THE NATURE OF EVIL

Nature of Evil - Black vs White vs Grey

Possibly the most sensitive and perhaps most controversial topic is that regarding what may be termed “evil”. Many say that there is no such thing and, at the same time, organized religions focus excessively on the shadow side with attendant guilt, shame and persecution. Another way of looking at this is to think in terms of the concept of the “shadow” as it is called in psychology. I do this because there is often a strong reaction from many people who do not want to think there is something that could possibly be so negative, but this is a dualistic planet so for every source of light there is a counterpoint. Some authors in the contemporary new age field have dealt with this challenge and one is Scott Peck with his book “People of the Lie” and there are some indicators given in the “10th Insight” by James Redfield, but references are few and far between. At some stage we will have to address this issue simply because it is there and unavoidable. As the light intensifies so the shadow cast by the material world will be more defined and the greater the distinction between dark and light. We have been mislead as to the source of evil with Christianity claiming Satan or the devil or the Antichrist as origin of darkness but these images were created well after the time of Jesus and in fact are distortions of reality and mislead the followers of the Christian teachings. At the same time our understanding of evil has been conditioned by these images along with the modern media and entertainment industry amplifying the fear surrounding our perceptions of darkness with films such as The Omen, The Excorcist, and most of the shock/horror film genre. Always keep in mind that our belief systems are not always based in fact so don’t be disappointed if when truth is revealed things are not what they seem to be. “….every good deed transforms some particle of chaos . Each kind action is a burning away of chaos.” But also “...each good deed attracts the fury of the dark ones. Timid souls will probably wish to refrain from performing good deeds for safety’s sake, and there are many such people who for this reason refuse to be compassionate. They have extinguished their fires and merged with the darkness...The great Pilgrim taught the love of goodness, but his teaching was greatly distorted. Even His simplest words could not save the Teaching, for people found ways to interpret Truth for their own profit. The expulsion of the merchants from the temple is a symbolic warning, and the temple should be understood as the human spirit from which the mercenary thought must be ejected. No one can forbid the exchange of daily necessities, but merchants must attend to their business with enlightened hearts. Even the basic elements of life can be spiritualised….Be not frightened by even the most awful grimace of evil, for our main task is to increase the reservoir of goodness….Persecution pursues a great teacher like dust after a horseman...The persecutors of the Teachings of Light inflict harm consciously as well as unconsciously, and grow increasingly furious as, as against their will, they are magnetically drawn to the Teaching...examples of this madness can be seen in various eras, and when these persecutors are asked what causes their fury and makes them attack the Teaching that they hate so persistently, the answer is almost always the same - they are unable to stop their attacks. Such lack of self-control indicates obsession” . “Evil (or the counter forces of material expression) requires good (or the unfolding essential truth) in order to exist but the reverse is not so. It is the reactionary energy of resistance to the inevitable but refuses to realize that it only exists through its relationship with goodness, truth or the essential reality. Hence evil is magnetically drawn to to what is good. It has no independent existence.” - Sydney Goodwill Newsletter - October 2006. . D.K.; “Evil” or “wrong” exists only when the emphasis is retained in the wrong aspect from the point of view of the unfoldment attained, or when that which has been used and developed to the necessary point, holds the life or consciousness too long. Hence, the beneficent nature of death. The forces of darkness are powerful energies, working to preserve that which is ancient and material; hence they are pre-eminently the forces of crystallization, of form preservation, of the attractiveness of matter, and of the lure of that which is existent in the form life of the three worlds. They consequently block deliberately the inflow of that which is new and life giving. They endeavour to preserve that which is familiar and old, to counteract the effects of the oncoming culture and civilization, to bring blindness to the peoples and to feed steadily the existing fires of hate, of separateness, of criticism and of cruelty. These forces as far as the intelligent peoples of the world are concerned, work insidiously and cloak their effort in fair words, leading even disciples to express hatred of persons and ideologies, fostering the hidden words of hatred found in many human beings. They fan to fury the fear and hate of the world in an effort to preserve that which is old, and make the unknown appear undesirable, and they hold back the forces of evolution and of progress for their own ends. Nation is still pitted against nation in the political arena, group against group and (within nations) party against party, and man against man. The wise and the far seeing, those prompted by a sane and unselfish common sense, the idealist and the men and women of goodwill, are everywhere and are struggling to find a solution, to build a new world structure of law, order and peace, which will ensure right human relations; but they are in turn, a tiny minority in comparison to the vast multitude of human beings peopling our earth; their task is hard and from the point at which they must work, appears to them at times presenting well nigh insuperable difficulties. Certain questions inevitable arise in the minds of the men and women of goodwill everywhere: Can the great powers be trusted to function selflessly in the interests of the little powers and of humanity as a whole? Can power politics and the various national imperialisms be forgotten and ended? Can a world policy be devised which will insure justice for all, whether great or small? Can world opinion be sufficiently strong in the interests of right human relations, that it can tie the hands of the selfishly aggressive, and open the door of opportunity to those who have as yet had little? Is the hope of establishing an era of right human relations within nations as well as internationally, an impossible dream, a waste of time to consider, or evidence only of wishful thinking?

Does the goal of right human relations, equal rights and opportunity for all people everywhere, provide an entirely possible goal for which all well intentioned people can work with some hope of success? What are the first steps which should be taken to promote such right endeavours, and to lay a secure foundation of World Goodwill? How can public opinion be sufficiently aroused so that the many steps to promote right human relations will be faced by legislators and politicians everywhere? What should minorities do in order to gain their just demands, without promoting more differences and feeding the fires of hatred? How can we abolish the great lines of demarcation between races, nations and groups, and the cleavages that are to be found everywhere, working in such a manner that the “one humanity” emerges in the world of human affairs? How can we develop the consciousness that what is good for the part is good for the whole, and that the highest good of the unit within the whole guarantees the good of the whole? These and many other questions arise and clamour for an answer. The answer comes in the form of a generally accepted platitude and is unfortunately in the nature of an anti climax; Establish right human relations by developing a spirit of goodwill. Then and only then shall we have a world at peace and ready to move forward into a new and better era. It is important for the modern spiritual searcher to understand that spirituality encompasses all areas of human activity and the future of humanity depends on the creation of a new world on all levels – not just the personal. Our own immediate spiritual endeavours are not important in as much that if the world perishes - we perish along with it.