It all began, as far as I can tell, when our primate ancestors started to develop a sense of self, a concept of ‘I’. This sense of self, of being separate from others, led to the formation of a dualistic worldview, where ‘I’ was opposed to ‘you’, ‘me’ against ‘it’, ‘us’ against ‘them’. This division, this separation, is the source of all our troubles, all our conflicts, all our suffering. It benefits those who claim to have the means to overcome it, the gurus, the priests, the spiritual leaders, the self-proclaimed enlightened ones, they all thrive on it, on our longing to escape from it, to be free of it, to attain some sort of higher state of being, a state beyond the duality of life and death, pleasure and pain, gain and loss, fame and obscurity.
Morality is a human construct, a social arrangement to keep order, to control the masses, to keep the cogs of society turning smoothly. It is a set of rules and expectations that vary from culture to culture, from society to society, from group to group, and even from family to family within the same society. It is a tool of manipulation, a means of control, a way to keep people in line, to keep them from questioning the status quo, to keep them from realizing their true nature, which is boundless, limitless, and free from the constraints of morality.
Morality is a false construct, a false dichotomy, a false choice between good and evil, between right and wrong, between black and white, when the truth is that there is no good, no evil, no right, no wrong, no black, no white, there is just the natural state, the isness, the pure beingness, the unadulterated, the uncontaminated, the pure, the unfiltered, the unadorned, the unqualified, the unconditional, the unconditioned, the unlimited, the unbounded, the unconfined, the unenclosed.
The concepts of good and evil, right and wrong, are human inventions, nothing more, nothing less. They serve a purpose, a social purpose, a survival purpose, but they are not absolute, they are not universal, they are not true, they are not real, they are not the essence of existence, they are just a part of the human-made illusion, the human-made dream, the human-made story, the human-made reality, the human-made prison, the human-made cage, the human-made trap, the human-made maya, the human-made delusion, the human-made bondage.
Good and evil, right and wrong, are used as tools for societal control, for behavior modification, for reward and punishment, for carrot and stick, for positive and negative reinforcement, for conditioning, for shaping, for molding, for bending, for breaking, for taming, for domesticating, for enslaving, for limiting, for controlling, for suppressing, for stifling, for silencing, for censoring, for hiding, for concealing, for distorting, for perverting, for corrupting, for polluting, for poisoning, for infecting, for decaying, for degenerating, for contaminating the masses of people.
Well, let me tell you, it is a very cunning way to keep people under control, you see. Those who claim to know the difference between ‘good and evil’, they are the ones who create the illusion of duality, and thus, they create the need for a savior, either a spiritual guru, a political leader, or some other figure of authority. They use the concepts of ‘good and evil’ to create a false sense of security, to make people believe that there is a clear distinction between right and wrong, when in reality, life is much more complex and nuanced than that. They use these concepts to divide people, to create enemies, to create conflict, and thus, to keep people under control, to keep them dependent on someone else’s judgment, someone else’s interpretation of reality. It is a very insidious form of control, and it is one of the most difficult to see through, because it is so deeply ingrained in our culture, our language, our very way of perceiving the world around us.
Imagine a society where people are constantly judged and evaluated based on their adherence to a set of moral principles, a society where deviation from these principles is harshly punished, both by the society at large and by the individual’s own internalized judgment. In such a society, the lines between ‘good and evil’ are drawn so deeply that they become almost impossible to cross, and people find themselves trapped within the confines of their own self-righteousness, unable to break free from the cycle of judgment and condemnation, both of themselves and others.
Now, consider the impact of such a society on the individual psyche, on the collective consciousness of humanity. The constant struggle between ‘good and evil’, as perceived by the human mind, creates a state of perpetual tension, a state of suffering, a state of separation from the true essence of existence, which is beyond duality, beyond judgment, and beyond the grasp of the human mind. It is through the recognition and dissolution of these illusory concepts that one can begin to free oneself from the chains of conditioning and embrace the natural state of being, which is free from suffering, free from struggle, and free from the confines of the human ego.
The concept of ‘good and evil’, along with ‘reward and punishment’, is used to condition people, to mold them into a particular way of thinking, behaving, and perceiving the world around them. Those who create and maintain these systems of control, they are the ones who benefit the most from it, because they are the ones who hold the keys to the kingdom, so to speak, the ones who have access to the knowledge and power that comes from being able to manipulate the masses, to control the collective consciousness of humanity, to direct the flow of energy and attention towards their own agendas, their own desires, their own needs, their own pleasures, and their own profits. It is a very cunning and insidious form of control, because it is so deeply ingrained in our culture, our language, our very way of perceiving the world around us, that most people are completely unaware of its existence, let alone its effects on their own lives, their own thoughts, their own emotions, and their own actions. It is a very subtle form of manipulation, and it is one of the most difficult to see through, because it is so deeply rooted within the very fabric of our being.
I am no different from you, except perhaps in my own recognition of the illusory nature of all these concepts, all these categories, all these labels, all these definitions, all these judgments, all these distinctions, all these separations, all these dualities, all these confines, all these prisons, all these chains, all these shackles, all these bindings, all these limitations, all these boundaries, all these barriers, all these obstacles, all these restrictions, all these confinements, all these cages, all these prisons of the mind.
But let me tell you, there is no escape, no shortcut, no secret path that will lead you out of the maze of your own making, the labyrinth of your own mind. Embrace the chaos, the confusion, the contradictions, for they are the very essence of existence, the heart of the matter, the core of the conundrum, the paradox that is life itself.