right and wrong
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Summary
In these texts, right and wrong are not abstractions waiting somewhere to be done but part of what we do. There is no sin in Buddhism, but there is wrong conduct.
Our opinions about right and wrong are different from real right and wrong: abstract right is just a thought, and if we try to do some ideal meaning of right, we create wrong. Dogen teaches, Mike says, that there is nothing called right waiting to be done, but there is something called right action: right and wrong are in our action, and Mike adds that the only place where we can do anything right is now.
The Christian religion splits good and bad, or right and wrong, completely, and if you do bad, God will punish you. In Buddhism good and evil are not separated: right and wrong exist mixed up together, good and bad exist together in everything, and Buddhism says neither good nor bad, but in the middle. When two sides each think they are right, Mike says, Buddhism sees both as wrong and looks for a middle way and compromise instead of fighting for a belief.
Master Dogen’s chapter on morality is called Not Doing Wrong, not Doing Right: not doing wrong is not an admonition but a state in which no wrong can be done. If we practise balance and act in a balanced way, our actions are not doing wrong, and to practise zazen is to learn to act right.
The basis of Buddhist morality is reality itself, not little voices inside us; Nishijima says knowledge about facts cannot teach us the direction in which we should go. What counts as right is also relative between cultures: in the West our reference is God, in Japan it is everybody else. The precepts are guidelines or advice rather than instructions.
Part of ↑ action and ethics
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Excerpts
What our teachers say on it: excerpts from the talks and texts, lightly edited and shortened; an ellipsis (…) marks a sentence or more left out. The titles above the excerpts are mine, the teacher's words are in the excerpt; a question under a title really was asked at the talk. How they were made →
Right and wrong are part of what we do
But in Buddhism, we say that right and wrong are part of what we do. That means that there isn’t a concept of what is right, an idea of what is right, waiting for us to do it. This is what Dogen writes in his teachings. And it sounds quite a terrible thing to say: there’s no concept of right. But he doesn’t mean there’s no right, or no wrong. He means that right and wrong are not separate from our conduct. So what we do is right or wrong in the doing of it. So Buddhist morality is not separate from our behaviour. This sounds almost immoral, but actually it’s a nice way to live. Life is very complicated, and we need freedom to act. If we act right, if our behaviour is right, then the result is good. So in Buddhism we concentrate on our actual behaviour: not on thinking what is right and then doing it, but just on doing it.
Mike · Morality as Balanced Action February 2009 — CholínAlso in: Right and Wrong in Buddhism, Life Itself Is Intelligent, Kuge 5: Compassion and Freedom in Action, Genjo-koan 5: Freedom Within Limits, Ikka-no-myoju 3: Our Place in the Universe
Right is in our action, not in a world of forms
Dogen teaches that right is in our action. Right does not exist somewhere in the abstract, waiting to be done. And that point of view is quite strange to Western civilisation. Why is that? It seems that as far back as we can see, in Greek times, some philosophers developed the idea that there is a perfect, abstract world of forms, existing somewhere. And then in this world, we see imperfect versions. So everything that we experience has a perfect version in this world of perfect forms. And this kind of thinking was quite strong in Greek philosophy. And around the same time, the belief in Christianity developed, as a belief in a perfect world called heaven, where everything was good and perfect, and the belief that human beings could make an effort to be good and then go to live in this perfect world. So those two ways of thinking are very similar. And when Christianity met together with the Greek ideals, both became stronger.
Mike · Buddhism Through European Glasses August 2014 — Banský StudenecAlso in: One Moon, Two Moons, Uji 2: A Crack in Our View of Time
The soldier on the battlefield and the television viewer
Dogen distinguishes “The ‘right’ of a person who pursues the truth through intellectual study and belief”, which might be an abstract ‘right’. They might say, “This kind of thing is right.” But “the ‘right’ of a person who pursues the truth through action” is more concrete. So in a concrete situation, what we see as right is different to what we think of as right. So a good example might be if we sit and watch the television and we see films of soldiers fighting in some foreign place, like Iraq, and we might judge their actions as being right or wrong, but to the actual soldier on the battlefield his judgment about his action in that moment is completely different. Dogen is not saying that one is right and the other’s wrong, he’s just saying that they’re different. So, to judge the world through the powers of our mind produces a different kind of right to the right action in a concrete place. It causes a conflict.
