1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:05,719 Speaker 1: Seeing no evil. The solid, solid universe is pervious to 2 00:00:05,839 --> 00:00:10,839 love with bandaged eyes, he never errs around below above 3 00:00:11,679 --> 00:00:16,480 his blinding light. His flingeth white on God's and Satan's brood, 4 00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:22,960 and reconciles by mystic wiles the evil and the good. Emerson. 5 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:28,719 If thou thinkest evil, be thou sure thine acte will 6 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:32,119 bear the shadow of the stain. And if thy thought 7 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:36,479 be perfect, then thy deed will be as of the perfect, 8 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:43,640 true and pure. After Confucius, after much practice and forgiveness, 9 00:00:44,079 --> 00:00:47,079 and having cultivated the spirit of forgiveness up to a 10 00:00:47,079 --> 00:00:50,880 certain point, knowledge of the actual nature of good and evil, 11 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:54,399 dawns upon the mind, and a man begins to understand 12 00:00:54,479 --> 00:00:57,560 how thoughts and motives are formed in the human heart, 13 00:00:58,079 --> 00:01:00,799 how they develop, and how they take birth in the 14 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:04,200 form of actions. This marks the opening of a new 15 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:08,040 vision in the mind, the commencement of a nobler, higher, 16 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:12,120 diviner life, for the man now begins to perceive that 17 00:01:12,159 --> 00:01:15,319 there is no necessity to resist or resent the actions 18 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:19,319 of others towards him, whatever those actions may be, and 19 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:22,159 that all along his resentment has been caused by his 20 00:01:22,239 --> 00:01:26,120 own ignorance, and that his own bitterness of spirit is wrong. 21 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:30,280 Having arrived thus far, he will take himself with some 22 00:01:30,439 --> 00:01:36,920 questionings as these, Why this continual retaliation and forgiveness? Why 23 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:40,719 this tormenting anger against another? And then this repentance and 24 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:44,959 forgiveness is not forgiveness the taking back of one's anger, 25 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:48,439 the giving up of one's resentment. And if anger and 26 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:51,799 resentment are good and necessary, why repent of them and 27 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:55,719 give them up? If it is so beautiful, so sweet, 28 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:59,480 so peaceful, to get rid of all feelings of bitterness 29 00:01:59,719 --> 00:02:03,439 and utterly and wholly forgive, would it not still be 30 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:06,920 more beautiful and sweet and peaceful, Never to grow bitter 31 00:02:06,959 --> 00:02:10,719 at all, never to no anger, never to resent as 32 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:14,039 evil the action of another, but always to live in 33 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:18,319 the experience of that calm, pure, blissful love which is 34 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:21,719 known when an act of forgiveness is done, an all 35 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:25,759 unruly passion towards another is put away. If another has 36 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:29,280 done me wrong, is not my hatred towards him wrong? 37 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:34,520 And can one wrong right another? Moreover, has he, by 38 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:38,199 his wrong really injured me? Or has he injured himself? 39 00:02:39,159 --> 00:02:41,759 Am I not injured by my own wrong rather than 40 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:46,400 by his? Why then do I grow angry? Why do 41 00:02:46,479 --> 00:02:51,080 I resent retaliate and engage in bitter thoughts. Is it 42 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:54,520 not because my pride is piqued, or my vanity wounded, 43 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:58,560 or my selfishness thwarted? Is it not because my blind 44 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:02,280 animal passions are around and allowed to subdue my better nature? 45 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:06,560 Seeing that I am hurt by another person's attitude towards 46 00:03:06,599 --> 00:03:10,280 me because of my own pride or vanity or ungoverned 47 00:03:10,319 --> 00:03:14,120 and unpurified passions, would it not be better to look to 48 00:03:14,159 --> 00:03:17,240 the wrong in myself rather than the wrong in another, 49 00:03:17,879 --> 00:03:20,840 to get rid of pride and vanity and passion, and 50 00:03:20,879 --> 00:03:25,120 so avoid being hurt at all by such self questionings 51 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:28,719 and their elucidation in the light of mild thoughts in 52 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:34,319 dispassionate conduct, a man gradually overcoming passion and rising out 53 00:03:34,319 --> 00:03:37,479 of the ignorance which gave rise to passion, will at 54 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:40,680 last reach that blessed state in which he will cease 55 00:03:40,719 --> 00:03:43,800 to see evil in others, and will dwell in universal 56 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:47,240 good will and love and peace. Not that he will 57 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:50,479 cease to see ignorance and folly, Not that he will 58 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:54,199 cease to see suffering and sorrow and misery, Not that 59 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:57,039 he will cease to distinguish between acts that are pure 60 00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:01,879 and impure, right and wrong, put away passion and prejudice. 