X. THE GOOD
Love gives birth to the good.
The good is the foundation of life. The good is the soil of life and at
the same time its nourishment. Only the good can sustain life, only the
good can nourish it.
When God limits Himself, the good is born in the world.
When man is confined, evil is born. And when he is freed from confinement,
good appears. In other words, when the desire to serve God originates within
the human soul, then the conditions for the good are created.
Men wish to create good within themselves, but good is not created, it
is born. It is implanted from the beginning in every man and he has only
to become aware of it and reveal it.
Man must be good because good is the foundation of life. Without good the
life of man has no foundation.
If man does not do good, evil is born. The evil that is now in the world
is the unutilized good of the past.
Evil results from an unstable order. It is a world of arbitrary rule.
In the world of nature, it might be defined as reproduction without law.
Evil is, however, inevitable in the relations between forces and beings.
Evil and good in Living Nature are forces which it utilizes equally.
Behind the good and the evil is the Great Intelligence which utilizes everything.
Man must not fight evil. He must escape it. He must not fight evil but
must rather set good against it.
The man who fights evil most, errs most.
The only being who can harness evil into work is God.
You must know that there exists a collective consciousness of good and
a collective consciousness of evil. They form the two great poles of Creation.
Human life moves between those two great poles.
When evil is within, predominating over good, and the good is without,
then evil reigns on earth. In other words, "hell" reigns on earth.
But when good is within, triumphant, and evil is without, then "heaven"
governs and good reigns in the world.
"Hell" is a place where evil is both inside and outside.
"Heaven" is a place where good is inside and outside.
And human life is "a place" where sometimes good is within and
evil without, and sometimes the reverse.
Each man, according to the life he leads, is either at the pole of good
or the pole of evil.
The man in whom evil is master lives in constant turmoil. Outwardly, he
may have great wealth, he may be honored by men, but within himself he
is not at peace. He is unceasingly troubled by evil misgivings and fears.
Gradually he loses his health and his strength.
But when goodness is in the heart of a man, he may have neither riches
nor power, but he is at peace and full of joy. His outward conditions are
bad but his inner conditions are good. Such a man has something powerful
within him and because of it he is loved by all.
The good people are the truly strong people in the world.
People think that evil is powerful in the world. Evil is powerful only
because people love it. The love given to evil gives it strength. Evil
obtains strength from love.
In spite of this, however, the striving for good can never cease.
The process of good is eternal.
It is the creative process of life. Therefore, the good might be called
the path to life. It leads us to life.
Evil is the path to death. It is condemned to barrenness.
In order to distinguish between good and evil, remember the following:
Good and evil are the high and the love in the world. Evil is the weakest
possible vibration of good. Therefore, good is the price of rationality,
and evil is the price of irrationality.
Good increases the value of human consciousness. Evil lowers it.
Through good, endowments are strengthened; through evil they are weakened
and dimmed.
Good begins with small insignificant things. But they constantly grow,
increase, and multiply, and then organize and unite into one whole. In
evil there is always disintegration, disconnection.
The good might be compared to a spring that constantly flows. Evil on the
other hand is like a dried-up spring that hardly trickles.
Evil promises much and gives nothing. Good promises nothing but gives much.
Is it necessary for the spring to promise that it will flow? It simply
flows.
So it is with a good man. In him, good is like a spring. He remains good
under all conditions. It is delusion to think that conditions might change
him. Good permeates his whole being, it is the foundation of his structure.
The good man differs fundamentally in construction from the evil one. The
nervous system of a good man is more intricate and more finely constructed.
His brain has more cells and more folds; it is differently constructed.
His circulatory system, also, forms a richer and thicker network. The skin
of the good man has more cells, and it is finer than the skin of the evil
man.
The good man generally has a more perfect constitution. He is a highly
advanced being. That is why every person who lags behind in his development
becomes evil.
In such a case we say that evil is good which is not utilized. Evil cannot
be uprooted from the world. And when Christ says not to touch the weeds
until the time of harvest - "the end of the world" - he means
that in the future a new era will begin and all that is now evil in the
world will pass into another phase of development.
When we speak of good, of a good deed, we always relate it to a healthy
man. The sick man can do no good. It is evident that we do not imply here
the ordinary "good" as people understand it.
The real good, from the point of view of divine science, is distinguished
by three qualities: it brings life, light and freedom.
If it does not have these three qualities, it is not good.
Life comes through Love, light comes through Wisdom, and freedom comes
through Truth. If anyone wishes to do good, he must be in connection with
these three divine worlds.
If a deed of ours is to be really good, it must be alive, it must walk
after us. Good must accompany us. If good cannot follow after us, it is
not good.
My good deeds must follow after me. And in order that they do, they midst
bring life, light and freedom for me as well as for those for whom they
are being done. Because the divine law is a collective law, it applies
at the same time to all. When you do good for someone, this good applies
to all the world. It makes no difference to the divine world whether people
know this or not. It is true, nevertheless, that all will profit from this
good. Therefore, I say: to do good is a sacred act because in this way
you cause God to manifest Himself through you in His Goodness, in His Love,
in His Wisdom.
There is no greater act than this - to do good.
However minute this good might be, it is a noble act that all in heaven
praise because God is hidden within goodness.
Nature is very careful even with the smallest gain. When a man does a good
deed in the world, when he performs an intelligent act, there is great
rejoicing in the invisible world.
And when Christ advises men to store up treasures in heaven, he refers
to the good. The treasure is the good that man has done on earth.
To do good means to call upon God to act through you. And when God acts,
He does so not only for one person, but for all. That is why when good
is being done, all heavenly beings participate.
Thus, every act in which heaven does not participate is human, and every
act in which heaven participates is divine.
Good must be done at the proper time. It does not take much time to do
good, but it is necessary that your mind, your heart, your will, your soul
and your spirit be fully concentrated, during those moments, upon the good
you do.
There must be no delay in doing good. When you wish to do good, you must
do it at once, without postponement. If you postpone it, the opportunity
is lost.
Do not think, however, that you must do good only when you are well disposed.
Good may be done even when you are in the worst of dispositions. Indisposition
is something that concerns the flesh. It does not concern the spirit of
man.
People think that good is something that is dead. This is not true. Within
the sacred idea which has stimulated you to do good, acts a higher, secret
spirit who will illuminate this deed and will reveal that the life of the
man who serves God is always fulfilled.
The good is the first link in life.
The good is the first bond between people. It is the only material bond
that truly unites people. Moreover, good is the first real bond between
the souls of all people, on earth or in heaven.
You can acquire no knowledge without goodness. Knowledge begins with acquaintance
with good.
A good deed is never forgotten. It is recorded in the Divine book because
it is an act of love and as such it will be remembered in the Divine world
for all time.
Everyone who does good becomes an ideal for others.
Do not think that when you do good, this will deprive you of something.
On the contrary, good will elevate you.
Therefore, never shrink from difficulties when you ought to do good. Be
brave, be decisive, do the good and let that good bring life, light and
freedom to your fellow men.
All of you can do good, because there is good in the hearts of all of you.
Every good you do is a bond that gradually increases in strength.
You must continually form such bonds - not just once.
However, do not forget that man must remain anonymous in doing good as
he tries to remain anonymous in doing evil.
Do not hasten to become good. Good is an indispensable condition for the
perfection of man, but man does not become good in one day. If he aspires
towards perfection, however, good will help him.
To be perfect, you must be strong in the good.
The only thing that distinguishes a man is the good that lives within him.
Good is a way to find Divine Love.