If it's all goodness, then why should I even worry about being good?

[F A B]

I know it sounds stupid, but I can't get my head around this.

Side note: Of course, I do encourage good behaviors (or at least what seems reasonably good).

[seeking_brilliance]

because, do you enjoy self inflicted pain? 

[Leo Gura]

Who told you to worry?

Be good, if you want. Be bad if you want. Either way is Good.

If you are looking for reasons to be good, you haven't understood goodness.

[tsuki]

Being good as in: following a standard of behavior, is a mistake. You should strive to understand your true self to the best of your abilities and be it authentically. That is goodness and it how everything is already good.

Stop limiting your light. 

Edited December 6, 2020 by tsuki

[RedLine]

Because reality is a paradox. It doesn't work wit the laws of logic (or with la language if you like, it is the same). A and non A can  be true at the same time and equal. 

 

 

[Forestluv]

“If it's all goodness, then why should I even worry about being good?”

Consider an absolute perspective and a personal level.

At an absolute level, whatever is happening right now is ISness. There is a happening, is it happening? Of course it is. Yet at a personal level, ISness goes through a personal filter. That is the personal “I” that worries. A fire in my kitchen and me stepping on an ant are both happenings, yet they affect me differently at a personal level.

So why would a personal “I” worry about being good. To me , the term “worry” suggest underlying fear and anxiety. In this context, I would say the personal worry would be about consequences of not being good. For example, if I’m not good, I may be unloved, rejected by others, lose my job etc. 

We could also consider it in terms of desire. Why do I desire to do good? When I was learning Spanish, I had a strong desire to trill the Rs properly. Most gringos can’t trill Rs and it’s an ugly sounding accent. Part of me wanted to trill them well so I didn’t sound like a dumb gringo. I learned how to trill “good enough”, yet then I wanted to be able to trill so well that even native speakers would notice and be surprised a gringo can do it so well. So  I practiced hundreds of times asking my teacher “Is this sound better? Or does this sound better?”. She would give me long tongue twisters filled with Rs and RRs. It was like learning how to play a guitar and I wanted to do it really well. I was t really “worried” about it, I just had a desire to do it really well for some reason. 

The context depends on whether it is a transpersonal or personal view. On one  level, however the Rs are pronounced is ‘Good’, on another level, there is a bad way to pronounce and a good way to pronounce. 

 

[Juliano Zn]

@Leo Gura How do you deal with an animal who's in pain and agony, and it's certain that it will die? What's the best thing to do for the animal, mercy kill it or let it agonize to death? I'm talking about all animals, ants, dogs, humans...

[Leo Gura]

27 minutes ago, Juliano Zn said:

@Leo Gura How do you deal with an animal who's in pain and agony, and it's certain that it will die? What's the best thing to do for the animal, mercy kill it or let it agonize to death? I'm talking about all animals, ants, dogs, humans...

Follow your heart and consciousness.

[Vrubel]

@Juliano Zn @Leo Gura I own carnivorous plants in my house. I find them very cool but the insects trapped by them die a slow agonizing death. They are literally digested alive. This is not very easy on my mind, at least when I slap them they die in an instant and do not suffer. The trapped insects do sustain the plants though so that gives me some peace. But yeah, nature is damn cruel. 

Edited December 6, 2020 by Vrubel

[Gesundheit]

You are much more than a (good vs. bad) silly conceptual duality. And much much more than a (should vs. shouldn't) silly moral duality.

Concepts don't define who you are. And morals don't define concepts in the first place. You define everything.

[seeking_brilliance]

16 hours ago, Vrubel said:

@Juliano Zn @Leo Gura I own carnivorous plants in my house. I find them very cool but the insects trapped by them die a slow agonizing death. They are literally digested alive. This is not very easy on my mind, at least when I slap them they die in an instant and do not suffer. The trapped insects do sustain the plants though so that gives me some peace. But yeah, nature is damn cruel. 

This always fascinated me as a kid

[allislove]

@F A B

How do you feel? You are here to be happy, to have fun, to give love. Do you feel happy right now? If not, it means there are thought patterns in place that don't allow you to feel who you are. Due to these thought patterns you may do some "bad" things. Doing "bad" things reinforces those patterns... Daily morning meditation for the rescue.

[Moksha]

Don't worry about anything. Learn to discipline your mind and your senses, and enjoy the goodness that you are.

I like synchronicities, so here is something I was reading just now. Notice the relationship between selfishness and suffering. Goodness isn't some moral abstraction, it is simply doing that which brings joy.

The immature are their own enemies, doing selfish deeds which will bring them sorrow. That deed is selfish which brings remorse and suffering in its wake. But good is that deed which brings no remorse, only happiness in its wake.

Sweet are selfish deeds to the immature until they see the results; when they see the results, they suffer. Even if they fast month after month, eating with only the tip of a blade of grass, they are not worth a sixteenth part of one who truly understands dharma.