There is no absolute velocity.
There is no absolute up or down.
There is no absolute left or right.
These things only exist relative to a particular frame of reference.
In the same way, there is no absolute good or bad. There is only good or bad relative to a particular frame of reference.
Just as it is true that something is moving from one perspective and at the same time also true that it is at rest from another, just as it is true that something is up from one perspective and also true that it is down from another, just as it is true that something is to the left from one perspective and also true that it is to the right from another - it is true that something is good from one perspective and also true that it is bad from another. Always.
It is a fool’s errand to try to pin down an absolute good or bad, and worse to go to war with some imagined absolute bad.
It’s as ridiculous as going to war over which way is up in empty space.
It doesn’t matter how hard I try, I am always moving and I am always at rest in relation to some reference frame. If someone wants to see me moving, they can see me moving by adopting that perspective. If they want to see me at rest, they can see me at rest by adopting that perspective. If someone is angry because I have the wrong velocity, they are confused. I have no absolute velocity. I just have the velocity they’re experiencing because of their perspective.
And if I think they’re wrong about my velocity, I’m confused. I have no “correct” velocity for them to be wrong about. They just see me as they see me. I’m just learning about their experience.
It doesn’t matter how hard I try, I am always pointed up and I am always pointed down in relation to some reference frame. If someone wants to see me pointed up, they can see me pointed up by adopting that perspective. If they want to see me pointed down, they can see me pointed down by adopting that perspective. If someone is angry because I have the wrong orientation, they are confused. I have no absolute orientation. I just have the orientation they’re experiencing because of their perspective.
And if I think they’re wrong about my orientation, I’m confused. I have no “correct” orientation for them to be wrong about. They just see me as they see me. I’m just learning about their experience.
It doesn’t matter how hard I try: I am always “good” and I am always “bad” relative to some reference frame (the truth is that I am whole). If someone wants to see me as “good,” they can see me as “good” by adopting that perspective. If they want to see me as “bad,” they can see me as “bad” by adopting that perspective. If someone is angry because I am “bad,” they are confused. I have no absolute goodness or badness. I just have the quality they’re experiencing because of their perspective.
And if I think they’re wrong about my goodness or badness, I’m confused. I have no absolute goodness or badness for them to be wrong about. They just see me as they see me. I’m just learning about their experience.
I just am.
So what do I do with the impulse to do good, knowing there is no absolute good or bad?
I can clear up my confusion and love what is. (Or not)
The reason I have the impulse to do good is because I am working from an arbitrary set of standards - either invented or received without questioning - where the world has some bad in it that will remain bad unless I do something about it. I try to do good in order to make the world better. This is the only bad that exists. And the only way bad is done (which is to say, in the name of “good”). And it all begins with believing in absolute good and bad.
A way to clear up my belief in good and bad is to question any thought that labels anything good or bad. When I do, good and bad dissolve and what is left is what is, wholeness, oneness.
And when I do, I notice that ‘what is’ is always safe, complete, enough, peaceful, whole...that in what is, there is no past or future, no judgment, no suffering.
And I am whole again.