Lisa
Superstar
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2017
- Messages
- 20,288
We do know about right and wrong...our consciences prove it. Feelings lie to us all the time..and they aren’t a good barometer of right and wrong. You could happily think sleeping with someone right..until it turns out wrong when you think you really don’t like that person anymore. So..which one was right and which one is wrong? Do we know at that point? But if you say sleeping around is wrong..then that helps people out. Then they know if they do that they are wrong. You might not like it but that’s besides the point.Well empathy is something we have to cultivate, and it has to become something conscious and aware in order to be compassion and avoid straying into mere sentiment. Of course in Buddhism we seek to overcome negative emotions, in order to avoid anger and delusion clouding our judgement. Feelings, especially if we don't consciously cultivate compassion, are of course sometimes incorrect. But in this case we could say there is a failure of genuine empathy, its replacement with a feeling which we label "empathy" which in fact is not. We may have some notions about right and wrong which correspond more or less with acts which are actually positive or negative, however only seeing from the other's perspective allows us to appreciate the actual complexity of things.
I don’t think seeing anything from another‘s pov is entirely the end all be all of things. You just got their take on it..and you don’t know if its all a lie or partly a lie..or just their pov..and the truth is in the middle somewhere. They also can be wrong and be part of the problem in their own lives..by making bad decisions for themselves. Having a bad life..and who doesn’t at times...isn’t the moral of things and then allows you to act in any ol way.