61 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:05,840 He will see these things in full, clear light of knowledge, 62 00:04:06,159 --> 00:04:09,120 and exactly as they are. But he will cease to 63 00:04:09,159 --> 00:04:13,400 see anything, any evil power in another, which can do 64 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:17,759 him injury, which he must violently oppose and strive to crush, 65 00:04:18,319 --> 00:04:22,240 and against which he must guard himself. Having arrived at 66 00:04:22,319 --> 00:04:25,240 right understanding of evil by purging it away from his 67 00:04:25,319 --> 00:04:27,920 own heart, he sees that it is a thing that 68 00:04:27,959 --> 00:04:31,199 does not call for hatred and fear and resentment, but 69 00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:37,560 for consideration, compassion, and love. Shakespeare, through one of his characters, says, 70 00:04:38,199 --> 00:04:42,920 there is no darkness but ignorance. All evil is ignorance 71 00:04:43,519 --> 00:04:46,839 is dense darkness of mind, and the removal of sin 72 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:50,759 from one's mind is coming out of darkness into spiritual light. 73 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:55,160 Evil is the negation of good, just as darkness is 74 00:04:55,199 --> 00:04:58,680 the negation or absence of light. And what is there 75 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:02,720 in a negation to an anger or resentment when night 76 00:05:02,759 --> 00:05:05,839 settles down upon the world, who is so foolish as 77 00:05:05,879 --> 00:05:10,560 to rail at the darkness? The enlightened man likewise does 78 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:14,040 not accuse or condemn the spiritual darkness in men's hearts, 79 00:05:14,399 --> 00:05:17,600 which is manifested in the form of sin, though by 80 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:23,040 gentle reproof he may sometimes point out where the light lies. Now, 81 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:26,000 the ignorance to which I refer as evil, or as 82 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:30,439 the source of evil, is twofold. There is wrongdoing which 83 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:33,480 is committed without any knowledge of good and evil, and 84 00:05:33,519 --> 00:05:38,199 where there is no choice, this is unconscious wrongdoing. Then 85 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:40,839 there is wrongdoing which is done in the knowledge that 86 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:44,399 it ought not to be done. This is conscious wrongdoing. 87 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:50,920 But both unconscious and conscious wrongdoing arise in ignorance, that is, 88 00:05:51,439 --> 00:05:55,720 ignorance of the real nature and painful consequences of the wrongdoing. 89 00:05:56,959 --> 00:05:59,560 Why does a man continue to do certain things which 90 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:02,560 he feels he ought not to do if he knows 91 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:05,720 that what he is doing is wrong? Where lies the ignorance? 92 00:06:07,079 --> 00:06:09,839 He continues to do those things because his knowledge of 93 00:06:09,879 --> 00:06:13,240 them is incomplete. He only knows he ought not to 94 00:06:13,319 --> 00:06:17,399 do them by certain precepts, without any qualms of conscience within. 95 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:21,000 But he does not fully and completely understand what he 96 00:06:21,079 --> 00:06:25,120 is doing. He knows that certain acts bring him immediate pleasure, 97 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:28,920 and so, in spite of the troubled conscience which follows 98 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:32,879 that pleasure, he continues to commit them. He is convinced 99 00:06:32,879 --> 00:06:36,000 that the pleasure is good and desirable and therefore to 100 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:39,360 be enjoyed. He does not know that pleasure and pain 101 00:06:39,399 --> 00:06:42,399 are one, but thinks he can have the one without 102 00:06:42,399 --> 00:06:45,279 the other. He has no knowledge of the law which 103 00:06:45,319 --> 00:06:49,800 governs human actions. He never thinks of associating his sufferings 104 00:06:50,079 --> 00:06:53,319 with his own wrongdoing, but believes they are caused by 105 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:57,399 the wrong doing of others, or are the mysterious dispensations 106 00:06:57,399 --> 00:07:02,600 of providence, and therefore not to be inquired into or understood. 107 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:07,199 He is seeking happiness and does those things which he 108 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:10,639 believes will bring him most enjoyment. But he acts in 109 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:15,560 entire ignorance of the hidden and inevitable consequences which attached 110 00:07:15,639 --> 00:07:18,959 to his actions. Set a man to me once, who 111 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:21,879 was the victim of a bad habit. I know the 112 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:24,399 habit is a bad one, and that it does me 113 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:27,839 more harm than good. And I said, if you know 114 00:07:27,959 --> 00:07:30,319 what you are doing is bad and harmful, why do 115 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:34,000 you continue to do it? And he replied, because it 116 00:07:34,079 --> 00:07:37,800 is pleasant and I like it. This man, of course, 117 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:41,040 did not really know that