Mike · Shoaku Makusa 4: Doing Right Without a Doer Winter 2006 — Shoaku MakusaAlso in: Introductions 4: Ordinary Balance
Our deep, fixed belief that there is something called wrong
Our problem is that we have an idea of what wrong is. Even though we’re discussing not doing wrong, we all have an almost immovable idea of wrong. We all think that there is something called wrong and that Master Dogen’s talking about not doing it. But that’s not what he’s saying. We can’t shift that idea; we’ve been brought up with a very, very fixed, deep belief that there is something called wrong. So if somebody says something else, we can’t get rid of that. So not doing wrong, for us, is not doing something. And that something is what we believe is wrong. But he’s not saying not doing something.
Mike · Shoaku Makusa 3: Balance and Not Doing Wrong Winter 2006 — Shoaku Makusa
The only wrong we can do is here and now
What Master Dogen is always talking about, unfortunately, disappointingly, is our decisions now, here and now. So, not the abstract morality which we have all the engines and organs of modern societies and cultures to construct and modify; but how we act in each moment. … Our minds are so powerful we can think about right and wrong on the historical level, about whether events in the past were right or wrong, whether America should have dropped the bomb on Japan. … And then we can go into the future and we can say ‘What should we do? How should people be allowed to act?’ And all these are kinds of intellectual decisions. And Master Dogen says, not that they’re not important, not that we shouldn’t do them, but there is a right and wrong that is more vital because it’s the right and wrong that we are creating here and now. And the only right or the only wrong that we can actually do is here and now. We can’t do a wrong in the past; we can’t do a right in the future. So our actions here and now are our life.
Mike · Shoaku Makusa 1: Not Doing Wrong Here and Now Winter 2006 — Shoaku MakusaAlso in: Introductions 2: Reality in Ordinary Moments, Genjo-koan 1: Four Viewpoints, Introduction to Buddhism and the Practice of Zazen
Christianity splits good and bad completely
Christianity teaches us that there is right and wrong in the world. Right is good, and wrong is bad. God is right, and the devil is bad. So the Christian religion splits good and bad, or right and wrong, completely. We can see this in the belief in heaven and hell. Completely separate. And poor human beings in the middle. So if we do right, okay. If we do wrong, completely wrong. This belief is very deep in us. For that reason, we think a lot about right and wrong.
Mike · Right and Wrong in Action June 2006 — PadmafarmaAlso in: Dogen’s Teaching as a Way of Living, The Buddha’s Discovery, Opposites and Being Upright, Sadness Is a Change in Balance, The Map in Our Head
No moral judgement, just simple fact
But the kind of idea which I had deep inside me was a kind of Christian idea: if you do bad, you will be sinful, and God will punish you. Of course, it’s not conscious, but it’s very deep inside me. So if I do sinful things, there will be a bad result. If I do good things, there will be a good result. In my experience in Europe, there is, deep inside me and maybe other people, an idea of good and bad, and right and wrong: our behaviour must be good, our behaviour mustn’t be bad. But when I went to Japan, I found there was no such belief. Their belief comes from the Buddhist explanation about cause and effect. In Buddhism, the teaching is: whatever you do, which is the cause, there will always be an effect, without any exception. But there’s no moral judgement, just simple fact. If you do something right, then the effect may be good. And if you do something wrong, the effect may be bad. But in Buddhism, there is a whole different explanation of what is good and what is bad.
Mike · Three Teachings from Japan September 2013 — Banský Studenec
Without one half, we are not complete
The main teaching of Buddhism says that the mind, the mental or spiritual area, and the physical, material area, not that we have to make them the same, or that we need to find a link between the mental things and the physical things, but that it’s the same thing. And that’s very, very difficult for us to understand. It was difficult in ancient China, when they had very spiritual ideas. And it’s difficult in Europe, where we have very Christian ideas: good, heaven, God, right, somewhere here, and, you know, bad, evil, wrong. So, separation. But the aim of Buddhism is not to separate. So: to be right and wrong, to be good and bad. So our duty is to accept our goodness, and to accept our badness, to accept our strengths, and to accept our weaknesses. Without one half, we are not complete.
Mike · The Truth as a Cup of Tea September 2013 — Banský StudenecAlso in: MMK 5: Relinquishing All Views
Practising balance, we do not do wrong
We can see in our societies many discussions, abstract discussions about right and wrong, and many criticisms of past actions. This was wrong, this was right, this wasn’t good, we must learn the lesson. But still, it’s very difficult for human societies to decide what is right to do. In the chapter Shoaku Makusa, not doing wrong, Master Dogen says something which, to me, is quite surprising. He says there’s nothing called right which is waiting somewhere for us to find it and do it. So he means that thinking about right, even making an abstract decision about what is right, is not realistic. Then what’s his idea of acting right? Again, his answer is surprising. He says that if we act, if we practise balance and act in a balanced way, then our actions are not doing wrong. So if we practise zazen every day and act sincerely in our daily life, we don’t do wrong.
