morality & responsibility

In the last two episodes we have considered control and free will. And in this episode I’d like to talk about a related subject, and that is morality and the associated responsibility.

Human societies are really built on a sense of morality. Within ourself, within the individual, this morality is the feeling of the super ego, the voice of conscience telling us what is right and what is wrong. But this delineation of right and wrong by society as a whole, with that being reflected within the mind of the individual, this whole system of thought is only needed because we do not trust. We do not trust the outer world. We do not trust each other. But above all, we do not trust ourself. So if, by chance, our sense of trust in existence and in our self becomes total, then the need for moral codes, the need for the whole system of morality disappears.

Societies don’t seem to be able to take this step. It is felt that without morality there can be no responsibility. And in a sense it is true. We can only hold somebody responsible for their actions if we take them to be a moral human being. But the way of the enlightened ones is amoral. Morality no longer plays a part and in a sense there is no personal responsibility – one has surrendered to the flow of life, to existence, to god. And every action, every word is coming from that source that is beyond the individual, that is infinite, that is eternal. When we are living from this space there can be no question of right and wrong, good and bad. Nothing is evil. Nothing is more holy than anything else. And part of the deep beauty of this religious way of being is that all one’s actions are felt to be perfect. They are spontaneous, unpremeditated, and yet perfect.

If every human being were living their life in this space then society would no longer need its laws, its morality, its sense of duty and responsibility. So I say to you, the only real responsibility that a human being has is to rediscover his or her holiness: the divinity which is the foundation of the life of every human being. Our only responsibility is to rediscover that, and live our life from that space.