his habit was bad. He 118 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:43,560 had been told that it was, and he thought he 119 00:07:43,639 --> 00:07:46,720 knew or believed it was, but in reality he thought 120 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:49,319 it was good, and that it was conducive to his 121 00:07:49,399 --> 00:07:53,480 happiness and well being, and therefore he continued to practice it. 122 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:57,680 When a man knows by experience that a thing is bad, 123 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:01,519 and that every time he does it he in his body, mind, 124 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:04,360 or both. When his knowledge of that thing is so 125 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:07,560 complete that he is acquainted with its whole train of 126 00:08:07,639 --> 00:08:11,639 baneful effects, then he cannot only not do it any longer, 127 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:14,879 he cannot even desire to do it, And even the 128 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:19,000 pleasure that was formerly in that thing becomes painful. No 129 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:22,160 man would put a venomous snake in his pocket because 130 00:08:22,199 --> 00:08:25,720 it is prettily colored. He knows that a deadly sting 131 00:08:25,839 --> 00:08:29,600 lurks in those beautiful markings. Nor when a man knows 132 00:08:29,639 --> 00:08:32,799 the unavoidable pain and hurt which lie hidden in wrong 133 00:08:32,879 --> 00:08:37,120 thoughts and actions, does he continue to think and commit them. 134 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:41,639 Even the immediate pleasure which formerly he greedily sought is 135 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:46,120 gone from them, their surface attractiveness has vanished. He is 136 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:50,240 no longer ignorant concerning their true nature. He sees them 137 00:08:50,279 --> 00:08:53,159 as they are. I knew a young man who was 138 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:56,399 in business, and although a member of a church and 139 00:08:56,559 --> 00:09:00,840 occupying the position a voluntary religious instructor. He told me 140 00:09:00,879 --> 00:09:04,080 that it was absolutely necessary to practice lying and deception 141 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:09,200 in business, otherwise sure and certain ruin would follow. He said, 142 00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:12,440 he knew lying was wrong, but while he remained in business, 143 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:16,600 he must continue to do it. Upon questioning him, I found, 144 00:09:16,679 --> 00:09:19,879 of course that he never tried truth and honesty in 145 00:09:19,919 --> 00:09:23,080 his business, had not even thought of trying the better way. 146 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:26,879 So firmly convinced was he that it was not possible 147 00:09:26,919 --> 00:09:30,120 for him to know whether it would be productive or ruin. 148 00:09:31,159 --> 00:09:33,600 Now did this young man know that lying was wrong? 149 00:09:34,399 --> 00:09:37,399 There was a perceptual sense only in which he knew, 150 00:09:37,919 --> 00:09:40,240 but there was a deeper and more real sense in 151 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:43,120 which he did not know. He had been taught to 152 00:09:43,159 --> 00:09:47,279 regard lying as wrong. In his conscience bore out that teaching, 153 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:51,799 but he believed that it brought him profit, prosperity, and happiness, 154 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:55,600 and that honesty would bring him loss, poverty, and misery. 155 00:09:56,240 --> 00:09:59,559 In a word, he regarded lying deep in his heart 156 00:10:00,039 --> 00:10:03,000 as the right thing to do, and honesty as the 157 00:10:03,039 --> 00:10:06,679 wrong practice. He had no knowledge whatever of the real 158 00:10:06,799 --> 00:10:10,000 nature of the act of lyne, how it is on 159 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:13,799 the instant of its committal loss of character, loss of 160 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:19,440 self respect, loss of power, usefulness and influence, and loss 161 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:23,000 of blessedness, and how it unerringly leads to the loss 162 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:28,159 of reputation and loss of material profit and prosperity. Only 163 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:30,960 when such a man begins to consider happiness of others, 164 00:10:31,559 --> 00:10:34,960 prefers to embrace the loss which he fears, rather than 165 00:10:35,039 --> 00:10:38,440 clutch at the gain which he desires, will he obtain 166 00:10:38,519 --> 00:10:42,600 that real knowledge which lofty moral conduct alone can reveal. 167 00:10:43,279 --> 00:10:48,039 And then, experiencing the greater blessedness, he will see how 168 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:52,039 all along he has been deceiving and defrauding himself rather 169 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:56,679 than others, has been living in darkest ignorance and self delusion. 170 00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:01,720 These two common instances of wrongdoing will serve to illustrate 171 00:11:01,799 --> 00:11:05,200 and make plainer to those of my readers, who, while 172 00:11:05,279 --> 00:11:09,799 searching for truth, are as yet doubtful, uncertain, and confused. 