ext_87359 ([identity profile] miss-chance.livejournal.com) wrote in [personal profile] aroraborealis 2010-07-27 04:55 pm (UTC)

slightly less flippantly toward your poll, there is a Buddhist understanding of "right" that makes the question not make any sense.

There's a notion, for instance, called "right speech," which is considered a positive ideal to embrace. It doesn't mean saying things that are factually correct, though honesty is part of it, but it's not "brutal honesty," nor blowing sunshine up people's asses, either... it means saying the right thing for the situation, coming from the right place-- of not intending to be destructive or hurtful and of being aware and attentive enough to not accidentally be those things, either. (so Not "well, I wasn't *trying* to hurt her, so it's not my fault if she took it the wrong way..."). And the idea is that if you practice "right speech" or "right living" what you say and do will be 'right' and 'good' and you and the beings you influence will be more 'happy.'

So I think if I found myself trying to decided between "good," "right," and "happy" I'd seriously take a step back and ask myself how I got to a place that these were not the same thing.

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