Q: How do we make a good choice?

P: There is no value judgment for any choices you make, there is no good or bad choice. A choice is a choice. So what do we mean by a good choice or a bad choice?

We are actually referring to the result of that choice. We have a tendency to want to choose but we also have the tendency to not want to be responsible for the consequences of that choice. That is why we have a difficult time making choices.

For example. Shall I take out a loan or not? Doesn’t matter what you choose. But if you borrow money, you have to pay it back. If you don’t want to pay back, then you shouldn’t borrow the money in the first place.

So it’s not whether a choice is good or bad, it’s what the consequences are, the responsibility that comes with the choice. We have difficult time making choices because we have an innate nature within ourselves to want to borrow the money but not the sense of responsibility to pay it back.

So choose whatever you want to choose, but when you choose there are consequences. You have to be receptive and be fully willing to accept what the consequences are.

So when I chose the path of engaged Buddhism over traditional Buddhism in Korea, I knew there were a lot of issues that came with that choice. I will be thrown off from the actual discipline. There will be renunciation. There will be criticisms. There will be a lot of recriminations. So I could have said, why should I go through all that suffering?

I should not say that because I fully recognized that there will be consequences to my choice. So all choices are equal except when you make a choice you have to be aware of the consequences and be willing to accept this consequences.