Bill,
When one realizes the essential non-separation of all things, that
they are all expressions of the same basic substance and
interconnected flow, that separation into discrete things is an
illusion, then one naturally acts compassionately towards all things
which sometimes includes protecting some things against destruction
by other things. Those actions are somewhat arbitrary based on where
one's center is relative to the other things, where one's center is
in the flow, in which local eddies in the flow.
By so acting, action is in accord with the flow of Tao. One freely
expresses the local forces of the flow of Tao. That is active Zen.
Edgar
On Oct 8, 2008, at 11:26 PM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Makya,
My view of morals is the same as Margie's. I define 'morals' as a
code of
conduct. This code can be very complex - as in Islamic Sharia Law
or the
Jewish Talmud; or can be fairly short as in the Old Testament's 10
Commandments or the Buddhist 5 Precepts; or can be very simple as
in Jesus'
teaching to 'Love one another'. More important to this discussion is
whether morals are thought to be absolute or relative.
Most religions (all?) believe the discrimination between right and
wrong and
therefore codes of conduct are ABSOLUTE. The code or list from
which the
'correct' action can be derived should apply to ALL situations and
most
importantly to ALL people. What's right or wrong in all situations
and for
all people. This makes it easy to judge the conduct of both
yourself and
others. Since there are a lot of situations and a lot of people, most
religion's codes of conduct are very complex.
Zen's perspective on the discrimination between right and wrong and
therefore the selection of a 'correct' action is RELATIVE. The
'correct'
action depends the situation, and most importantly is determined by
each
individual for themselves. What's right for you in a certain situation
might not be right in a different situation. What's right for you in a
certain situation might not be right for someone else in the same
situation.
This makes it unnecessary to judge (after-the-fact) your own
conduct since
your actions were completely determined by the situation at the
time of
execution; and it is impossible (or at least useless) to try to
judge the
conduct of others. This also means that zen cannot ascribe to any
formal
code of conduct or morals.
Hope this helps...Bill!
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Behalf
Of roloro1557
Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2008 9:44 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Zen] Re: Aging and Zen
Mayka-
Morals are just a set of arbitrary rules imposed by society, culture,
religion, etc. They are meaningless. They are empty concepts. And they
differ hugely from culture to culture. This creates nothing but
endless arguments about whose morals are right and whose are wrong.
Real morality is just doing what you know is right, it really is that
simple.
Margie (roloro1557)