Mike · Precepts as Guidelines July 2009 — DibbavanaAlso in: Prajñā: Deciding Before Thinking, Uji 5: Life Moment by Moment
Although a child can say it, an old man can’t do it
Kyo-I was a governor of one of the districts. So he was an important man. And he must have had his own pride and his own position. And he said to his master, “What’s Buddhism all about? What’s the essence of Buddhism? Tell me what Buddhism is about.” And Master Dorin’s answer was very, very simple: “Not doing wrong, doing right.” … So Kyo-I said, “Huh! Even a child can say that! Why do you tell me the words a child can say?” But Master Dorin replied, again very straightforwardly, “Yes, although a child can say it, an old man can’t do it.” … And Kyo-I prostrated himself, which was the normal way to say thank you, and then left. So we can suppose that Kyo-I left, having said thank you formally, but feeling rather put out. He felt he hadn’t been given a proper answer.
Mike · Shoaku Makusa 5: The Child and the Old Man Winter 2006 — Shoaku MakusaAlso in: Right Action from Balance, Understanding the Shobogenzo
Not doing wrong is a state, like a pine tree
To Master Dogen, not doing wrong is not some kind of admonition to think something that is wrong and then not do it; it’s a state. It’s the state of a pine tree. What is the state of a pine tree? Well it’s just there, isn’t it? It’s the state of chrysanthemums in autumn. What’s the state of chrysanthemums in autumn? They’re just fully chrysanthemums in autumn. So a natural, normal, balanced state, he defines as the meaning of not doing wrong. So everything in its natural state is in the state of not doing wrong. The table’s not doing wrong.
Mike · Shoaku Makusa 2: Not Doing Wrong as a State Winter 2006 — Shoaku Makusa
The best we can do in this life is enough
We don’t have to be good. But if we balance ourselves, if we live a balanced life, then what we do is OK, it’s the best we can do. It’s enough. The best we can do in this life is enough. We don’t have to try to be, you know, ‘good’. I don’t mean we have to try not to be good, that’s different again.
Mike · Buddhism Free from ‘Buddhism’ September 2009 — Earth SpiritAlso in: Nishijima’s Four Main Points
Knowledge about facts cannot teach us the direction
When we believe in some spiritual religion, we want to be sincere in our day-to-day life. We want to follow religious precepts, but at the same time, we sometimes fail to follow them. On the other hand, when we think about scientific knowledge, scientific knowledge teaches us the rule of cause and effect. Scientific knowledge always explains facts themselves, so we can get knowledge about facts. But knowledge about facts cannot teach us the direction in which we should go. Therefore, in scientific knowledge, we cannot find the value of ethics or morals.
Nishijima · Why We Practice Zazen August 1987 — Gudo Wafu NishijimaAlso in: The Meaning of the Precepts
An honest person is stupid: morals in Japanese society
People in Japanese society do not revere the value of morals. According to a Japanese proverb, an honest person is stupid. This proverb is very strong, a kind of philosophy, and it is very popular in Japanese society. And another proverb: a red sign on the street does not make us afraid when we cross the street with many people. In this idea too, whether to follow the rule or not is not so important. The power of many people is strong. So this is also a denial of moral value. … So to recover morals is a very important point in Japanese society, I think. And to recover morals, we have to rely upon Buddhist philosophy, which is based on action itself. Relying upon this philosophy, we can explain theoretically why we should follow morals. So to explain it theoretically, we need a philosophy which is based on action.
Nishijima · Nagarjuna’s Mulamadhyamakakarika January 1996 — Gudo Wafu NishijimaAlso in: Three Philosophies and One Reality
Dogen teaches that right is in our action. Right does not exist somewhere in the abstract, waiting to be done
Buddhism Through European Glasses August 2014 — Banský Studenec
The most important texts
- Right and Wrong in Buddhism ●●●right and wrong · abstract and real right and wrong · kitten at the dinner table · three-year-old and eighty-year-old · acting in a balanced way · morality grounded in reality · abstract rules and intuition · medical knowledge as bodily morality · right and wrong in action · gap between knowing and doing
one fundamental problem is how to tell what is right and what is wrong
- Shoaku Makusa 1: Not Doing Wrong Here and Now ●●● Winter 2006 — Shoaku Makusaabstract and real right and wrong · speeding on the way to euthanasia · acting in a balanced way · good and evil not separated · morality grounded in reality · not doing wrong · relativism of right and wrong · right and wrong in action · eating this meat or not
the only wrong that we can actually do is here and now. We can’t do a wrong in the past
- Precepts as Guidelines ●●● July 2009 — Dibbavanaabstract and real right and wrong · three-year-old and eighty-year-old · acting in a balanced way · good and evil not separated · judgement as background music · middle way and compromise · not doing wrong · relativism of right and wrong
there's nothing called right which is waiting somewhere for us to find it and do it
- Right and Wrong in Action ●●● June 2006 — Padmafarmaabstract and real right and wrong · three-year-old and eighty-year-old · acting in a balanced way · good and evil not separated · right and wrong in action · gap between knowing and doing
In other words, right or wrong exists in our action. Not just as ideas in our mind.
