Beyond Right and Wrong
What it means to become divine
Joseph Lieungh asked: “At the level of humanness, we see right and wrong as guide markers. At what point or level do we no longer see right and wrong?”
For the vast majority of humans, we go through life wanting things.
We may want material objects. We may want to be accepted by our peers, or loved by our families, or confident that we will go to Heaven when we die. Whatever it is that we want, we define “good” and “bad” relative to the things we want.
On a societal level, “right” and “wrong” are defined as the things that promote the most “good” for society. These are based upon the commonly desired wants of the society. Thus, “right” for one society may be considered “wrong” for another society.
There are many examples where maximizing profit conflicts with ecological sustainability. The modern version of this has different factions of the same society arguing over which virtue should be declared “right” for the whole society. In the past, the colonizing society embodied one side, with the indigenous society taking the other. Other examples are conflicting dictates of various religions, and the resulting violence. Those arguments have been going on for centuries.
Are enlightened beings past right and wrong?
As I said at the beginning, not all humans want things. Some have achieved an enlightened state of nonattachment. This is often described as being a silent witness to the actions of your body. You watch what you do, with no attachment to the outcome. Everything is blissful, because you have let go of “good” and “bad”.
The majority of these enlightened beings may still have a moral compass of “right” and “wrong”. I personally know of one person who has lived in this state for decades. Although he does not have attachments, he still views actions as “right” or “wrong”.
For example, he became enlightened after he had married and had children. He continues to do things that he has no particular attachment to, because his family wants them. He does not care one way or the other. But he does what is considered “good” for his family, as he considers doing so to be “right”.
He also continues to have a very successful career in business. He is highly respected in his field, and has been asked by his government to lead an initiative for them. His success and respect come from always acting in a way he considers “right”, whether or not it is considered “good”.
Most people would agree that the Dalai Lama is an enlightened being. He works tirelessly to promote greater peace and compassion in the world. He clearly still has a sense of “right” and “wrong”. Peace and compassion are “right”. War and intolerance are “wrong”.
Are divine beings past right and wrong?
As a searcher for truth, I have found myself going down many unexpected paths. On one of these paths, I was given something that puts women in touch with the Divine Mother. (The same substance has no effect on men.) It was not a hallucinagenic or psychotropic substance. It couldn’t be, since it has no effect on men, or women who take it a second time.
During my experience, I was surrounded and enveloped by an outpouring of divine love. It completely filled me. I would have happily stayed suspended in that love, since there was nothing else I wanted. I didn’t even have enough ego left for there to be an “I” to want anything.
My husband, however, had questions he wanted answered.
Since I was completely filled with divine love, I acted as a channel for the Divine Mother to answer him. His questions turned to the nature of good and evil, right and wrong.
From the divine perspective, this world is akin to a sandbox. Divine beings have questions, and get the answers in the sandbox. The sandbox is not reality. Divine unity is the reality. There is no such thing as “right” or “wrong”, “good” or “evil”. There is only what is, an answer to a question.
Some of the questions may be perceived by those in the sandbox as “good” or “bad”. After all, the question, “How much stress can a bridge take before it collapses?” leads to a “bad” outcome for the bridge. But that perception is only valid from within the sandbox.
Once you are out of the sandbox, and restored to your full divinity, those judgments fail to have any meaning.
The key attitude, though, is that from the divine perspective, it is full of love. The asking of the question is a process full of love. The creation of beings in the sandbox, willing to forego their divine connection for the length of time required to answer the question? An act of love. The resolution of the question? Loved.
This is similar to many of the spiritual teachings revealed through the years. Jesus said that the whole of God’s commandments boiled down to “love God” and “love your neighbor as yourself.” Buddha said, “Cherish all living beings with a boundless heart, radiating kindness over the entire world.”
Even religious traditions not normally associated with loving everyone contain that message at the root of their scriptures. Islamic scholar Adnan Oktar says the Quran “teaches love and compassion for every human being, no matter their religion.”
When we act from a place of loving, we act in accordance to divinity. We do not do so because we are trying to do what is “right”. We do so because from that perspective, it is the only possible thing to do.
Thus, for divine beings, and for imperfect humans embracing our inner divinity, when we fully exist in love, we are beyond right and wrong.
Final thoughts
“Good” and “bad”, “right” and “wrong”, all have as their basis a connection to desired outcomes. As long as we have wants, we will experience the judgment of good, bad, right, or wrong.
Enlightened beings no longer have attachment to outcomes. They still experience right and wrong, in that they understand their actions impact others. They want that impact to be for the betterment of others.
Divine beings do not have any judgment about good, bad, right, or wrong. All things that are, are perfect answers to divine questions. As such, they are loved for being what they are. They are not compared with any external measure of goodness or rightness. They are just loved.
For those of us who are unenlightened beings, how does the question of right and wrong or good and bad serve? Let’s not beat ourselves up over our failures. Let’s not take others to task for not measuring up. Instead, perhaps we should get in touch with the divinity within us all. And love one another, and everything about the world in which we find ourselves.
That does not mean passively allowing intolerance or hatred. It means having the strength to love and have compassion for the intolerant and haters. To stand against intolerance and hate. To love and advocate for those who are subjected to it.
And then, perhaps we can ask a new question. Perhaps we can ask what life would be like if everyone remembered and acted from their divinity.
Ready to have a better tomorrow?
I’ve created a guide to help you increase your confidence and improve your life. If you follow these tips, you will level up your life very quickly!
This article is a response to the writing prompt:
