Good, Bad and Taoism
Like a run-in with a criminal, things may appear bad but really are good. Apparently unpleasant experiences can arm us with more knowledge of crooks and so make us better able to look after ourselves.
In fact the universe contains no bad things at all. All bad things are caused by people acting inappropriately – either not understanding the people and world around them, or else acting in self interest. If your house gets flooded – then it’s because somebody built it on a flood plain. If your car breaks down, it’s probably because it wasn’t maintained, but then if you have to wait for a recovery vehicle, then it gives you the time to read a book, or make a long over-due phone call to a loved one. Turn negatives into positives. This is a good way to protect against depression for example. Having survived depression, one is not thereafter doomed to a life of misery (as some might have us believe), but in fact one becomes armed with the knowledge that it is survivable and the way out is more easily accessible. There are no negatives. When you accept the world as it is, then you can play life easier with less struggle and suffering. Same with the Tsunami of 2004.
The bad experiences give us power through learned wisdom. If we are wrapped in cotton wool we can’t possibly learn how to take care of ourselves. So conversely apparently good things are sometimes really bad. Funny old world. The same with computer viruses.
So what about a truly heinous crime such as the Holocaust? Of course it was bad. But that’s it, it was bad – it can’t hurt us any more because it has gone, but we can use this lesson of history to warn us against the perils of continuing down the road of war-mongering. When we are stunned by the sickening images of what occurred in the past, we should be driven to get active, and make sure it never happens again. It should drive us to give our time and love to prevent a recurrence. Turned to a positive for the future. And the holocaust was created by people in any case. Bad is always only created by people.
“That which does not kill me can only make me stronger.”
Nietsche
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