Good v Bad
Lines tend to be quite thin. Too thin, in fact. Where's the line between like and love? How thick is the line between enough and too much? Where is that line and how thin is it?
We tend to always over step boundaries. It's difficult to always keep your guard up. Sometimes, you forget. Or it's just who you are. And you cross that line. It could be more physical contact that usual. For instance, I may not mind if A hugs me, but I may mind if B hugs me. It depends on the individual. How long you've known someone for, how much you know them, and how you know them. Yet, with anyone and everyone, there is always a line. And at some point that line is crossed.
While you are better off making your boundaries clear to people, this isn't always possible. So when someone crosses that line, making you uncomfortable, let them know. Tell them that they need to take a step back. Don't ever let someone make you feel uncomfortable because you are afraid that they'll be hurt then you tell them how you feel. You mustn't run away too. Words, use them. You can't run away from your problems.
This is of course crossing the line when dealing with people. But the line between various things in life, they too seem to be quite unclear. What is moral, and what isn't. What should you do and what should you not do. Finally, what is good and what is bad? And what is right and what is wrong?
What makes killing a cow wrong or protest worthy, but killing a mosquito acceptable and even expect-able? Why do we rise against one act but dismiss the other? Why do we think twice before killing a bird and yet swat a fly without giving the act much thought? What makes the act of killing one wrong and another not-wrong?
Recently, the so called Sangha, their robes a weapon rather than a sacrifice, protested about cow slaughter.
They said, cows had a cultural importance to Sri Lankans. Well, it's the buffalo who sweats in the fields, and yes, the cow gives us milk, but so does the goat. Do we look at a single nanny goat and call her a second mother? Can we compare a cow to a human mother? Most of all, are we not in fact stealing the milk meant for her calf?
They said, the Buddha wanted us to not harm. Yes, do not harm. Yet, when we pluck a fruit to eat, are we not hurting that tree? Are we not taking from it? When we slice through the paddy, are we not killing that plant? To what extreme do we take this to? Added to this, no Buddhist is required to be a vegetarian.
To all those who will argue that the cow produces too much milk for it's calf, thus it is nature's way of telling us it's okay to drink cow milk. Well, why is it that some meats are tough, not edible, where as others are? Is it not nature's way of telling us it's okay to eat certain meats?
My question to the protestors of this 'worthy' cause is, will you stop here or will you move on to the other animals who don't get a grave because they need to be on someone's plate? Will you fight for the goat, the hen, the fish? Will you find enough reasons or arguments to convince the Big Guys that animal slaughter of any kind needed to be banned? Or will you not go beyond the cow?
Why do we condemn one version of a crime, but not another?
Getting back to the line between what's right and what's wrong, can we always classify acts as either good or bad, right or wrong?
There's the middle ground, where things are neither right or wrong, good or bad. They just are. Maybe if you try hard and think enough, you can put all things in the middle ground to one category or the other. Yet, must you? Do we really need to label things?
Because sometimes, what the majority thinks is good, isn't really good. And sometimes, what they think is wrong, isn't wrong. It's like some types of food. The label says it expired that day, but it is still edible. Maybe not for long, but the label may claim it to be bad, but it still isn't bad.
And this middle ground where anything that can't be labeled goes, this is what leads to many arguments. Is homosexuality right or wrong?
Looking at homosexuality, when you forget race, age, sex, it boils down to desire, the satisfaction of needs. Let's call it love. Is love right or wrong? Is love good or bad?
We tend to always over step boundaries. It's difficult to always keep your guard up. Sometimes, you forget. Or it's just who you are. And you cross that line. It could be more physical contact that usual. For instance, I may not mind if A hugs me, but I may mind if B hugs me. It depends on the individual. How long you've known someone for, how much you know them, and how you know them. Yet, with anyone and everyone, there is always a line. And at some point that line is crossed.
While you are better off making your boundaries clear to people, this isn't always possible. So when someone crosses that line, making you uncomfortable, let them know. Tell them that they need to take a step back. Don't ever let someone make you feel uncomfortable because you are afraid that they'll be hurt then you tell them how you feel. You mustn't run away too. Words, use them. You can't run away from your problems.
This is of course crossing the line when dealing with people. But the line between various things in life, they too seem to be quite unclear. What is moral, and what isn't. What should you do and what should you not do. Finally, what is good and what is bad? And what is right and what is wrong?
What makes killing a cow wrong or protest worthy, but killing a mosquito acceptable and even expect-able? Why do we rise against one act but dismiss the other? Why do we think twice before killing a bird and yet swat a fly without giving the act much thought? What makes the act of killing one wrong and another not-wrong?
Recently, the so called Sangha, their robes a weapon rather than a sacrifice, protested about cow slaughter.
They said, cows had a cultural importance to Sri Lankans. Well, it's the buffalo who sweats in the fields, and yes, the cow gives us milk, but so does the goat. Do we look at a single nanny goat and call her a second mother? Can we compare a cow to a human mother? Most of all, are we not in fact stealing the milk meant for her calf?
They said, the Buddha wanted us to not harm. Yes, do not harm. Yet, when we pluck a fruit to eat, are we not hurting that tree? Are we not taking from it? When we slice through the paddy, are we not killing that plant? To what extreme do we take this to? Added to this, no Buddhist is required to be a vegetarian.
To all those who will argue that the cow produces too much milk for it's calf, thus it is nature's way of telling us it's okay to drink cow milk. Well, why is it that some meats are tough, not edible, where as others are? Is it not nature's way of telling us it's okay to eat certain meats?
My question to the protestors of this 'worthy' cause is, will you stop here or will you move on to the other animals who don't get a grave because they need to be on someone's plate? Will you fight for the goat, the hen, the fish? Will you find enough reasons or arguments to convince the Big Guys that animal slaughter of any kind needed to be banned? Or will you not go beyond the cow?
Why do we condemn one version of a crime, but not another?
Getting back to the line between what's right and what's wrong, can we always classify acts as either good or bad, right or wrong?
There's the middle ground, where things are neither right or wrong, good or bad. They just are. Maybe if you try hard and think enough, you can put all things in the middle ground to one category or the other. Yet, must you? Do we really need to label things?
Because sometimes, what the majority thinks is good, isn't really good. And sometimes, what they think is wrong, isn't wrong. It's like some types of food. The label says it expired that day, but it is still edible. Maybe not for long, but the label may claim it to be bad, but it still isn't bad.
And this middle ground where anything that can't be labeled goes, this is what leads to many arguments. Is homosexuality right or wrong?
Looking at homosexuality, when you forget race, age, sex, it boils down to desire, the satisfaction of needs. Let's call it love. Is love right or wrong? Is love good or bad?
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