Monday, May 7, 2012

Right or Wrong action ?

In all of our lives, we are obsessed and preoccupied with always doing the right action/s. But is there really a RIGHT or a WRONG?

An action is just an action on its own, it has no value on its own but an effect after the performance of the action. The culturally, or socially, accepted effect of the action would then cause the action to be labelled as a RIGHT action, but the unacceptable effect of an action will cause the action to be labelled as a WRONG action. Therefore RIGHT and WRONG are only labels we put on something in comparison to another, they are only relative, and there cannot be one without the other. Such as there can be no WRONGs when there is nothing RIGHT.

Let me cite a more grounded example given by Geshe Michael Roach. He gave the example of an Aspirin. We all know that an Aspirin can be used to "kill" a headache. So to someone who took an Aspirin after experiencing a headache to have the pain go away, he/she labels the Aspirin as GOOD medicine for curing headache. To another person who took the Aspirin after experiencing a headache but received no similar relieve in the pain he/she would label it as BAD medicine for curing headache. BUT without the perspective of either person, an Aspirin is just an Aspirin. It is neither GOOD nor BAD.

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