173 00:11:10,519 --> 00:11:13,919 The deep truth that all sin or evil is a 174 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:17,440 condition of ignorance, and therefore to be dealt with in 175 00:11:17,519 --> 00:11:20,720 a loving and not a hateful spirit. And as with 176 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:29,000 bad habits and lying, so with all sin, with lust, hatred, malice, envy, pride, vanity, 177 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:34,120 self indulgence, and selfishness in all its forms. It is 178 00:11:34,159 --> 00:11:37,480 a state of spiritual darkness, the absence of the light 179 00:11:37,559 --> 00:11:41,960 of truth in the heart, the negation of knowledge. Thus, 180 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:45,840 when by overcoming the wrong condition in one's heart, the 181 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:49,799 nature of evil is fully realized, and near belief gives 182 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:53,679 place to living knowledge. Evil can no longer be hatefully 183 00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:57,679 condoned and violently resisted, and the wrong doer is thought 184 00:11:57,679 --> 00:12:01,519 of with tender compassion. And this brings us to another 185 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:06,759 aspect of evil, namely that of individual freedom, the right 186 00:12:06,840 --> 00:12:10,759 of every person to choose his own actions. Along with 187 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:13,840 the seeing of evil and others, is the desire to 188 00:12:13,919 --> 00:12:17,639 convert or coerce others into one's own ways of thinking 189 00:12:17,679 --> 00:12:21,759 and acting. Probably the commonest delusion in which men are 190 00:12:21,799 --> 00:12:26,200 involved is that of thinking that what they themselves believe in, think, 191 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:30,159 and do is good, and all that is otherwise is evil, 192 00:12:30,799 --> 00:12:34,840 and therefore to be powerfully condemned and resisted. It is 193 00:12:34,879 --> 00:12:39,039 out of this delusion that all persecution springs. There are 194 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:43,639 Christians who regard all atheists as men wholly evil, as 195 00:12:43,679 --> 00:12:46,759 given up to the service of an evil power. And 196 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:50,279 there are atheists who firmly believe that all Christians are 197 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:53,320 doing the greatest harm to the whole human race by 198 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:58,159 their superstitious and false doctrines. The truth is that neither 199 00:12:58,200 --> 00:13:01,240 the Christian nor the atheist is ease evil, nor in 200 00:13:01,279 --> 00:13:04,480 the service of evil, but each is choosing his own 201 00:13:04,519 --> 00:13:07,919 way and is pursuing that course which he is convinced 202 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:12,320 is right. Let a man quietly contemplate the fact that 203 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:16,200 numbers of followers of various religions the world over are 204 00:13:16,879 --> 00:13:20,440 as they ever were, engaged in condemning each other as 205 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:24,000 evil and wrong, and regarding themselves as good and right, 206 00:13:24,639 --> 00:13:27,159 and it will help him to realize how all evil 207 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:32,200 is merely ignorance spiritual darkness, and earnest meditation on that 208 00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:34,799 fact will be found to be one of the greatest 209 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:40,360 aids in developing greater kindness, charity, insight, and breath of mind. 210 00:13:41,519 --> 00:13:44,240 The truly wise and good man sees good in all 211 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:48,120 evil in none. He has abandoned the folly of wanting 212 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:50,840 others to think and act as he thinks and acts, 213 00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:55,600 for he sees men are variously constituted, are at different 214 00:13:55,600 --> 00:14:00,279 points in their spiritual evolution, and must, of necessity think 215 00:14:00,279 --> 00:14:06,919 and act differently. Having put away hatred, condemnation, egotism, and prejudice, 216 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:15,399 he has become enlightened, and he sees that purity, love, compassion, gentleness, patience, humility, 217 00:14:15,639 --> 00:14:20,440 and unselfishness are manifestations of light and knowledge, while in 218 00:14:20,559 --> 00:14:27,200 purity hatred, cruelty, passion, darkness and ignorance, and that whether 219 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:30,679 men are living in light or darkness, they are one 220 00:14:30,840 --> 00:14:34,360 in all doing that which they think is necessary, are 221 00:14:34,399 --> 00:14:37,679 acting in accordance with their own measure of light or darkness. 222 00:14:38,519 --> 00:14:43,279 The wise man understands, and understanding he ceases from all 223 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:47,960 bitterness and accusation. Every man acts in accordance with his nature, 224 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:51,360 with his own sense of right and wrong, and is 225 00:14:51,399 --> 00:14:55,360 surely gathering in the results of his own experience. There 226 00:14:55,399 --> 00:14:59,440 is one supreme right which every being possesses to think 227 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:02,879 and acting as he chooses. If he chooses to think 228 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:07,320 and act selfishly, thinking of his own immediate happiness only, 229 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:10,759 and not that of others, then he will rapidly bring 230 00:15:10,879 --> 00:15:14,039 upon himself, by the action of the moral law of 231 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:18,120 cause and effect, such afflictions as will cause him to 232 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:22,360 pause and consider, and so find a better way. There 233 00:15:22,440 --> 00:15:26,840 is no teacher to compare with experience, no chastisement so 234 00:15:27,039 --> 00:15:31,840 corrective and purifying as that which men ignorantly inflict upon themselves. 