Martial Artist Perspective: Good and Evil
Martial Artists diligently consider the moral reality of good and evil to arrive at a clear perspective on good and evil and the line in between. For simplification, it is a mistake to think of people as inherently good or evil. Good and Evil are better understood metaphorically as spiritual influences of sorts and people are essentially neutral vessels with an arguable minor predisposition towards good. When people fill themselves with good influence and develop themselves this way they become "good people" and when people fill themselves with evil influence and develop that way they become "evil people". The state of being a "good" or "evil" person always is changeable and in flux. People slide on the scale over their lifetimes according to their choices of which influences to receive.
In the end, for simplification sake, we are functionally in life what we do. People often say: if it quacks like a duck, if it walks like a duck, then it is... a duck. It is similar with good and evil. Those that follow one pattern or another in their behavior are operating as "good" or "evil" people. It is just important to remember that these states are temporary and to never fully dehumanize another. It is complicated as well because a martial artist dedicates themselves to being a truly good person and to resisting evil. The goal though is to resist evil behavior while still seeing the inate value of the human being which has the creative capacity be powerful forces for both good or evil. When a martial artist fights someone doing something they consider evil, the goal is not to destroy the other person but rather the evil behavior. The sad truth is that some people allow the infection of evil to go so thoroughly throughout their whole being that functionally they have literally become evil.
There are some simple characteristics of people that are predominantly following a "good" and "evil" pattern of life.
Good
Seeks to benefit itself at the mutual benefit of the world around it.
Is satisfied with the gift of life and maintaining/sharing that gift is the ambition of good.
Has a sense of ethics where it wants to contribute and grow equally. It desires to earn what is receives in life and to do its part.
2 Degrees of Good People
Truly good: They do what is right because its right, they serve because they believe in service.
Conveniently Good: They serve others only because it is more profitable and economical than going against others
Evil
Seeks to benefit itself at the detriment of the world around it.
Life is not enough for the evil, they only value what they have in comparison to what others lack. They desire to be ahead and above others.
Is a one way flow where they want to receive without giving. They have no sense of wanting to earn what they receive. They compete against that which sustains them.
2 Degrees of Evil People
Truly Evil: They are malicious people and actually enjoy harming others. They do what they do because it harms others and they go out of their way to detriment the lives of others.
Indifferently Evil: They will harm others to get ahead when it serves them. They just don’t care about others while only caring about themselves.
Martial Artist Response To Evil Engaging in Violence
When people decide to embody evil and to cross the line, the martial artist must be committed to using effective force to appropriately end the violence of evil behavior. The goal is simply to end the violence to restore peace. The best heuristic is to use the least amount of force that is still reliably effective. When it is time to become combative, the martial artist should enter into an alternative mode, they are no longer recognizable in the usual emotionally friendly sense. There are no "nice" ways to stop violence. It takes force, effective force as that is the language of combat. When someone allows evil to dominate their behavior to the point where they are willing to attack another, to use a weapon on another, etc. then only effective and appropriate force puts a stop to it.
The martial artist is still dedicated to being a good person and their integrity and code is still the same, yet the martial artist refuses to allow evil to use their good qualities as excuses for weakness and hesitation to engage in necessary unavoidable conflict. The martial artist is committed to do whatever it takes to stop the operation of evil. The martial artist has control and will still choose the least harmful yet effective option for stopping evil but there is a commitment to actually STOP the evil and a refusal to negotiate with it.
General Martial Artist Rules to Live By for Living as a Good Person
Do whatever you do to the maximum of your ability.
Remember your personal stand against evil. Be ready to END(engage, neutralize, dominate) or ENE (engage, neutralize, escape) in response to all encounters with evil.
Always Be mutually beneficial in your relationship to the world around you.
Let the gift of life be enough for you, embrace this gift and participate in life while renouncing all greed and the notion of endlessly getting ahead and getting more. "The man that knows enough is enough, always has enough." Lao Zi- Dao De Jing Paraphrase
Comments