10/6/99
Good and Evil Forever
Comment from Reader
“The question is not whether we experience good and evil because we do. The question is not whether we should choose good as opposed to evil because those of us who believe in good and evil do.”
JJ: You choose good and evil whether you believe in it or not. If you are going to the grocery store and one road takes you the wrong direction (evil) and the other one the right direction (good) and if you choose the wrong road you will be going on the wrong road whether you believe you are or not. Belief has nothing to do with the world of dualities that we find ourselves in. The reader is a great example of this. He claims to not believe in dualities, yet he is still here among us in the world of dualities arguing on the opposing side of my teachings, illustrating my point that belief has nothing to do with dualities. What is, is – belief or not.
JJ The reader said “The question is rather whether good and evil are seen as separable from each other.”
I don’t think that is the question. I think most people in this group see the polarities and the point between as a divine Trinity working as one purpose.
He continues: “As we believed in separation between good and evil we thought we could eliminate evil by avoidance of evil or by doing good.”
I also doubt that anyone in this group believes this idea. I certainly do not expect to eliminate evil by doing good. Avoid evil, perhaps, but eliminate – no. If there is good there has to be evil, and if there is evil there must be the possibility of good.
Finally he asks: “What then is the purpose of doing good and avoiding evil?”
The answer to this should be pretty obvious to any beginning student of metaphysics or even a Sunday School class.
While it is true (as you pointed out) that choosing evil (such as drug addiction or killing your dog) can lead to the learning of some lesson in the far future) it is also true that the choosing of good (not being addicted and treating your dog warmly) will make the here and now much more pleasant as we pass through it. Since we spend billions of years passing through the here and now it makes a lot of sense to make the present as joyous as possible. We are in the present for a long long time.
I would match my own inner peace as I face the decisions of good and evil straight on against that of any one else who sees themselves as not believing in the dualities. I have met quite a number of people who seem to think in this vein and have seen very little evidence that they have any more peace than the born again Christian that they see as way below them on the scale of seeing reality.
In addition to this obvious answer there is another deeper one. When the overwhelming majority begin to choose the good over the evil that which was evil does seem to begin to disappear, but evil does not disappear. What happens instead is that good and evil are shifted to a higher octave. When this occurs that which was good becomes the evil and the good is replaced by a “new” vision or principle for us to master.
For instance, in past ages the kingdom governments were considered the good and the tribal governments were considered the evil as tribes merged into kingdoms. Then after the kingdoms brought all the progress that the consciousness of humanity could usefully assimilate the new vision of the representative governments began to manifest. When this began to happen the kingdoms and their great authority, which used to be the good, now becomes the evil and the representative systems become the good. Even so, as we move ahead the representative form will become the evil and a more pure participatory government will become the good.
Thus we do not expect to eliminate evil in this reality, but we can eliminate the negative influence of that which distracts from joyousness and by doing so go on to a higher level of becoming and experience.
He continues: “As long as good and evil are held to be opposed to each other they persist indefinitely.”
JJ: The basic principle of duality and good and evil will persist in some form for eternity yet any item that we define as evil will eventually fade away. For instance, in my home town of Boise Idaho there is no tribal living, no natives running around in loin cloths eking out a living eating roots.
Slavery used to be considered good by many, but here in Boise we have no human bondage. We have completely eliminated this evil which used to be the good.
Principles (such as good and evil) are eternal and cannot be eliminated by thought, but they can be directed and channeled toward that which we see as the good, the beautiful and the true.
The reader continues: “No one is forever stuck in the dualistic principle of good and evil.”
I wouldn’t use the word stuck. Instead, I would word it this way. God has provided us with the opportunity to eternally progress from one duality to another with each new duality bringing a greater state of becoming and joyousness than the last. Then too we have a needed rest between such endeavors. This rest is as close as we get to a non existent state where no dualities persist.
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