Doing Away with Right and Wrong

‘No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the
dawning of your knowledge. The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness. If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind. For the vision of one man lends not its wings to another man. And even as each one of you stands alone in God’s knowledge, so must each one of you be alone in his knowledge of God and in his understanding of the earth.’

Today more than ever before, we are living in the Information Age. There isn’t much that you can’t learn about, discover or research with just the click of a button. With so much knowledge surrounding us, how do we choose what is right for us or perhaps the question needs to be: Do we even have that right to decide for ourselves as to what is right and wrong?

That takes many of us back to the Garden of Eden story where the punishment for Adam and Even deciding what was right and wrong for themselves was banishment from the paradise garden, and the loss of perfection for all of humanity forever after. Wow – that was one expensive apple!

The potential impact on me of that one decision two naked people made in the heat of the moment thousands of years ago is quite frankly, more than I wish to accept in my life today. It’s why I personally prefer Kahlil Gibran’s words from the book, The Prophet, quoted above.

You have the knowledge within you. Adam and Eve had the knowledge within them – they didn’t need to eat the fruit of a certain tree to access that knowledge. Neither do we have to follow a certain religion, meditate in a certain position, or pray in a particular fashion to access that knowledge.

Now that may come as a surprise but think about this. We all have a conscience that knows instinctively that murder is not appropriate, that stealing what is not ours doesn’t bring us happiness, and that it doesn’t feel good to lie. That inner voice also  lets us know that we feel satisfied when we work hard and help others. You don’t need a manual or law book to tell you that. You already know it. Researchers have found tribes in the deepest, darkest parts of the jungle that have never had access to a Bible, a religious organization, or contemporary civilization as we know it, and yet they instinctively knew that certain practices are not acceptable.

I try not to see things as right and wrong, but rather that every decision brings a consequence. Every single one. If I sit and eat ice cream for breakfast, lunch and dinner, seven days a week for a few months, I will have some obvious consequences. I may love ice cream and thoroughly enjoy eating it, but if I make that choice, then I automatically pay the price. No one needs to put me on a diet, restrict my food intake, or counsel me about my dietary choices. The results are obvious – I am now fat and sick. At any time, I can make another choice with potentially different results.

That same principle applies to everything in life. Is it wrong to go on a shopping spree and rack up your credit cards? No, but it will have consequences. Is it wrong to stay in bed all week and watch TV and not get your work done? No, but it will have consequences. Fifty-one weeks of the year, I choose not to make that choice, but some years between Christmas and New Years, I choose to stay in bed for much of the week and watch movies, read fiction, sleep and relax. The consequences of that choice, under those circumstances, means that by January 2nd, I am ready to
return to work feeling absolutely fabulous.

Sometimes we don’t know the consequences of making certain decisions. You can’t know all of the consequences of deciding to have children, choosing a certain business or career or moving to a specific neighborhood. However, when you tap into that intuitive sense, that hidden wealth of knowledge, you probably have a pretty good feeling about whether or not it is right for you. So you make your decision and you decide that every consequence is absolutely perfect, no matter how imperfect it looks. It may not be what you prefer at this moment…but it is perfect.

Rather than label everything and everybody as right or wrong which is incredibly stressful and usually lacking a tremendous amount of joy, why not try switching your belief system to these three statements:
• Every decision has a consequence.
• Every consequence is absolutely perfect…without exception.
• And you and you alone are responsible for your decisions.

That means that the Devil isn’t out to tempt you, God is never punishing nor
rewarding you, and your religion is not your rulebook.

I’m not here to tell you what is right or wrong for you, what will work, or what won’t work in your life. It’s not my business, and it’s certainly not my prerogative. I can however suggest that you tap into your God-given knowledge and explore the depths of that knowledge, wisdom and understanding. I can encourage you to try living your life by these three statements. I can promise you that you are in for a real treat when you do that!

Blessings,

This information is copyrighted. Please feel free to pass along, use as part of your spiritual newsletters but please keep all information including contact information intact. Thank you for your respect and integrity in this matter.

Jan Janzen is a non-denominational minister, author and entrepreneur. Her book Devil with a Briefcase: 101 Success Secrets for the Spiritual Entrepreneur along with her CD series for the Spiritual Entrepreneur and other resources for the entrepreneur with ethics are available at
www.spiritualentrepreneurinfo.com. For more information on Jan’s ministry and her support of microfinance projects around the world, please visit www.janjanzenministries.com

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