For a very long time I have held a rigid view about what is right and what is wrong. And never have I ever allowed myself to be deviated from what I thought was correct and incorrect. I am not saying that I always did the right thing, but yes even when I was doing the wrong thing I did know that i was wrong.
No one had to hold up the metaphorical mirror and tell me that I was wrong. I knew it all on my own. So veering between being an absolute Gandhian and a naughty imp, I had more or less kept my moral compass due north. In fact I was quick to judge people on their actions, without trying to place myself in their shoes and walk a few miles, to see what the impediments were.
I was always pretty smug about knowing what was white and what was black. But as they say, its only when we experience something do we truly realize what it was to have stood in someone's shoes and made a decision which felt totally right at that time.
Would you condemn a hungry urchin for stealing food?
Would you judge a person for lying to a dying man?
Would you hang a mother for killing her daughter's rapist?
So on and so forth.....
I have recently realized that all that there is in the world are shades of Grey. Some are darker than the others and some are lighter and brighter, but there can't exist in the world pure shades of Black and White.
No one had to hold up the metaphorical mirror and tell me that I was wrong. I knew it all on my own. So veering between being an absolute Gandhian and a naughty imp, I had more or less kept my moral compass due north. In fact I was quick to judge people on their actions, without trying to place myself in their shoes and walk a few miles, to see what the impediments were.
I was always pretty smug about knowing what was white and what was black. But as they say, its only when we experience something do we truly realize what it was to have stood in someone's shoes and made a decision which felt totally right at that time.
Would you condemn a hungry urchin for stealing food?
Would you judge a person for lying to a dying man?
Would you hang a mother for killing her daughter's rapist?
So on and so forth.....
I have recently realized that all that there is in the world are shades of Grey. Some are darker than the others and some are lighter and brighter, but there can't exist in the world pure shades of Black and White.
Indeed it is ridiculous to even try and understand why another person does anything.
No one is purely right and no one is purely wrong.
Just as in the case of the Asuras, we are all victims of circumstance.
We all react to situations.
We all react differently to the same situation.
All I can say is that I vow to be less judgemental and more understanding.
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