From our childhood, we have been conditioned about what is right and what is wrong. The whole world is divided over the question of right action because what is considered right and virtuous by one group is condemned and considered immoral by another group. One religion condemns something and the other justifies it. So, there is a fight between who is right and what is right. One political party is opposed to another political party because both have a different set of values and ideologies. So, there is tremendous division in this world on the basis of ideals, principles and ideologies.

When we have a blueprint of what is right and wrong action, then there will mostly be condemnation or justification of others according to the blueprint. However, if there is no blueprint or formula, then correct action is a living thing and observation of others is not biased. Rather, one may feel sympathy for those who have been conditioned through propaganda and fear by culture, group and society. When the actions are according to an idea, then it becomes a mere activity. Such an action cannot be correct because there’s no spontaneity in it. The situation is not understood. Only the idea dominates and becomes important.

Ideals are Unnecessary

Action according to some formula or principles shows thoughtlessness because one is not using the mind to assess the situation. This only shows that there is lack of sensitivity to the situation and there is no use of intelligence. If one ignores the situation, the use of reasoning and logic, and what one feels, but gives importance only to his principles or formulae, then how can such an action be correct? To ignore such a vast field and give importance to something that is formulated by another person or by ourselves cannot be correct. Moreover, one may give importance to both intellect and emotions, but if the intellect is used in a very limited field, the emotion is directed towards the very few things to which the mind has given preference, and the situation has significance only so that the theories can be applied; then such an action is corrupt.

However, many of us live according to ideals, and these ideals prevent us from understanding the situation and acting correctly. As long as the self, me or ego is active and dictates what we should do and what we should not do, the action cannot be correct.

Now, following a particular pattern or formula is not necessarily an incorrect action, because when we speak a certain language or write a letter, then we accept and follow a particular pattern of speech and words and grammar. So, using this particular language, we try to communicate with another person. If we say that we won’t accept any particular pattern of a language, then communication with others become tough. Also, if we say that we will only communicate in our local language or any other language, which we like or are proud of, then the communication with a person who doesn’t speak that language becomes almost impossible. So, it might be necessary to use a common language that both can understand to communicate. But a person may use a particular language and not others for various psychological reasons. He may be a patriot who sticks to his local language. Or he may have lived in a foreign country and wants to show off his new accent and foreign language skills while communicating with people who don’t understand the accent or language. In these cases, the person is acting from a concept and not from his intelligence. Such an action cannot be correct.

Real Goodness

Though ideals and morals are of no use, it does not mean that one should do whatever one feels like doing. It also does not mean that one should care only about oneself without bothering about how one’s action may affect others. It is necessary to have good manners and politeness, but without inner beauty and goodness, these outwards expressions of goodness may have very little value.

When there is freedom from the self, then there is love, compassion and real goodness. In this goodness, there is tremendous care for the lives of others. Then we would not kill animals for our food or engage in any sport that harms animals. But this goodness is not dictated by any concept or formula. So, there is a certain sense of freedom in which the goodness flows naturally.

For people living in an extremely cold climate, it may be necessary to eat meat. But to say that one can eat everything that one feels like eating is akin to giving importance to one fragment, which is one’s own feeling, and ignoring other fragments. There are people who may give little or no importance to the mind. It might be easy to say that the mind cannot decide what we should eat and we should do what we feel like doing. A person who has been brought up eating something or is in the habit of eating something will probably feel like consuming that thing. Moreover, if one has already decided that he would always act according to his feeling, then he is following a formula. This formula gives importance to his feeling without any consideration towards what others feel. It becomes a self-centred activity.

Spontaneous Action

There are people who speak about the importance of spontaneous action, but very few act spontaneously. If a person says that he would decide his action when the situation arises, then is he acting according to a formula that tells him to decide when the situation arrives. If one is acting according to a concept that tells him to think and decide only at the time of challenge, then the person is living according to a philosophy. But if one has not decided anything about a future situation, which may or may not arise, and is not following a particular formula according to which he will decide, then it has not become a thing of the mind.

If someone asks you what you would do in a particular situation, then your probable answer could be “I don’t know now, but I will know if and when the situation arises.” This means you haven’t decided anything already. You have only looked into the present question; you don’t know anything with regard to your future.

Sometimes, you may be anticipating a particular situation. Then you may make a blueprint of what you may do if a particular challenge arises. You may also have to make modifications in the blueprint depending on the change in circumstances and the type of challenge. So, though there is a blueprint, you may still act differently.

When the authority of various concepts and ideas ends, then it is the ending of the self. With this, there is an end to the conflict in the brain. The mind then works sanely and uses knowledge whenever it is necessary to do so. A free mind is full of love and compassion. In this freedom of the mind, there is natural intelligence of the body. This is when all the senses, like smell, touch and taste are working in harmony without any kind of control or exaggeration by a particular thought. Of course, thought is also one of the senses and is therefore part of that natural intelligence. When the intellect is unimpeded by theories or concepts and the heart is full of love and the body has its own natural intelligence, then there is harmony between the body, mind, and heart. Thus, there is spontaneous action.

But spontaneous action doesn’t mean that one should decide and act according to the immediate urge that arises in a particular situation. A lot of people confuse spontaneity in action with decision according to an immediate urge that arises when we are dealing with a particular situation. However, such spontaneity would not be real spontaneity because the mind has already predetermined that it would decide according to the instant urge only. Thus, the action is tied to the concept of the past. But spontaneity in the real sense happens when the mind is not bound by any formula, concept or ideology and is free to observe the challenge in the present. When a particular situation arises, then one may take time to think and look into various pros and cons before one acts. Or one may act immediately depending on the circumstances and other factors. Then there is harmony between the body, mind and heart.

