A debate has raged on since the dawn of mankind, or has it? Good vs. Evil is something we consider a primordial and “since the beginning” concept. But that is debatable in itself.
The idea of good vs evil was not an ideal of spirituality. In most spiritual cases, we consider the concept a compartmentalizing and human-only creation. The first record of good and evil in a spiritual context was introduced in one of the three oldest world religions, Zoroastrianism. Following that the concept was then used in Hinduism and Judaism which are the other two oldest religions in the world. No one knows which of the religions came first though.
What was good and evil before religion then? It was a designation given to people by other people. And it wasn’t as convoluted as we try to say of it today. Good was considered acting in the best interest of the community. Evil was acting against the community. An action that hurt, damaged, or hindered others was considered to be an act of evil. The reasons were called forth and punishment was given depending on the severity of the actions.
This is most widely represented in The Code of Hammurabi. Most people would recognize that as an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. In many tribal communities of the world, this was the basic understanding. The Code of Hammurabi was just the first to codify and create a type of judicial system around this base understanding. Even though there was much more to the code than just the simple paraphrased bit.
What does all of this mean for us today in spirituality and practice? To answer that we need to examine what good and evil have evolved into over time. First, people believe that evil is something to stay away from at all costs and that good is something we should run to with the fervor of wild horses. That’s not a very balanced ideal though considering that good and evil are on a spectrum.
The further you go in your spiritual practices the more you will come to see the polarity of things. Polarity, it should be pointed out, does not mean duality. Duality implies that there are two sides. Polarity indicates a wide spectrum with extremes and neutral grounds. Good and evil exist as a polarity to each other with much overlap. Neither of them is necessarily healthy in their extreme capacity and a balance of the two is what we should be striving for.
The reason we need to strive for that balance is that we are the only beings in our world capable of acting in a way that would be considered good or evil. When the lioness kills the gazelle we do not call the lioness evil. She is following her base nature. When the hurricane comes and rips apart the gulf states we do not call the hurricane evil. When disease is released and ravages the world we do not call the disease evil. People do like to blame evil though in the wake of devastation from disease or weather. They either blame “evil spirits” or call it divine retribution for “evil people.” These ideals are small-minded and obfuscate the simplicity of nature's will as nature does.
No good and evil rest solely on our shoulders no matter how much we try to hoist it onto the shoulders of others. In simplest terms, Good justifies its actions and evil seeks justification. That’s what their polarized spectrum examines. Good says, “This is for the best for me and my people so this is what I shall do.” Evil says, “I am going to try this and see what happens and maybe I can find a benefit from it.” Good is the epitome of following “rules” and asking for permission with a list of reasons why they need the permission. While evil is more about it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission. When we try to balance that we find that we can navigate life more in terms of doing what is necessary for a given situation rather than stressing over what is the “right or wrong” path.
And that’s what we want in spiritual practices, to find that balance. Because the extremes of Good and Evil are terrifying places to be. Yes, the extreme of Good is beyond frightening. If we consider that in some countries it is still within the law to cut off limbs as a suitable punishment for theft (even if the theft is for food) we are seeing the reality of an extreme version of Good, not evil. Remember good justifies its actions and evil seeks justification. In a “Good” societal standard any infraction against the rules and laws should be punished at the highest level to set the standard and procure obedience from the people ruled by those laws. In a more “Evil” leaning country we see where you take a life, which is much worse than theft, and your freedom is taken away but you still live out your days and receive medical attention and care. That’s what extremes of good and evil look like on a societal level.
At the individual level, I just gave the example of murder. But what is considered evil and what is considered good in the context of murder? Murder is at the simplest definition the act of taking another’s life unlawfully. There’s that keyword though, unlawfully. Soldiers killing enemies in war is “lawful.” Killing someone in self-defense is “lawful” so long as it is not done in excess. Death row killing is “lawful.” A few years ago in Taiwan if you were driving drunk and killed someone you were executed “lawfully.” We overlook these because, by definition, we do not consider them murder which means they aren’t acts of Evil, they are acts of Good because they are ‘lawful.” Good justifies its actions.
In comparison, theft is always seen as an act of evil. No matter the reasoning behind it.” I’m hungry and starving, the grocery store would never miss a single $1.50 can of corn from the shelf.” But if that starving person gets caught they are immediately penalized. In some countries, it might be the simple marching out of the store and public shaming. In others, as I said above, they might end up in prison for some time and come out missing a limb.
Good and evil as a spectrum do not exist in the spiritual realms. The only “spirits” capable of good and evil are the spirits of the dead or human spirits. Outside of the living and dead humans, spiritual beings are incapable of acting on the concepts of good and evil. That is because we, what separates us from non-human spirits and the flora and fauna of the world, are the only beings with freedom of choice. We are the shapers of energy. Non-human spirits are shaped and created by us despite what the media would like to display. We will get more into that in a later series.
What needs to be understood about Good vs Evil at a Foundational level is that they are choices. We make choices every day that float between the two. Which means that good and evil are not part of our spiritual selves. They are concepts that are slower or denser in terms of energy and rest with the Mind and Body. I did not cover Good and Evil in those sections because people believe them to be spiritual concepts and I needed to wait until now to clarify this. The following posts will challenge modern ideals of good and evil in our lives. A lot of jargon and teachings put evil connotations on our spiritual aspects of self which is impossible. Our spiritual aspects of self are not capable of making decisions or taking action. They only guide and influence us to be and grow into our healthiest selves.
Good and Evil exist only within our Minds and the actions of our Bodies. We are both the creators and perpetrators of good and evil. Remember the expression of the universe is innocence. Outside of ourselves, there is no good or evil. The next post will explain what I mean by “outside of ourselves.” We need to examine how the spirit differs from the soul before we get into the three foundational spiritual aspects of self.
Thank you for reading and, as promised, I developed an infographic to help explain the next post.
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