- Shoaku Makusa 5: The Child and the Old Man ●●● Winter 2006 — Shoaku Makusaabstract and real right and wrong · three-year-old and eighty-year-old · not doing wrong · right and wrong in action · real events of everyday life
Doing right makes right real. There is no real right other than doing right.
- Shoaku Makusa 3: Balance and Not Doing Wrong ●●● Winter 2006 — Shoaku Makusaabstract and real right and wrong · not doing wrong · inhibiting ourselves and allowing · moving smoothly in the kitchen · right and wrong in action
a very, very fixed, deep belief that there is something called wrong
- Shoaku Makusa 2: Not Doing Wrong as a State ●●● Winter 2006 — Shoaku Makusaabstract and real right and wrong · not doing wrong · pine tree and chrysanthemums
abstract wrong is just a thought. He’s concerned with real right and real wrong.
- Morality as Balanced Action ●●● February 2009 — Cholínacting in a balanced way · good and evil not separated · right and wrong in action
But in Buddhism, we say that right and wrong are part of what we do
Other texts
- Introductions 4: Ordinary Balance ●●● Summer 2003 — Introductions to Shobogenzo Chaptersabstract and real right and wrong · abstract rules and intuition · not doing wrong
notice the difference between abstract right and wrong and real right and wrong
- Right Action from Balance ●●● August 2014 — Banský Studenecabstract and real right and wrong · three-year-old and eighty-year-old · not doing wrong
there has never been any kind of right that is realised beforehand
- Shoaku Makusa 4: Doing Right Without a Doer ●●● Winter 2006 — Shoaku Makusaabstract and real right and wrong · soldier versus television viewer · right and wrong in action
our concept of right and actual right are not separate
- Nagarjuna’s Mulamadhyamakakarika ●●● January 1996 — Gudo Wafu Nishijimamorality grounded in reality · an honest person is stupid · crossing on red with a crowd
we can explain theoretically why we should follow morals
- Introductions 2: Reality in Ordinary Moments ●●● Summer 2003 — Introductions to Shobogenzo Chaptersmorality grounded in reality · right and wrong in action
So Buddhism says yes, ethical decisions are the most important thing, but we make them here and now
- Uji 5: Life Moment by Moment ●●● Summer 2007 — Ujiacting in a balanced way · good and evil not separated
make our body and mind balance, then the balanced state pulls us into right action
- Opposites and Being Upright ●●● July 2009 — Brnogood and evil not separated · middle way and compromise
Buddhism says neither good nor bad, but in the middle
- Three Teachings from Japan ●●● September 2013 — Banský Studenecgood and evil not separated · cause and effect without moral judgement
there will always be an effect, without any exception. But there's no moral judgement, just simple fact
- Dogen’s Teaching as a Way of Living ●●● September 2013 — Banský Studenecabstract and real right and wrong · good and evil not separated
Dogen said there is no right which is waiting for us to do it
- Genjo-koan 1: Four Viewpoints ●●● Summer 2002 — Genjo-koanright and wrong in action
the only place where we can do anything right is now
- Kuge 5: Compassion and Freedom in Action ●●● Winter 2007 — Kugeright and wrong in action
it puts morality where it belongs, into what we do rather than what we think
- Sadness Is a Change in Balance ●●● August 2011 — Dibbavanagood and evil not separated
trying to make the whole world good and get rid of bad. It's crazy. It's impossible. Good and bad are two sides of one thing
- Kodo Sawaki and Concrete Teaching ●●● August 2011 — Dibbavanaright and left both wrong
Right is wrong and left is wrong. Both are wrong.
- The Map in Our Head ●●● May 2012 — Nová Dedinkafour noble truths without shoulds · good and evil not separated
The Four Noble Truths don't say you should. Nowhere is it written you should.