235 00:15:32,879 --> 00:15:36,240 The selfish man is the ignorant man. He chooses his 236 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:39,639 own way, but it is a way which leads to suffering, 237 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:44,559 and through suffering to knowledge and bliss. The good man 238 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:48,120 is the wise man. He likewise chooses his own way, 239 00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:51,279 but he chooses it in the full light of knowledge, 240 00:15:51,679 --> 00:15:55,080 having passed through the stages of ignorance and suffering and 241 00:15:55,240 --> 00:15:59,120 arrived at knowledge and bliss. A man begins to understand 242 00:15:59,159 --> 00:16:02,960 what seeing no evil is when putting away all personal 243 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:07,000 desires in his judgments of others, so considers them from 244 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:10,639 his own standpoint, and judges their actions not from his 245 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:14,759 own standard, but from theirs. It is because men set 246 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:18,360 up arbitrary standards of right and wrong, and are anxious 247 00:16:18,399 --> 00:16:21,720 that all should conform to their particular standard, that they 248 00:16:21,759 --> 00:16:25,039 see evil in each other. A man is only rightly 249 00:16:25,159 --> 00:16:28,799 judged when he is not judged from my standard or yours, 250 00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:31,919 but from his own. And to deal with him thus 251 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:35,480 is not judgment, but it is love. It is only 252 00:16:35,519 --> 00:16:38,080 when we look through the eyes of the impersonal love 253 00:16:38,519 --> 00:16:42,000 that we become enlightened and see others as they really are. 254 00:16:42,519 --> 00:16:45,000 And a man is approaching that love when he can 255 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:47,799 say in his heart, who am I that I should 256 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:51,600 judge another? Am I so pure and sinless that I 257 00:16:51,759 --> 00:16:55,879 arraign men and pass the judgment of evil upon them? Rather, 258 00:16:56,000 --> 00:17:00,000 let me humble myself and correct my own errors before 259 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:03,440 or assuming the position of supreme judge of those other men. 260 00:17:04,519 --> 00:17:07,319 It was said by one of old to those who 261 00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:10,960 were about to stone as evil a woman taken in 262 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:14,559 the act of committing one of the darkest sins, he 263 00:17:14,680 --> 00:17:18,440 that is without sin, let him cast the first stone. 264 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:22,440 And though he who said it was without sin, yet 265 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:26,119 he took up no stone, nor passed any bitter judgment, 266 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:31,119 but said, with infinite gentleness and compassion, neither do I 267 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:35,960 condemn thee go and sin no more. In the pure 268 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:39,440 heart there is no room left where personal judgments and 269 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:43,359 hatreds can find lodgment, for it is filled to overflowing 270 00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:47,519 with tenderness and love. It sees no evil. And only 271 00:17:47,599 --> 00:17:50,920 as men succeed in seeing no evil in others will 272 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:55,200 they become free from sin and sorrow and suffering. No 273 00:17:55,359 --> 00:17:59,559 man sees evil in himself or his own acts, except 274 00:17:59,559 --> 00:18:03,119 the man who is becoming enlightened, and then he abandons 275 00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:05,839 those acts which he has come to see are wrong. 276 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:11,480 Every man justifies himself in what he does, and however 277 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:15,480 evil others may regard his conduct, he himself thinks it 278 00:18:15,519 --> 00:18:18,480 to be good and necessary. If he did not, he 279 00:18:18,519 --> 00:18:21,920 would not and could not do it. The angry man 280 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:26,759 always justifies his anger, the covechuous man his greed, the 281 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:31,400 impure man his unchastity. The liar considers that his lying 282 00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:36,720 is altogether necessary. The slanderer believes that in vilifying the 283 00:18:36,799 --> 00:18:40,480 characters of those whom he dislikes and warning other people 284 00:18:40,519 --> 00:18:44,920 against their evil natures, he is doing well. The thief 285 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:48,160 is convinced that stealing is the shortest and best way 286 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:52,640 to plenty, prosperity, and happiness. And even the murderer thinks 287 00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:56,759 there is a ground of justification for his deed. Every 288 00:18:56,799 --> 00:18:59,160 man's deeds are in accordance with the measure of his 289 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:02,480 own light or darkness, and no man can live higher 290 00:19:02,519 --> 00:19:07,599 than he is or act beyond the limits of his knowledge. Nevertheless, 291 00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:11,960 he can improve himself and thereby gradually increase his light 292 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:15,680 and