Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0
Joseph Maynor

Is Truth With A Lower-case T Basically Just A Humanist, Pragmatic Truth

2 posts in this topic

One might say -- True for human purposes, for our purposes.  The proposition "Killing an innocent elderly old woman merely for amusement is wrong" is true with a lower case T.  And it's pretty obvious what the argument for it is.  Look inside your heart.  That's the argument, paradoxically.  That sense of injustice and inhumanity -- unfairness.  But this has no existential import whatsoever.   So, is this truth with a lower-case T basically a human morality built for human life and well-being?

Edited by Joseph Maynor

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, Joseph Maynor said:

So, is this truth with a lower-case T basically a human morality built for human life and well-being?

Man has suffered from many diseases and he has not even been aware that they are diseases. He has been punishing small criminals and he has been worshiping great criminals. Who is Alexander the Great? -- a great criminal; he murdered people on a mass scale. Napoleon Bonaparte, Ivan the Terrible, Nadir Shah, Genghis Khan, Tamerlane are all mass scale criminals. But their crimes are so big, perhaps, that you cannot conceive....

They have killed millions of people, burned millions of people alive, but they are not thought of as criminals.

And a small pickpocket, who takes away a two rupee note from your pocket will be punished by the court. And perhaps the two rupee note that you were carrying was not authentic at all. But his mother is dying, and he has no money for medicine, and I cannot say that he is a criminal; he is simply a kind-hearted man who loves his mother.

Society is concerned with itself, and that’s how it should be.
They are not concerned that you should become a self-knower. They are concerned that you should become an efficient part in the mechanism of the society. You should fit into the pattern. So they are trying to give you an ego that fits with the society. They teach you morality. Morality means giving you an ego which will fit with the society. If you are immoral, you will always be a misfit somewhere or other. That’s why we put criminals in the prisons – not that they have done something wrong, not that by putting them in the prisons we are going to improve them, no. They simply don’t fit. They are troublemakers. They have certain types of egos of which the society doesn’t approve. If the society approves, everything is good.
One man kills somebody – he is a murderer.
And the same man in wartime kills thousands – he becomes a great hero. The society is not bothered by a murder, but the murder should be commited for the society – then it is okay. The society doesn’t bother about morality.
Morality means only that you should fit with the society.
If the society is at war, then the morality changes.
If the society is at peace, then there is a different morality.
Morality is a social politics. It is diplomacy. And each child has to be brought up in such a way that he fits into the society, that’s all. Because society is interested in efficient members. Society is not interested that you should attain to self-knowledge.

A true morality arises only in a meditator's conciousness. It is not something imported from the outside. It is something arising in your very being. It is spontaneous. And when morality is spontaneous it is a joy, it is simply sharing your compassion and love.

~ OSHO

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!


Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.


Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0