The Cosmic Struggle Within Us

Good v Evil in the Human Heart

The cosmic struggle takes place within mindful beings on the Psychological Plane. This L2-Plane is the location of meaningful living where all can and should thrive, even if L1-Practical functioning is also needed at times. However, good and evil are evident in whatever is created on this Plane, and it is also where the ethical concern for what is good &/or what is right is most intense.

There are a range of ways of making an ethical choice (see Typology-PH'6 within THEE), but no choice can ever be proven to be right. Consequences, even if not understood, are real. So the implication of Psychological Existence-L2 is that every thought and every deed counts.

Other Planes

The good v evil struggle does not occur on the Divine Planes. The difference between these conditions is meaningless on the Plane of Divine Oneness-L7; there is repulsion in the Plane of Cosmic Forces-L6; and attraction in the Plane of Divine Creation-L5. Review.

The good v evil struggle does not occur in three of the four Human Planes:

• Practical beings-L1 do not concern themselves over-much with such abstract issues except in terms of social adaptation and ensuring self-interest.
• Awakened beings-L3 can exist in two states but there is a deliberate integration. They are also naturally aware of what is right in a situation.
• Cosmic Consciousness-L4 is a self-renounced state which serves as a conduit and mediator between the Human and Divine Planes. Whatever happens there, it is not an epic struggle.

Goodness Matters

It seems reasonable to suggest that human existence is dependent on sufficient goodness existing amongst people. If it did not, our willfulness would lead us to destroy ourselves directly or indirectly (e.g. by terrible wars, by spoiling our environment). However, goodness cannot be taken for granted because of humanity's Achilles heel.

In this struggle between good and evil, the stakes are high: if evil finally triumphed, life might perhaps continue—but not as we know it.

The nature and imbalance of good and evil has preoccupied philosophers, theologians and all thinking persons over the millennia. Although arcane discussions are not appropriate here, one feature is immediately relevant to the continuation of the species and the part each of us plays. It is scary: the good needs to prevail, and yet there appears to be a natural tendency for evil to get most attention and often material rewards.

Despite this Imbalance …

In this cosmic struggle no-one is neutral, and no thought or act too trivial to count. Using this perspective, it seems that:

■ Good deeds, if small, tend not to be performed, because they make so little difference in the grand scheme of things. Evil deeds, if small, tend to be committed, because the harm seems to be so insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

So: Evil accumulates and Good does not and this surely has consequences.

■ A smidgen of good in a swamp of evil (think a drop of milk into a bucket of faeces) makes little difference. A smidgen of evil in a pool of good makes an enormous difference (think a drop of faeces into a jug of milk).

So: Evil has effects that seem to outweigh Good and this surely has consequences.

■ We can use a different, better metaphor. Lighting a candle in a pitch-black room provides amazing illumination i.e. darkness (evil) is simply an absence of light (good). This is probably a more accurate picture, but who is to provide that light? Everyday life suggests that self-centredness, prejudice, hate, neglect, irritation, revenge and denigration are far quicker and easier to activate, even somehow viewed as «more natural», than understanding, patience, forgiveness, compassion, gratitude, admiration, and consideration.

■ From a practical perspective, evil appears hard and is needed just to survive, while good seems weak, easily crushed and dispensable when push comes to shove. In everyday life, it certainly seems as if evil is a «thing» that actively parasites on the good.
Example

When a Mafia enters a town, it deliberately weakens society by exploiting human frailty and enabling gambling, drug dealing, prostitution and human trafficking. At the same time it demands protection money from legitimate businesses, and uses bribes to win government contracts that are padded and poorly delivered. The politicians, police and judiciary are suborned, so justice is undermined. Over time, conditions and services deteriorate and good people leave the town, whose bad and worsening reputation ensures they are not replaced.

Slowly the wealth which attracted the criminals diminishes. Eventually a point arrives at which the escalating impoverishment leaves the town destroyed, morally, economically and physically, and beyond easy repair. When nothing is left to exploit, the Mafia moves on to become a parasite in the next good town.

Lacking restraint, evil eventually leads to its own destruction as in the above example. Yet we are still here. A reasonable conclusion is that, in the totality of existence over time, or at least up to now, goodhas probably exceeded evil.

… Good can Triumph

Given that the cosmic good v evil struggle seems to be tilted against us, humanity must have put considerable effort into what is good &/or mindfully resisted temptation and shunned evil—sufficiently—over the millennia. All that is required in this endless cosmic struggle is that good outweighs evil by just enough.

We know so little. Perhaps … a single act might make all the difference at critical junctures. Just in case, each person should be constantly aware that it might be their small choice just now that is decisive for humanity in this cosmic conflict.

Even a small preponderance of the good should compound over time, assuming no catastrophic losses. And so human survival, the maturation of awareness, and social-ethical progress all become possible.
More: 

The most advanced and thoughtful people of every generation since the dawn of man have promoted what is good and right—and noted how extraordinarily difficult it is for people to act ethically at all times or even most of the time. People must have listened to them, and perhaps to some inner voice as well—the same inner voice that advised them to listen to wiser souls. Otherwise it seems unlikely that humanity could have developed through the millennia, and recently more rapidly.

We can easily notice signs of ethical progress. The building of this website is just one example: it is not really the work of my team. It is occurring due to the efforts and sacrifices of generations of sufficiently good people.

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• Continue now to consider the field of this struggle.

Originally posted: 26-Oct 2012