In Focus Article

In Focus Article

One of the most interesting paradigm shifts I underwent via Buddhism was the idea that the opposite of "Black" is not "White", it is "Not Black". This realization, I believe, actually has profound implications for how one views the world. Unfortunately, this principle has been interpreted (twisted?) and put into use by so-called Western Buddhists (who exhibit true Buddhist values about as much as Arlen Specter exhibits true Republican ones) to say something-to-the-effect of, "Hey, man! There is no Good. There is no Evil. It's all the same, man!" as they take another hit of the ganga pipe.

It is much easier to believe "it's all the same" and thereby remove any pangs of guilt, responsibility, and duty one might have to respect, among other things, the private property rights of others and, while this may have been what was taught to them at the "Benjamin Spock School for How to Raise Whiners", the Buddha didn't say that and, more importantly, it's not how reality works.

Unfortunately for the liberals who denigrate western achievement and individual material success, the fact that "Black's opposite" is not, "White" and "White's opposite" is not "Black" does not mean that "Black" and "White" are the same. They are, indeed, two different things and sometimes one is simply "Good" and the other "Bad".