Can I live in the space above being right and wrong, and instead simply live in the space of just Being?
Right and wrong living:
- eliminates curiosity
- presses me into proving I am right even though I am wrong
- changes my relationship with others
- causes me to miss the truth
- changes how I view myself in relation to others
- changes how I view others
- creates false dichotomies
- divides people
In Matthew 28:11-15 there is the account of the religious leaders paying off the Roman guards after they told them the report of the resurrection. They had attempted to make the tomb secure so the disciples would not steel the body, but Jesus did in fact rise from the dead as He said He would. Rather than admit they were wrong and acknowledge the reality of who Jesus is, they decide to do what is necessary to maintain their ‘rightness” – they fabricate a story and pay off the guards.
The account demonstrates the significance of living on the level of right and wrong. We live believing we are right and others are wrong and do all that we can to uphold our rightness, even in the face of actually being wrong. It is truly a dangerous way to live. If I NEED to be right, it will come through in all my actions as I attempt to affirm that others are wrong. In the end, I deceive myself and everyone else knows it…except me.
This can be very subtle.
At the heart of being judgmental is this principle of living in the space of being right and wrong. If I believe I am right and you are wrong, than I have the grounds for judging you for your wrongness.
I think this kind of thinking stems from a dualistic mindset, because I fundamentally believe that I am separate from you.
But a unitive consciousness – the basic awareness that we have been created connected and for unity and that our unity is the greater reality – does not need right and wrong thinking. I can live in the reality that we are more unified than we are divided.
Setting aside right and wrong thinking allows me to see things as they really are and helps me to speak truthfully about myself and what I see around me. Since I am not trying to convince you of how right I am and how wrong you are, I can enter into a unified relationship with you, and from this perspective we can speak truth to one another.
Rather than pursuing a lifestyle of right or wrong with people, I choose to live from a compassionate perspective that allows for me to be compassionate with myself and seeks for a greater understanding for those around me. This perspective allows for the reality that unity and the common good are more important than my individual perspective on what is right and what is wrong.
Journey to BE Still 