extend the range of his knowledge. The angry man 293 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:19,279 indulges in abuse because his knowledge does not extend to 294 00:19:19,359 --> 00:19:24,279 forbearance and patience not having practiced gentleness, he does not 295 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:28,039 understand it and cannot choose it, nor can he know 296 00:19:28,599 --> 00:19:32,160 by its comparison with the light of gentleness the darkness 297 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:35,960 of anger. It is the same with the lire, the slanderer, 298 00:19:36,119 --> 00:19:39,079 and the thief. He lives in this dark condition of 299 00:19:39,119 --> 00:19:42,079 mind and action because he is limited to it by 300 00:19:42,119 --> 00:19:46,319 his own immature knowledge and experience, because never having lived 301 00:19:46,319 --> 00:19:49,359 in the higher conditions, he has no knowledge of them, 302 00:19:49,799 --> 00:19:52,839 and it is to him as if they were non existent. 303 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:58,039 The light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth 304 00:19:58,119 --> 00:20:02,319 it not, nor can he understand even the conditions in 305 00:20:02,359 --> 00:20:06,480 which he is living, because being dark, they are necessarily 306 00:20:06,559 --> 00:20:10,160 devoid of all knowledge. When a man is driven by 307 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:14,400 repeated sufferings to at last reflect upon his conduct and 308 00:20:14,519 --> 00:20:17,559 comes to see that his anger are lying, or whatever 309 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:21,079 ignorant condition he may have been living in is productive 310 00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:25,000 only of trouble and sorrow, he then abandons it and 311 00:20:25,039 --> 00:20:29,680 commences to search for and practice the opposite and enlightened condition. 312 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:33,079 And when he is firmly established in the better way, 313 00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:37,039 so that his knowledge of both conditions is complete, then 314 00:20:37,079 --> 00:20:40,960 he realizes in what great darkness he has formerly lived. 315 00:20:41,839 --> 00:20:46,279 This knowledge of good and evil by experience constitutes enlightenment. 316 00:20:46,759 --> 00:20:49,839 When a man begins to look, as it were, through 317 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:52,720 the eyes of others, and to measure them by their 318 00:20:52,759 --> 00:20:56,359 own standard and not by his, then he ceases from 319 00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:59,519 seeing of evil in others, for he knows that every 320 00:20:59,559 --> 00:21:02,559 man's price and standard of good and evil is different. 321 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:05,799 That there is no vice so low but some men 322 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:09,519 regarded as good, no virtue so high, but some men 323 00:21:09,599 --> 00:21:12,799 regarded as evil. And what a man regards as good, 324 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:16,039 that to him is good, what he regards as evil, 325 00:21:16,119 --> 00:21:19,920 that to him is evil. Nor will the purified man 326 00:21:20,279 --> 00:21:23,160 who has ceased to see evil in others have any 327 00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:26,279 desire to win men to his own ways or opinions, 328 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:29,359 but will rather help them in their own particular groove. 329 00:21:30,039 --> 00:21:34,160 Knowing that an enlarged experience only and not merely change 330 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:38,799 of opinion, can lead to higher knowledge and greater blessedness. 331 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:41,559 It will be found that men see evil in those 332 00:21:41,599 --> 00:21:44,680 who differ from them, good in those who agree with them. 333 00:21:45,519 --> 00:21:48,559 The man who greatly loves himself and is enamored of 334 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:51,759 his opinions will love all those who agree with him, 335 00:21:52,039 --> 00:21:55,759 and will dislike all those who disagree with him. If 336 00:21:55,839 --> 00:21:59,839 ye love them that ye love ye, what reward have 337 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:04,119 ye love your enemies? Do good to them that hate you. 338 00:22:05,279 --> 00:22:09,880 Egotism and vanity make men blind. Men of opposing religious 339 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:13,880 views hate and persecute each other, Men of opposing political 340 00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:17,880 views fight and condemn each other. The partisan measures all 341 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:22,039 men by his own standard and sets up his judgments accordingly. 342 00:22:23,039 --> 00:22:26,039 So convinced is he that he is right and others wrong, 343 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:29,839 that he at last persuades himself that to inflict cruelty 344 00:22:29,839 --> 00:22:33,440 on others is both good and necessary, in order to 345 00:22:33,519 --> 00:22:36,480 coerce them into his way of thinking and acting, and 346 00:22:36,519 --> 00:22:40,160 so bring them to the right, his right, against their 347 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:45,559 own reason and will. Men hate, condemn, resist, and inflict 348 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:49,319 suffering upon each other, not because they are intrinsically evil, 349 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:53,079 not because they are deliberately wicked and are doing, in 350 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:55,799 the full light of truth what they know to be wrong, 351 00:22:56,440 --> 00:22:59,640 but because they regard such conduct as necessary and right. 