Goodness itself is divine

Q: Is there good without God? Can people be good without God? How can people be good, in the moral and ethical sense, without being grounded in some sort of belief in a being which is greater than they are? Where do concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, come from if not from religion? From where do you get your sense of good and evil, right and wrong?

First of all, we must understand what one means by "God" as there is a great range of beliefs regarding the concept. The general view in the Abrahamic traditions is of a "being," typically a powerful male super being, who created, currently controls, and will eventually destroy the universe. "He" is said to be all compassionate yet has characteristics that seem to run counter to this. For example, He allows certain people to go to heaven while others will be tortured eternally in hell, based primarily on their beliefs, their group identity, or His will and whim,. Additionally, belief in "Him" is seen as an absolute necessity for most adherents to these traditions, each one having specific criteria of what such beliefs entail.

What is it then that compels or inspires acts of goodness in these adherents? While it is supposed to be love of their God, for many, it is more often fear of going against His rules, of aggravating Him, and of then ending up in hell. The problem here is that for those who stop believing in the narrow concepts of God as preached, the reasons for being "good" can become diminished.

In most Asian religious traditions, concepts of divinity are far more diverse, especially those found in the Dharma traditions of India. The Divine can be gendered male or female, or can be genderless. It can have anthropomorphic traits and personality, or can be without any form or any knowable characteristics. In fact, the more typical beliefs involve concepts of divinity that transcend the anthropomorphic traits commonly applied to God in the Western traditions. There are also far less restrictions on the need for one to belong to any particular organization or denomination, or for the need to adhere to any set belief system. Instead, there is a greater focus on individual actions.

The concept of karma, in one form or another, plays an important role in inspiring goodness and morality. It is less about pleasing a divinity and more about diminishing the production of negative karma while increasing the amount of positive karma. The ultimate goal for many is to become liberated from the need to be reborn. For others, it is to be reborn eternally in a devotional relationship with the Divine.

In addition to the above concepts, there are an increasing number of people in the world who either no longer believe in any concept of divinity or of karma, or who never did. Yet, there are many decent and moral individuals among them. Why? What would impel them to be good? For one who believes that there is nothing beyond human existence, or no unifying or transcendental reality, there is very little reason outside personal gratification or social cohesion to act decently, and there is no compelling reason not to live a life of greed, dishonesty, and selfishness, especially if one can do so without having to take any social or legal responsibility for such actions. After all, if life has no meaning beyond the needs and desires of the individual, then it is relatively easy to justify doing whatever makes one's own life more pleasant, irrespective of how it affects others.

My own views have been primarily influenced by the authors of the ancient Upanishadic texts of India, in which one finds the concept of a connection of essence between the Divine (Brahman) and the individual spirit (Atman), which animates all living beings. This Divine essence is what makes the individual soul eternal, what makes us recognize and identify with the concept of Truth, and what is the source and inspiration of all goodness and morality that exists in the world. It is what connects us with all other forms of life as well, from humans, to plants and animals, to the world in which we live.

It is this connection that inspires people to put their own lives at risk to help total strangers, to give up a comfortable life to live one in poverty in a 3rd world country caring for lepers, to endure hardships and dangers to save trees or whales, or even frogs. The more that we feel that divine connection, consciously or unconsciously, the more it guides us toward acting in ways that are moral and loving and compassionate. There is no need to believe in an external anthropomorphic Being to practice goodness, because it is an inherent part of who we are. Moreover, goodness has little to do with what we believe. It has everything to do with how much our individual ego allows that inner essence to become manifest in our lives.

Mencius, the 4th century BCE Chinese philosopher, reflected a similar view when he wrote that humans have an inherent goodness and the purpose of education is to waken that goodness. He also noted that it is negative external influences that cause us to lose awareness of that goodness and do bad things.

Whenever individuals are inspired to promote peace, practice compassion, and do good, I would call that inspiration divine, irrespective of whether they acknowledge that as the source or not. For those in whose lives goodness and ethics are integral, there is no need for them to be forced into following a human created belief system or deity. That inner light is already guiding their lives in such moments.

By Ramdas Lamb  |  October 29, 2009; 6:16 AM ET
Share This: Technorati | Del.icio.us | Digg | Facebook
Previous: Goodness and the Goddess | Next: The True Spirit of Halloween, for Real Witches

Posted by: clearthinking1 | November 1, 2009 1:14 AM
Report Offensive Comment

Posted by: tarle_subba | October 30, 2009 8:53 AM
Report Offensive Comment

Posted by: dersk | October 29, 2009 11:23 AM
Report Offensive Comment