Facing Evil along the Way

Brother, take not one step in the descent to hell. For having taken one, you will not recognize the rest for what they are. And they will follow,

(A Course in Miracles)

When a hurricane sweeps the country and homes get destroyed and people die in the process, is this event evil? If a lion hunts down a gazelle and eats it, is it evil? What if a cat plays with a mouse for a few minutes before it eats it; is that evil?

When the thunder roared a few thousand years ago, the Northern Europeans felt that Thor was swinging a hammer. To that day, some devoted Hindus only roll their eyes when catastrophe strikes, "Oh, Kali Maa has Her way", they would say. Natural disasters may just be the accumulated karmic debt that has to be released from time to time. So even these disasters could be viewed are nothing but a releasing thunderstorm. Viewed from that perspective, are they really evil?

The word "evil" may only make sense on a human scale. A lot of our actions are subconscious; they happen because we have been programmed by ourselves and others to do it. Does that constitute as evil? Probably we should reserve this expression only for truly conscious steps away from the light. Perhaps it even takes some spiritual maturity to reach that stage; I honestly don't know. But as you do, you will feel a dark cloud descending on you, just as the Course in Miracles stated. 

I have written often about shadow work just because I feel that it is under-appreciated in our spiritual community. If you strive for the light, your shadow naturally pops up; that's the yin and yang of spirituality. I know this distinction is subtle, but shadow work shouldn't involve taking deliberate steps away from the light. It is more the awareness that you are in the process of missing a beat along the Way with the intention to pick up the broken China on the floor the next morning. Shadow work is the state of being conscious of the battle of spiritual super ego and soul desires. If in contrast you take deliberate steps away from the light, you may need others to lift you out of the hole again.

I would conjecture that eventually we all get a bit tired of all the climbing spiritual stairs and light working. There comes a time when we even can grasp the darkness and thunderstorms without judgment and without getting involved. As we stop moving towards the light, the shadow stops in its tracks as well. We let the Tao of darkness and light do Her thing and are happy either way. By stopping to aspire to be beyond the world we operate in we in fact transcend good and evil.