- The Truth as a Cup of Tea ●●● September 2013 — Banský Studenecgood and evil not separated
So, separation. But the aim of Buddhism is not to separate. So: to be right and wrong, to be good and bad
- Buddhism Through European Glasses ●●● August 2014 — Banský Studenecright and wrong in action
Dogen teaches that right is in our action. Right does not exist somewhere in the abstract, waiting to be done
- Life Itself Is Intelligent ●●● July 2021 — Skalní fararight and wrong in action
as I said intelligence is in the cell, morality, according to Dogen, is in our behaviour. Morality is an emergent property of what we do
- One Moon, Two Moons ●●●right and wrong in action · wanting to see ourselves doing good
Thus right or moral action for Dogen is in the act itself, not in an abstract notion of right.
- The Meaning of the Precepts ●●●morality grounded in reality
The basis of Buddhist morality is reality itself.
- Why We Practice Zazen ●●● August 1987 — Gudo Wafu Nishijimamorality grounded in reality
But knowledge about facts cannot teach us the direction in which we should go.
- Genjo-koan 5: Freedom Within Limits ●●● Summer 2002 — Genjo-koanright and wrong in action
in Buddhism, morals are not abstract, morals are inseparable from action
- Ikka-no-myoju 3: Our Place in the Universe ●●● Summer 2006 — Ikka-no-myojuright and wrong in action
not doing wrong is not obeying an abstract moral law but finding the morality in the situation
- MMK 5: Relinquishing All Views ●●● Summer 2008 — Nagarjuna’s Mulamadhyamakakarikagood and evil not separated
‘Good’ doesn’t exist on its own, ‘bad’ doesn’t exist on its own. This denies, for instance, the existence of evil.
- Buddhism Free from ‘Buddhism’ ●●● September 2009 — Earth Spiritacting in a balanced way
But if we balance ourselves, if we live a balanced life, then what we do is OK, it’s the best we can do
- When the Mud Buffalo Dissolve ●●● August 2011 — Dibbavanamiddle way and compromise
In very serious situations, compromise comes out of two positions of strength.
- Action and Result, Living in the Present ●●● May 2014 — Banská Štiavnicamiddle way and compromise
So Buddhism believes not in fighting for your belief, but in compromise.
- Prajñā: Deciding Before Thinking ●●● July 2021 — Skalní faraacting in a balanced way
If we have prajñā, then the decision we make is balanced. So the whole of his morality is based on that
- Three Philosophies and One Reality ●●●Mr. I and Mr. M
One party in the discussion is an idealist and the other is a materialist; let’s call them Mr. I and Mr. M.
- Introduction to Buddhism and the Practice of Zazen ●●●right and wrong in action
Acting morally means acting right at this very moment. Acting right at this moment is the only true morality.
- The Buddha’s Discovery ●●● June 2005 — Lotus Centregood and evil not separated
We separate good and bad. The East, China, Japan, Korea, doesn't separate good and bad in that way.
- Uji 2: A Crack in Our View of Time ●●● Summer 2007 — Ujiabstract and real right and wrong
very often our abstract morality doesn't follow through into our actions
- Just to Be Alive Is Enough ●●● August 2011 — Dibbavanapost-war collapse of Japanese morals
So when Japan lost the war, it was a huge shock for ordinary people, as if they had lost their god.
- Nishijima’s Four Main Points ●●● September 2015 — Banský Studenecacting in a balanced way
That means we are doing the best we can do as human beings. Not perfect, beyond good and bad, just we make the best effort.
- Civilisation as a Shared Trance ●●● July 2021 — Skalní faraabstract and real right and wrong
The event might be caused by my behaviour, which I say is wrong or right, but that's only my belief.
- Understanding the Shobogenzo ●●●three-year-old and eighty-year-old
Even though a child of three can speak this truth, an old man of eighty cannot practice it.
Keywords
Ideas (12) right and wrong in action16 abstract and real right and wrong13 good and evil not separated13 acting in a balanced way9 not doing wrong7 morality grounded in reality6 middle way and compromise4 abstract rules and intuition2 cause and effect without moral judgement four noble truths without shoulds inhibiting ourselves and allowing real events of everyday life
Themes (4) gap between knowing and doing2 relativism of right and wrong2 post-war collapse of Japanese morals wanting to see ourselves doing good
Images and stories (13) three-year-old and eighty-year-old6 an honest person is stupid crossing on red with a crowd eating this meat or not judgement as background music kitten at the dinner table medical knowledge as bodily morality moving smoothly in the kitchen Mr. I and Mr. M pine tree and chrysanthemums right and left both wrong soldier versus television viewer speeding on the way to euthanasia