Beyond Right and Wrong

“Beyond right and wrong, there is a field.

I will meet you there.”

Rumi

 

 

It is good to find that my thoughts are being validated, that many spiritual seekers are traveling in an alternate and ever more serene path than the “business as usual” consciousness which separates everything into either good or bad; right or wrong, little in between.

 

Some call this old way which we all need to operate through our days, “dualistic thinking” which is necessary to begin with.  It’s fine in the first part of life but it is just not enough in the middle and last part of life.  The growth in consciousness being recognized today is the concept that nothing is all good or all bad.  It’s always a mixture.  Human nature seems to fall easily into the black or white, up or down thinking.   As soon as something is recognized by the brain, it is separated. One side we agree with, the other side must be wrong.  We all started with this basic belief, using mostly our left brain strength with little input from the intuitive, nuanced part of the right brain.

 

One example I can think of:  On a 60-Minute television show an interview with Dick Cheney interested me.  When questioned about his five heart attacks and four heart  surgeries, now recovering from a heart transplant, his answers were stiff, expressionless, and off hand, like it was a simple arthritic problem instead of continuing heart attacks.  He said firmly that there was never any doubt that he could perform his duties as Vice President.  The questioner asked if he suffered any of the usual trauma symptoms most heart patients suffer, like depression?  Answer no.  Did his doctors have a problem with his running on Bush’s ticket?  Answer no.  Did the doctors not warn of excess stress on the heart?  Answer no.  He was prepared with a picture and quote from world renown heart surgeon, Denton Cooley, of Houston, Texas, granting him full accord to perform as George Bush’s Vice President.  My mouth dropped open watching Cheney’s solid, strong and obvious defensiveness.  And I thought to myself, this is a perfect portrait of denial.  What appeared admirable to most, in my mind loomed the risk this man imposed upon his country.  But also, I had to recognize the man talking was looking strong, talking strong, and striding back into the world, invincible in his own mind.

So, it’s not Either/Or.  It is And/Also, as Richard Rohr says.