When we are confronted with a difficult situation, it can be very confusing and stressful. Often, the conflict stems from a perceived difference between what we desire and what is right. By right, I don’t mean an arbitrary conception of morality imposed on us from on high. What I mean by right is actions or omissions that will lead us to sustained happiness. By contrast, wrong in this context means actions or omissions that lead to suffering.
I can’t stress enough the fact that these are not subjective ideas. It is a simple reality that an object dropped from a height on earth will be pulled downwards. Gravity is the cause and the movement to earth is the effect. Similarly, there are certain actions that make us happy over the long term and there are certain actions that cause us to suffer. Knowing which is which is imperative to our spiritual progress.
With insight medtiation, using the method taught by the Buddha, the determination of what is right is not made by someone else and then given to us. We observe reality for ourselves and come to the conclusion independently. This process will help us to determine what is right in a given situation. But not only that, we will also understand how what is right is one and the same with what we desire because, ultimately, everyone desires happiness. Therefore, insight is like a beacon guiding us to the correct answer to our problem.