Nothing is Either Good or Bad
- olivierbranford
- Jan 22
- 7 min read
Updated: Jan 24
William Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." In Macbeth Act 5, Scene 5, one of the most famous soliloquies by the Bard he wrote "Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player; That struts and frets his hour upon the stage; And then is heard no more. It is a tale; Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury; Signifying nothing." We make 'Much Ado About Nothing', as the name of the Shakespearean comedy suggests, written in 1598 and 1599. Drama and chaos are based on lies and egocentric fear.
William Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."
Rumi wrote "Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, There is a field. I'll meet you there." As I understand it, Rumi was saying that as human beings we get connected with each other in the space that opens up when we let go of our ideas of good and bad, right and wrong.
Rumi wrote "Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, There is a field. I'll meet you there."
I had never heard the story of the Chinese farmer before my own transformative journey, but when I did, it changed everything for me: "A farmer and his son had a beloved horse who helped the family earn a living. One day, the horse ran away and their neighbours exclaimed, “Your horse ran away, what terrible luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not.” A few days later, the horse returned home, leading a few wild horses back to the farm as well. The neighbours shouted out, “Your horse has returned, and brought several horses home with him. What great luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not.” Later that week, the farmer’s son was trying to break one of the horses and she threw him to the ground, breaking his leg. The neighbours cried, “Your son broke his leg, what terrible luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not.” A few weeks later, soldiers from the national army marched through town, recruiting all able-bodied boys for the army. They did not take the farmer’s son, because he had a broken leg. The neighbours shouted, “Your boy is spared, what tremendous luck!” To which the farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”"
It is really impossible to tell whether anything that happens is good or bad. You never know what the consequences of misfortune or 'good' fortune will be, as only time will tell the whole story. Things may look great at the start, but over time it may not become what you had imagined it to be. Similarly, you feel bad about something but some day it could be one of the best things that happened to you.
Everything changes. The Universe is ever-changing. There is no room for judgement, for nothing is truly black and white. Max Ehrmann said “ Trust that the Universe is unfolding as it should.” To be able to forget the sorrows of my past and worry not about the uncertainty of the future: To be able to truly live in the present, and see life as not good or bad but just as is. And so I wonder, did the story of a Chinese farmer do anything for you? Maybe so, maybe not. You’ll see.
We’re quick to label certain situations as “bad” if we dislike it. And “good” if we like it. But binary thinking doesn’t always serve us well.
We see this running amok in our culture today, with people and factions choosing sides. Equally damaging is jumping to quick (sometimes too quick) conclusions about the impacts or benefits of certain situations.
You win a new piece of business, a key employee quits, market conditions shift, your computer stops working, you get an investment influx, your managers are at odds with one another, COVID happens. Is it good? Bad? Maybe so, maybe not.
One thing for sure is that life is uncertain. We never really know what situations may yield us—good, bad, or otherwise. Whatever happens in our life, we’ll never be sure of the consequences it may bring in the future.
Our life can be a chaotic emotional roller coaster. When we are confronted by emotionally charged circumstances, we instinctively frame situations in binary ways as a way to make sense of things. This mindset presents dilemmas as things to be solved or resolved in favour of one alternative over another.
Going beyond binary thinking is the ability to transcend this or that solutions. It requires us to pause and not jump too quickly to conclusions. The inherent tension that comes from polarisation conceals a critical evolutionary opportunity.
If we can hold the tension long enough we can usher into the third element, the realm of exploration with neutrality. This, my friends, is where true imaginative opportunity and freedom from fear lives.
Alan Watts wrote “You never know what will be the consequence of the misfortune; or, you never know what will be the consequences of good fortune.”
Nondualism includes a number of philosophical and spiritual traditions that emphasise the absence of fundamental duality or separation in existence. This viewpoint questions the boundaries conventionally imposed between self and other, mind and body, observer and observed, and other dichotomies such as good and bad that shape our perception of reality. As a field of study, nondualism delves into the concept of nonduality and the state of nondual awareness, encompassing a diverse array of interpretations, not limited to a particular cultural or religious context; instead, nondualism emerges as a central teaching across various belief systems, inviting individuals to examine reality beyond the limited confines of dualistic thinking.
Nondualism emphasises direct experience as a path to understanding. While intellectual comprehension has its place, nondualism emphasises the transformative power of firsthand encounters with the underlying unity of existence. Through practices like meditation and self-inquiry, practitioners aim to bypass the limitations of conceptual understanding and directly apprehend the interconnectedness that transcends superficial simplistic distinctions. This experiential aspect of nondualism challenges the limitations of language and rational thought, aiming for a more immediate, intuitive, and deeper form of wisdom.
Once you are able to practice acceptance of the ‘isness’ of the present moment, without judgement, everything changes…
Namaste.
Olly
Dr Olly Alexander Branford MBBS, MA(Cantab), PhD.
Fully qualified and certified coach
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