At times, the body, mind, and heart may differ, but when there is this intelligence, then there is harmony between the three. This intelligence is not controlled by any of the three factors but the intelligence will know when to cooperate and how much to cooperate with the factors. A person may want to do something out of pure love and compassion and the mind may warn him of the possible risks. But if the intelligence is operating, then it will tell him what to do. This may mean taking a risk or avoiding a risk. After all, one can only do what is within one’s capabilities. But when there is this intelligence with love, then even though one might not be able to do anything at a particular time, one may try to persuade someone else who has the capacity to do something. A sensitive person may look into the causes of the problem in order to understand the situation, so that something can be done. However, if we keep acting superficially, according to some principle, then it has very little significance.

Hurt Caused to Others

There are so many people in the world who just care about their own comfort and are insensitive towards others. They live within a small fragment, in which only their own needs matter and nothing else. Then there are people who enjoy causing hurt and harm to others. They are sadists who have accepted a perverted form of pleasure as their way of life. It is perhaps not easy to change the people who derive pleasure from hurting others. And there are people who speak what may sound good and appealing to the general public, but their way of living doesn’t match what they say. Their only purpose is to impress the public and they live a hypocritical life. There are also many people who avoid killing, even if it is a tiny fly or an insect, and they take extreme measures to prevent any such killing. They sometimes take things too far.

So long as we are living, we may be hurting each other in the subtlest manner, even if none of us has any intention to hurt the other. This does not mean that we should commit suicide and leave the world. But there must be a way of living intelligently with the quality of sensitivity and care for the others.

A person who has love and compassion cannot be involved in the cruelty of killing in the name of religion or a country. He or she cannot kill innocent animals for his or her food, entertainment or sport.

The Question of Duty

Then there is the question of duty, because many times we are told that we have duties towards our elders. We are told that we should obey whatever they tell us to do and follow the career advice they give us, because they know better than us. When there is no self, me or accumulated knowledge, then there is no question of duty or any kind of compulsion. But this doesn’t mean that we won’t do anything for our parents, elders or others. There is freedom of mind and there is love, and such a mind has its own intelligence. This intelligence will tell us what to do.

A lot of times, in countries where tradition is strong, parents choose the careers of their children or the children choose a profession that has been in the family for many years. He or she may choose to become a lawyer, doctor and so on, if one of the elders in the family is in that profession. The parents generally want their children to be very successful and achieve great heights, so that they can fulfil their own ambitions and goals through their children. They do not care about their children’s happiness. Now, when we choose a profession in this manner, then we may have to put up with something we don’t like for a considerable period of our life. This results in conflict, and life becomes dull and boring.

When we act according to a pattern set by society as correct and achieve the heights that society recognises as respectable, in order to earn fame, money and success, then we are honoured by the majority. However, though we may be greatly honoured and respected by society, we may be living a second-hand life that is dictated by the pattern of others and is full of conflict and chaos. If we do not follow the pattern set by society and are free from all conditioning, then though we may have to face opposition from family, friends and society, we will be doing something that we really love to do, in which there is happiness. However, it is intelligence that will tell us what to oppose and when to oppose, because we also have to live in society.

Follow Your Passion

If we can find out what we love doing or what our interests are and pursue a career we have a passion for, then life becomes meaningful, and there is fun and happiness. However, unless there is freedom from the self, our passion has very little value. When the self is active, then tremendous importance is given to one thing or the other, and there is attachment towards that thing. This attachment may give us a sense of passion but it hardly has anything to do with real passion. We may get attached to a particular way of living, which might be to accumulate wealth, property and so on. We tend to give unnecessary importance to one of these things. However, this attachment is not true passion. We need to be free from this attachment and discover true passion. When there is freedom from the self, me or ego, then there is passion without a cause, which also expresses itself in what we do.

It may not be very easy to differentiate between true passion and attachment because there is very similar intensity in both. But, if one is not enjoying what he is doing and is doing something simply because it may earn him name and fame, then it may be a strong indication of attachment. Now, it may be very interesting to look at our various passions very closely. I may have a passion for something, and although it may also involve doing small things which I do not like, I may still want to do these things because they are important for my actual passion. So, doing things that I do not like does not necessarily indicate that my passion is not true. If I like to do something even if it does not give me anything, but I am simply doing it because there is love for that thing, then it may be strong indication of true passion. But it may be necessary to see whether I am really passionate about something or if my passion is the result of influence by society.

Moreover, there is a possibility that I have passion for something, and at the same time I also get attached to that thing. A person may have passion for playing cricket or football, but in the search for name and fame when the mind gives unnecessary importance to one of these things, then there is an attachment to it as well. And when there is this attachment, it destroys the real passion because one is no longer interested in playing a good game, but is merely interested in winning for fame by weakening the opposition through sledging or any other unfair means. So, the game is merely important for achieving fame or because it fulfils the psychological dependence which means that the game is not of primary importance but becomes secondary and is only important because it fulfils something else. So it may be difficult to say with certainty that some things are indications of true passion and others are not, but one has to experiment and look at these things from various angles and find out for himself whether it is attachment or true passion.

We are likely to make mistakes when leading our life. It is practically impossible to be a perfect person who doesn’t make a mistake. The majority of the human population is making mistakes by following various patterns that bring unnecessary conflicts and pain in life. Although most people make innumerable mistakes, they do not want us to make mistakes. They oppose us if we want to experiment in our lives and live freely because they are worried that we may break away from the authority of elders, tradition and society.

It is necessary to be a light to oneself. Though we may make mistakes, we learn from these mistakes and do what is necessary. We must move on after making mistakes. But if we follow the light of others, then we are living in darkness. When we have a serious problem, then we may go to a friend for help. But submitting to the authority of a friend, or anyone else, is not intelligence.