Good and Evil

"Human kind has not woven the web of life, we are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. " -- Chief Seattle

What is "good" and what is "evil"? Are they abstract and arbitrary values? Mostly, we tend to think of "good" as something we like and "evil" as something that we don't like.

There is a common and widely propagated belief that for good to exist, evil must also exist, that both are necessary. This is a false belief that empowers and maintains the status quo. Look around you. Do you like the "status quo"? Is it really acceptable to keep the circumstances of our lives and our world just the way they are?

We are trained to think in terms of "good" and "bad" with us, our tribe, family or group, our self interests and our opinions being "good," and all others being "bad." The mere concept of good and evil is a paradigm of thinking which implies a separation between an individual and all other individuals and between the individual and God or the Source.

To simply say that "There is no good and evil, it is all the same" is to engage in additional formulistic thinking. This implies that any distinction is arbitrary. Nothing is arbitrary. Truth is not merely an opinion or an individual point of view. While "Reality" may be described by quantum physics, string theory, and our evolving concepts of cosmology, there is nothing arbitrary about it. While "Reality" is, in fact, very different than our common concepts of it, again, there is nothing arbitrary about it.

Anyone who understands that everyone else is a brother or sister and is connected through a common Divine heritage is unlikely to engage in deliberate harmful actions toward others. Anyone who understands that every living thing is connected is unlikely to engage in deliberate acts that are harmful to life or individual life forms. When you remove the separateness, everything that we conceive of as "evil" vanishes. Without separateness there is no "good versus evil." A loss of separateness does not imply any loss of individuality.

The harm in "good versus evil" thinking is that it disempowers everyone who accepts the concept through the implied and inflexible separateness that this thinking creates.

Good and Evil in Culture

The theme of a contest or Cosmic Battle and Eternal Struggle between Good and Evil or between the Light versus the Dark is found in the writings of just about all the great Faith Traditions of this planet. The Cosmic Battle might be fought within the soul of an individual, often the hero of a Myth, while simultaneously the Mythic tale may also involve a struggle between warring armies also fighting the same battle on a physical plane. So Myths are tales full of Adversaries, Adversity, Conflict and Opposing Forces; in this way they are expressing the Universal Spiritual notion of the Cosmic Battle between Good and Evil.

In Zoroastrianism we have descriptions of an eternal struggle between Ohrmazd and Ahriman, representing Good and Evil respectively. The Zoroastrian Scriptures describe this dialectic as happening transcendentally and Universally but also emphasizes that it is happening within every individual person as well.

In Islam we have the notion of Jihad which roughly translates as 'To Struggle in the Way of God'. Muhammad is quoted as saying that 'The most excellent Jihad is the perfection of character'. So again we find this notion of Cosmic Battle that happens on a battlefield and also within the mind or soul of the individual.

In Christianity the word Satan is usually understood as the being who embodies pure Evil. Satan is actually a Hebrew word which means Adversary and didn't start off with the connotations that it would later acquire. Satan was translated into the Greek word for adversary, 'Diabolos' from which the word Devil was derived. In Islam we find a similar the term Shaitan, which roughly means and is translated as 'The one who rebels.' As with the Cosmic Battle, we have this theme of adversaries and opposition.

In almost every one of the highest grossing and highly popular movies, there is a common theme of Good versus evil, good guys versus the bad guys, Light versus Darkness. From Lord of the Rings to the Avengers, from Harry Potter to Avatar, in Fast and the Furious, Star Trek, Star Wars and the Matrix, we see the same battle playing out. The film makers know that these themes push out buttons and trigger our emotions and that they can use that to make a lot of money. These movies generate intense emotions in the viewers, make them identify personally with the characters and root for them. This is important because it demonstrates that we all have deep within ourselves an ingrained sense sense of this dicotomy and struggle. It is ingrained in our Soul Memory and our DNA.

Where Does this Core Conflict come From?

According to the Christian mystic, Edgar Cayce, the Book of Revelation is the symbolic account of "the fall of all human souls" and humanity's ultimate return to unity with their Source. According to Cayce, all human souls were created before the universe began and none have been created since. Some of these human souls left their abode in heaven and became trapped on earth in flesh. These souls are now finding their way back to God through the cycle of evolution and reincarnation.

According to Cayce, "Satan" is not a being nor a literal fallen angel. "Satan" is the influence of the collective consciousness of rebellion against the force of God, or Creation or Source.

According to Cayce, human weaknesses and evil are a result of the misuse of free will, a misuse that began in the spirit and mind, long before material life even began. The implication here is that all outer influences, whether they are good or evil, emanate from the unseen realms of Spirit and mind. Cayce calls the war that rages within us between the seen and unseen realms the true Armageddon. It is a terrible battle, a war of selfishness and darkness against loving care for others and the light of truth, hope, and love.

"(Q) Explain how so called good and evil forces are one.

(A) ..... When there is delegated power to a body that has separated itself from the spirit (or coming from the unseen into the seen, or from the unconscious into the physical consciousness, or from God's other door - or opening from the infinite to the finite), then the activity is life; with the will of the source of that which has come into being. As to what it does with or about its associations of itself to the source of its activity, as to how far it may go afield, depends upon how high it has attained in its ability to throw off both negative and positive forces. Hence we say, "The higher he flies the harder the fall." It's true! Then, that which has been separated into the influence to become a body, whether celestial, terrestrial, or plain clay manifested into activity as man, becomes good or bad. The results to the body so acting are dependent and independent [interdependent?] (inter-between, see) upon what he does with the knowledge of - or that source of - activity. " - Edgar Cayce - from Reading 262-52

The Path is a book about the Spiritual journey that we all take. Who are we, why are we here, what is consciousness, what is enlightenment, how do we grow Spiritually? There are detailed instructions on basic and advanced meditation and the Kuji-In or nine syllables meditation from Hindu, Buddhist and Ninja traditions. There are also instructions on using forgiveness and recapitulation to recover energy and resolve karma.

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