Without civic morality communities perish; without personal morality their survival has no value.
– Bertrand Russell
Kabir – The couplet
??? ????? ?? ????, ??? ???????? ?? ??? |
??? ??? ?????? ????, ??? ??? ?? ??? ||
transliterated:
Sheel, kshama jab upaje, alag dhristi tab hoye |
Bin sheel pahunche nahi, lakh kahe jo koi ||
Translation:
Morality and forgiveness, when realized, change our very perception of the world around |
Without morality, we end up at the door of nowhere, no matter how much we say ||
My understanding:
Morality is guided by ethics, and when combined with the virtue of forgiveness, allows us to overcome our darkest fears and most troubling moments.
For our fears, when truly understood, stem from our own lack of knowledge – not from any threat to our being.
Ethics tells us what is right, and morality guides our action. When this is coupled with the ability to forgive, we have finally learned to live. This is the stepping stone, nay the foundation block, on which we can simplify our lives and perceive the real truth, rather than the fog that our five physical senses impose on our perception.