The Difficulty of Being Good: On the Subtle Art of Dharma

by Gurcharan Das

If you believe in God, Pascal had said, and He turns out to exist, then you have obviously made a good decision; however, if He does not exist, and you still believe in Him, you haven’t lost anything; but if you don’t believe in Him and he does exist, then you are in serious trouble.

Notes from "Difficulty of being good"

In this cauldron fashioned from delusion, with the sun as fire and day and night as kindling wood, the months and seasons as the ladle for stirring, Time (or Death) cooks all beings: this is the simple truth.

Notes from "Difficulty of being good"

adopt a friendly face to the world but do not allow yourself to be exploited.

Notes from "Difficulty of being good"

The point is that we should not be guilty of reading too much ‘into’ the text, but try to read ‘out’ as much as we can for our lives. There may also be more than one meaning.

Notes from "Difficulty of being good"

‘the Mahabharata is not a text but a tradition’.

Notes from "Difficulty of being good"

‘nature does not give a man virtue; the process of becoming a good man is an art’.

Notes from "Difficulty of being good"

To save the family, abandon an individual. To save the village,abandon a family; to save the country, abandon a village. To save the soul, abandon the earth.15

Notes from "Difficulty of being good"

‘people do, in fact, act against their moral convictions and this is an unhappy fact about ourselves’.27

Notes from "Difficulty of being good"

The loaded game of dice is a metaphor for the vulnerable human life in which death and kala, ‘time’, inevitably triumph.

Notes from "Difficulty of being good"

Envy of another is ignoble behaviour. Be content with what you have. Perform your own duty—therein lies happiness.

Notes from "Difficulty of being good"

Envy is felt more strongly between near equals than those widely separated in fortune. It does not make sense to envy the Queen of England.

Notes from "Difficulty of being good"

‘satisfaction of the mind is the only authority in cases of conflicting alternatives’.

Notes from "Difficulty of being good"

The great divide in ethical thinking is between those who judge an act based on its consequences versus those who judge it based on duty or some rule.

Notes from "Difficulty of being good"

‘Man may be a “thinking person" but his great works are done when he is not calculating and thinking

Notes from "Difficulty of being good"

The man of discipline has joy, delight, and light within; becoming the infinite spirit he finds the pure calm of infinity.26

Notes from "Difficulty of being good"

only losers are tried for war crimes.

Notes from "Difficulty of being good"

In humanizing the Kauravas, the Mahabharata reminded me again of an important lesson on my dharma journey: when one begins to see the ‘other’ as a human being with empathy, as someone like oneself, that is the moment when the moral sentiment is born in the human heart.30

Notes from "Difficulty of being good"

For Muhammad there were two jehads and the greater one meant a struggle against one’s own weakness while a lesser jehad was to fight against injustice.’58

Notes from "Difficulty of being good"

‘let the lie come into the world, even dominate the world, but not through me’.80

Notes from "Difficulty of being good"

after the war, ‘This victory seems like defeat’,

Notes from "Difficulty of being good"

Who has in his heart always the well-being of others, and is wholly given, in acts, thoughts, and in speech, to the good of others, he alone knows what dharma is. 7

Notes from "Difficulty of being good"

‘a man who wishes to profess goodness at all times will come to ruin among so many who are not so good. Hence it is necessary for a prince who wishes to maintain his position to learn how not to be good, and to use this knowledge . . . according to necessity.’

Notes from "Difficulty of being good"

‘It is not dharma or right conduct that the Mahabharata seems to teach, but the “subtle" nature of dharma—its infinite subtlety, its incalculable calculus of consequences, its endless delicacy.’

Notes from "Difficulty of being good"