352 00:23:00,759 --> 00:23:04,559 Old men are intrinsically good, but some are wiser than others, 353 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:09,240 are older in experience than others. I recently heard, in 354 00:23:09,359 --> 00:23:13,599 substance the following conversation between two men whom I will 355 00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:17,119 call D and E. The third person referred to as 356 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:22,680 ex as a prominent politician. E. Every man reaps the 357 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:25,799 result of his own thoughts and deeds, and suffers for 358 00:23:25,839 --> 00:23:30,519 his own wrong D. If that is so, and if 359 00:23:30,519 --> 00:23:33,400 no man can escape from the penalty of his evil deeds, 360 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:36,359 what an inferno some of our men in power must 361 00:23:36,359 --> 00:23:41,680 be preparing for themselves. E. Whether a man is in 362 00:23:41,759 --> 00:23:44,839 power or not, so long as he lives in ignorance 363 00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:50,079 and sin, he will reap sorrow in suffering. D. Look 364 00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:54,640 for instance at X, a man totally evil, given up 365 00:23:54,799 --> 00:23:59,319 entirely to selfishness and ambition. Surely great torments are reserved 366 00:23:59,319 --> 00:24:03,880 for such an other principled man. E. But how do 367 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:08,680 you know he is so evil? D by his works 368 00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:11,680 his fruits. When I see a man doing evil, I 369 00:24:11,759 --> 00:24:14,319 know that he is evil, and I cannot even think 370 00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:18,079 of X. But I burn with righteous indignation. I am 371 00:24:18,119 --> 00:24:21,240 sometimes inclined to doubt that there is an overruling power 372 00:24:21,279 --> 00:24:23,480 for good. When I see such a man in a 373 00:24:23,519 --> 00:24:27,839 position where he can do so much harm to others, E, 374 00:24:28,599 --> 00:24:33,839 what evil is he committing? D? His whole policy is evil. 375 00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:38,119 He will ruin the country if he remains in power. E. 376 00:24:39,319 --> 00:24:41,599 But while there are large numbers of people who think 377 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:45,079 of X as you do. There are also large numbers, 378 00:24:45,279 --> 00:24:48,480 equally intelligent, who look on him as good and able, 379 00:24:48,799 --> 00:24:52,160 who admire him for his excellent qualities, and regard his 380 00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:56,759 policy as beneficent and making for national progress. He owes 381 00:24:56,839 --> 00:25:01,599 his position to these people. Are they all so evil? D? 382 00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:06,640 They are deceived and misled? And this only makes Xes 383 00:25:06,759 --> 00:25:10,000 evil all the greater, and that he can so successfully 384 00:25:10,039 --> 00:25:13,359 employ his talents in deceiving others in order to gain 385 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:19,400 his own selfish ends. I hate this man. E. May 386 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:24,440 it not be possible that you are deceived? D? In 387 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:30,799 what way? E? Hatred is self deception, love is self enlightenment. 388 00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:35,039 No man can see either himself or others clearly until 389 00:25:35,079 --> 00:25:40,839 he ceases from hatred and practices love. D. That sounds 390 00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:44,000 very beautiful, but it is impractical. When I see a 391 00:25:44,039 --> 00:25:47,480 man doing evil to others and deceiving and misleading them, 392 00:25:47,759 --> 00:25:50,400 I must hate him. It is right, and I should 393 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:55,039 do so. X is without a spark of conscience. E. 394 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,160 X may or may not be all you believe to be. 395 00:25:59,759 --> 00:26:02,799 But even if he is, according to your own words, 396 00:26:03,279 --> 00:26:08,079 should he be pitied and not condemned? D? How so 397 00:26:09,799 --> 00:26:15,480 E you say he is without a conscience D entirely 398 00:26:15,599 --> 00:26:20,559 so E, then he is a mental cripple. Do you 399 00:26:20,599 --> 00:26:23,960 hate the blind because they cannot see that, dumb because 400 00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:26,559 they cannot speak, or the deaf because they cannot hear? 401 00:26:27,279 --> 00:26:30,160 When a captain has lost his rudder or broken his compass, 402 00:26:30,519 --> 00:26:32,640 do you condemn him because he did not keep his 403 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:35,720 ship off the rocks? Do you hold him responsible for 404 00:26:35,799 --> 00:26:39,000 the loss of life? If a man is totally devoid 405 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:42,079 of conscience, he is without the means of moral guidance, 406 00:26:42,519 --> 00:26:46,799 and all his selfishness must perforce appear to him good 407 00:26:46,839 --> 00:26:50,200 and right and proper. X may appear evil to you, 408 00:26:50,839 --> 00:26:53,799 But is he evil to himself? Does he regard his 409 00:26:53,839 --> 00:26:58,920 own conduct as evil? D? Whether he regards himself as 410 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:03,640 evil or not, he is evil. E. If I were 411 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:06,440 to regard you as evil because of your hatred for X, 412 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:14,559 should I be right? D? No? E? Why not D? 413 00:27:15,839 --> 00:27:20,039 Because in such a case hatred is necessary, justifiable and righteous. 414 00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:25,079 There is such a thing as righteous anger, righteous hatred. E. 415 00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:29,559 Is there such a thing as righteous selfishness, righteous ambition? 