Understanding Non-Duality

Most of us here in the U.S. tend to be raised in a Christian or Secular Christian world where everything is inherently good or bad.

However, as adults we come to see that this just isn't true unless we choose to be unrealistic like children the rest of our lives (like some people choose to do).

Mostly people are infinite shades of grey not white or black in their thinking. Because of this I tend to reserve judgement of people until they prove to me who they are within 15 minutes of when I first meet them.

I don't automatically judge someone to be either good or bad because that is a sort of ridiculous notion if you directly apply it to all people all the time.

Instead I prefer as an intuitive to say to myself (is this person specifically harmful to me and to my family or not?)

And if so, what should I do about it?

So, by not classifying people ever as either good or bad and simply classifying them as either harmful or not harmful to me or to my family on any given day I can make better decisions in my life than trying to classify everyone into  good or bad.

Because in the end what is good or bad? It depends upon 1000s of factors.

Some people appear to be evil but upon closer inspection they are just dysfunctional or crazy instead.

So, to me, evil I would define as what a dysfunctional or crazy person does to themselves or others.

So, the basis of evil is usually only dysfunctionality, mental illness or downright insanity and nothing else.

So, these traits might cause something that people would think is evil but that isn't really right. It is only a chemical imbalance in the brains of the people doing these things in the first place. Or it could be a PTSD reaction to stimulations beyond the capacity of a person or persons to make sense of or control.

So, I find seeing the world as infinite shades of Grey rather than as either black or white in most situations much more useful and survivable than trying to classify people as good or bad like little children might do.

By God's Grace

Later:

I realized I should share with you the single best example that I heard from Tibetan Lamas when they were originally describing what Non-duality was to me:

Imagine Rain, Snow and Wind.

Now is rain, snow and wind good or bad?

That's right.

It depends upon the situation.

Sometimes, (if you are thirsty)
Rain will save your life

Other times in a flood from rain it might kill you.

What about snow?

Is snow good or bad?

It depends upon what you are wearing and what you are doing.

So, in all situations Rain, snow and wind are none of them inherently good or bad.

This is non-duality in action. They can all be good or bad to different people in different situations.

There is NO WAY to define any of these things either good or bad categorically because it will be different for every person or creature in each different situation. And at time even for one person Rain, Snow and Wind can be at different times Good or bad even with the same snow, the same wind or the same rain.

I find the same is true of people. Most people are good most of the time I find. However, what about when someone has a bad day, is drunk, or on drugs or just lost someone close to them. Are they bad when bad things happen to them. Maybe defining them is ridiculous in total and you have to figure out what is going on with them right then to see if they are harmful or not to you or your family right now?

So, Very good people all do bad things sometimes. And Bad people sometimes do good things as well sometimes. So, in the end no one is good or bad all the time. Non-duality.

I hope this helps you in your life.

By God's Grace