Extreme Views

2000-5-12 11:11:00

The question:
"What are three things commonly believed to be good that are really leading to retrogression, and three things believed to be evil that may in truth lead to progression?"

If I remember correctly we covered this idea somewhat in connection with another subject, but it is good to review again since it is an important one.

Maya, glamour and illusion fog the eyes of many so it becomes well nigh impossible to see what is good. Only when these "three temptations" are overcome can one have sufficient soul contact so the path of progress becomes clearly visible. The great part is that when two reach this point of vision they can always come to unity with their vision.

A good portion of the problem in seeing the good that lies in the past. In the journey of mankind from the distant past to the present there have been many things gathered that are tried and true, and still good and useful. These should not be discarded, but used to enhance the present and for guideposts for the future.

On the other hand, we have made many mistakes in the past. These mistaken ideas should not be taken with us, but should be dropped or altered into more useful format. Additionally, there are ideas and concepts that worked for our good in the past, but are no longer usable due to the changing times. Such concepts should also be modified or dropped to make way for the new.

So here is where the problem of good and evil come into play. The average seeker is reluctant to use his power of discernment or judgment; he wants to proceed on the path of least resistance and have all values be black and white so no thought is necessary. This is the lazy man's way to enlightenment.

The black and white thinking of the masses about the past is in one of two categories:

(1) The person has a large investment in the ideas and procedures of the past, therefore all those things that worked to bring him where he is now is good and should be kept at all costs. To give up the ideas from the past is like betraying the gifts of God for this individual.
(2) The past represents the ideas and mistakes of a passing generation who made too many errors and never had it together. We should drop the ideas from the past and start anew on every turn and build a better happier world.

People as a whole gravitate to extremist sides of the fence and unfortunately too many people gravitate to one of these two extreme views because only one decision is necessary. The one decision is to keep the past or to throw out the past. Anything in between requires thought and contemplation as well as numerous decisions through discernment. It requires too much effort for the average person.

The group brought up some interesting answers to the questions and a book could be written on them, but let us pick one answer given by Susan and quoted by Jytte, and apply the full accepting or rejecting of the past to it. Susan said that free love and our high divorce rate is seen to be evil, but may in reality be good.

In the past, we were taught that sex was only to be had within the bonds of matrimony. Today one camp adheres fiercely to this idea and the other camp totally rejects it. Is one side right or are they both wrong because of total acceptance or rejection of the past?

In the past we are told that divorce is wrong and should be avoided at all costs except in extreme circumstances - that divorce always ends with negative results. Today one extreme tries to hold on to this idea, whereas the other rejects it, telling us we should be able to move out of a marriage relationship whenever we feel like it. Again is one side right or are they both wrong because of total acceptance or rejection of the past?

What type of conclusion in these two areas is the disciple likely to come to through the use of discernment?