In this three-part series, titled as Nihilism, Morality and Enlightened Living, I am going to lay out my thoughts on (1) what is right and wrong in absolute sense (2) the basis for morality (3) and finally we will understand what morality is, the concept and how it operates.
Enlightened living is exclusive neither of morality nor of nihilism, and yet, it’s apart from the two. Note that enlightenment is not to mean the state of forever happiness (as it is generally taken to mean in spiritual literature) but the state of awareness about the existence, where the suffering is at its lowest level.
Part 1
What Is Right and Wrong in Absolute Sense?
Forget about morality for a while. Forget everything that you have believed about right and wrong. Try to get rid of your conditioning. Once you do it, only then read further. And remember that I am talking about right and wrong in absolute sense.
In order to establish something as the right thing in certain context we need to have some meaning or purpose in place. Basically, the objective has to be there. For example, if you are running a race and your objective is to win the race then you can say that running is the right thing to do in that context, and walking is wrong for it will work contrary to your objective. At the same time, on a higher level when fair-play also forms your objective of life, you would also say that cheating is the wrong thing to do and not cheating is the right thing. You could tell what is right or wrong because you had an objective before you in what you were doing, in the race as well as in life. Having some objective means seeing meaning or purpose in life and living for it.
You may have certain objective in life. That’s your meaning, your purpose behind life. And based on that you may have certain values that categorize for you what right and wrong is. What serves towards your objective is right and what works contrary to the objective is wrong. One common objective in life which everyone knowingly or unknowingly has is attaining happiness. So, in a broad sense we can say, what maximizes people’s happiness is right and vice versa.
You see, this right and wrong are relative to our objective, of attaining happiness or whatever. It doesn’t mean that what serves that objective is “the” right thing, or what deters us from the objective is “the” wrong thing. We are talking about right and wrong in absolute sense. In “absolute sense” means irrespective of our meaning and purpose in life.
Because meaning and purpose are human constructs, for we can't work without meaning since we have got consciousness and reasoning mind. Consciousness is your knowledge of your individual existence. My consciousness is my knowledge that “I am”. In order to maintain sanity through consciousness the meaning and purpose is essential. So, meaning and purpose that we have are self-assigned by us to guide our conscious living. Thus, right and wrong that we have is all relative to our consciousness.
Everything we see meaning in is relative to consciousness. But consciousness itself is transient. Meaning, our sense of being is transient. "I am Darshan" is not an eternal and absolute reality. It's just as long as my consciousness is. Without consciousness what am I? I am just one form of the energy which everything is made of. I am a part of the whole.
We can establish right and wrong in absolute sense only if the following conditions are met –
Since none of the above is true, what would it mean? The universe exists as a massive chaos and random events for as long as it is. I say chaos and random because even if there is some order we are incapable to figure it out. Our mind simply doesn’t have the capacity. So it’s as good as chaos for us. Second thing, there’s certainly no sign of benevolence, nor of meaning and purpose. We have no basis to establish right and wrong but our own self-assigned objectives. The universe just IS. Everything we see meaning in is a result of random coincidences. No meaning, no purpose, because there's no “divine intentions" behind it.
In short, in absolute sense, nothing matters. Nothing is right and wrong as such in life. Or we can say that in the existence, everything is right in its place, always.
In the next part I will elaborate more on the intrinsic meaninglessness of the existence and thence we will form the basis for morality, and finally in the third part I will conclude the three-part series with explanation of the concept and working of morality.
Enlightened living is exclusive neither of morality nor of nihilism, and yet, it’s apart from the two. Note that enlightenment is not to mean the state of forever happiness (as it is generally taken to mean in spiritual literature) but the state of awareness about the existence, where the suffering is at its lowest level.
Nihilism, Morality and Enlightened Living
Part 1
What Is Right and Wrong in Absolute Sense?
Forget about morality for a while. Forget everything that you have believed about right and wrong. Try to get rid of your conditioning. Once you do it, only then read further. And remember that I am talking about right and wrong in absolute sense.
In order to establish something as the right thing in certain context we need to have some meaning or purpose in place. Basically, the objective has to be there. For example, if you are running a race and your objective is to win the race then you can say that running is the right thing to do in that context, and walking is wrong for it will work contrary to your objective. At the same time, on a higher level when fair-play also forms your objective of life, you would also say that cheating is the wrong thing to do and not cheating is the right thing. You could tell what is right or wrong because you had an objective before you in what you were doing, in the race as well as in life. Having some objective means seeing meaning or purpose in life and living for it.
You may have certain objective in life. That’s your meaning, your purpose behind life. And based on that you may have certain values that categorize for you what right and wrong is. What serves towards your objective is right and what works contrary to the objective is wrong. One common objective in life which everyone knowingly or unknowingly has is attaining happiness. So, in a broad sense we can say, what maximizes people’s happiness is right and vice versa.
You see, this right and wrong are relative to our objective, of attaining happiness or whatever. It doesn’t mean that what serves that objective is “the” right thing, or what deters us from the objective is “the” wrong thing. We are talking about right and wrong in absolute sense. In “absolute sense” means irrespective of our meaning and purpose in life.
Because meaning and purpose are human constructs, for we can't work without meaning since we have got consciousness and reasoning mind. Consciousness is your knowledge of your individual existence. My consciousness is my knowledge that “I am”. In order to maintain sanity through consciousness the meaning and purpose is essential. So, meaning and purpose that we have are self-assigned by us to guide our conscious living. Thus, right and wrong that we have is all relative to our consciousness.
Everything we see meaning in is relative to consciousness. But consciousness itself is transient. Meaning, our sense of being is transient. "I am Darshan" is not an eternal and absolute reality. It's just as long as my consciousness is. Without consciousness what am I? I am just one form of the energy which everything is made of. I am a part of the whole.
We can establish right and wrong in absolute sense only if the following conditions are met –
- There’s some supreme and benevolent being, God, capable of thinking who has consciously created the existence and “intended” it to function in certain way.
- And we, the humans, know His intentions.
Since none of the above is true, what would it mean? The universe exists as a massive chaos and random events for as long as it is. I say chaos and random because even if there is some order we are incapable to figure it out. Our mind simply doesn’t have the capacity. So it’s as good as chaos for us. Second thing, there’s certainly no sign of benevolence, nor of meaning and purpose. We have no basis to establish right and wrong but our own self-assigned objectives. The universe just IS. Everything we see meaning in is a result of random coincidences. No meaning, no purpose, because there's no “divine intentions" behind it.
In short, in absolute sense, nothing matters. Nothing is right and wrong as such in life. Or we can say that in the existence, everything is right in its place, always.
In the next part I will elaborate more on the intrinsic meaninglessness of the existence and thence we will form the basis for morality, and finally in the third part I will conclude the three-part series with explanation of the concept and working of morality.
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