then.."
"Besides, loosecanon, your boring me,...and everyone around you.."
What if good and bad,... those positive and negative forces, are actually just creations themselves?
They exist no doubt..We deal with them every waking moment of every day..But are they physics of the universe? Like gravity I mean...
Or are they a creation of the living?
Zen claims they exist like gravity...They are a result of a law of the universe called Cause and Effect...
According to Zen, the universe at it's perfect harmonious state is like a glassy lake..
Every movement be it physical or mental thought, by all things in existence 'cause' a ripple in the lake..
As all things in existence are a part of the universe the ripple is experienced by all that exists..Thus the 'effect'...The entire process is termed 'karmic'...
Weight is added to the effect of this natural phenomenon in terms of the intent of the initial act of movement..
Thus the effect of karmic events can be categorized and termed... 'Good' karma, 'Bad' karma, or 'Indifferent' karma...
The categorizing of karmic events is done through the process of Moral values...
It is at this very point on my path of perception I find myself scratching involuntarily at thistle needles...
If the definition of the perfect harmonious state of the universe is undisturbed...Then any karmic activity of any intent is a disturbance of the perfect state...
Logic leads to only one conclusion...Any karmic event must logically be categorized as 'Bad'...
If all karmic events are 'bad' then where does the term 'good' or 'indifferent' come from?
It comes from the same place morality comes from...
My head hurts...