416 00:27:30,119 --> 00:27:33,799 Righteous evil? I should be quite wrong in regarding you 417 00:27:33,839 --> 00:27:36,839 as evil because you are doing what you are convinced 418 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:39,960 is right, because you regard your hatred for X as 419 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:43,519 part of your duty as a man and citizen. Nevertheless, 420 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:46,640 there is a better way than that of hatred. And 421 00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:49,000 it is the knowledge of this better way that prevents 422 00:27:49,079 --> 00:27:52,519 me from hating X as you do, Because however wrong 423 00:27:52,559 --> 00:27:55,400 his conduct might appear to me, it is not wrong 424 00:27:55,440 --> 00:28:00,400 to him nor to his supporters. Moreover, all men, as 425 00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:06,839 they sow D. What then, is that better way? E? 426 00:28:07,519 --> 00:28:10,240 It is the way of love, the ceasing to regard 427 00:28:10,319 --> 00:28:13,559 others as evil. It is a blessed and peaceful state 428 00:28:13,559 --> 00:28:17,759 of heart. D. Do you mean that there is a 429 00:28:17,799 --> 00:28:20,200 state which a man can reach wherein he will grow 430 00:28:20,279 --> 00:28:25,400 angry when he sees people doing evil? E? No, I 431 00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:28,279 do not mean that, For while a man regards others 432 00:28:28,279 --> 00:28:31,000 as evil, he will continue to grow angry with them. 433 00:28:31,519 --> 00:28:33,440 But I mean that a man can reach a state 434 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:37,319 of calm, insight and spotless love, wherein he sees no 435 00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:41,400 evil to grow angry with, wherein he understands the various 436 00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:44,680 natures of men, how they are prompted to act, and 437 00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:47,680 how they reap as the harvest of their own thoughts 438 00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:52,079 and deeds, the terrors of sufferings and the corn of bliss. 439 00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:55,359 To reach that state is to regard all men with 440 00:28:55,440 --> 00:29:00,839 compassion and love. D. The state that you picture is 441 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:03,759 a very high one. It is, no doubt a very 442 00:29:03,799 --> 00:29:06,680 holy and beautiful one. But it is a state that 443 00:29:06,799 --> 00:29:09,480 I should be sorry to reach, and I should pray 444 00:29:09,559 --> 00:29:12,039 to be preserved from a state of mind where I 445 00:29:12,079 --> 00:29:16,319 could not hate a man like X with an intense hatred. Thus, 446 00:29:16,359 --> 00:29:19,799 by this conversation it will be seen that D regarded 447 00:29:19,839 --> 00:29:23,440 his hatred as good. Even so, all men regard that 448 00:29:23,599 --> 00:29:26,960 which they do as necessary to be done. The things 449 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:30,440 which men habitually practice are those things that they believe in. 450 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:34,559 When faith in a thing holy ceases, it ceases to 451 00:29:34,599 --> 00:29:39,039 be practiced. D's individual liberty is equal to that of 452 00:29:39,079 --> 00:29:41,680 other men, and he has a right to hate another 453 00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:45,119 if he so wishes. Nor will he abandon his hatred 454 00:29:45,559 --> 00:29:49,680 until he discovers, by the sorrow and unrest which it entails, 455 00:29:50,079 --> 00:29:53,039 how wrong and foolish and blind it is, and how 456 00:29:53,039 --> 00:29:58,039 by its practice he is injuring himself. A great teacher 457 00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:00,839 was once asked by one of his diciples pupils to 458 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:04,640 explain the distinction between good and evil, and holding his 459 00:30:04,759 --> 00:30:08,359 hand with his fingers pointing downward. He said, where is 460 00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:13,160 my hand pointing? And the disciple replied, it is pointing downward. 461 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:18,079 Then turning his hand upward, the teacher asked, where is 462 00:30:18,119 --> 00:30:24,400 my hand pointing? And the disciple answered, it is pointing upward. That, 463 00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:28,240 said the teacher, is the distinction between evil and good. 464 00:30:29,759 --> 00:30:33,759 By this simple illustration, he indicated that evil is merely 465 00:30:34,039 --> 00:30:39,279 wrongly directed energy, and good rightly directed energy. And the 466 00:30:39,279 --> 00:30:42,839 so called evil man becomes good by reversing his conduct. 467 00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:47,200 To understand the true nature of evil, by living in 468 00:30:47,279 --> 00:30:50,519 the good, is to cease to see other men as evil. 469 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:54,400 Blessed is he who, turning from the evil in others, 470 00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:58,160 exerts himself in the purification of his own heart. He 471 00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:01,640 shall one day become of two pure to behold evil. 472 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:06,359 Knowing the nature of evil, what does it behoove a 473 00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:09,640 man to do? It behooves him to live only in 474 00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:12,880 that which is good. Therefore, if a man condemned me, 475 00:31:13,119 --> 00:31:16,480 I will not condemn him in return. If he revile me, 476 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:19,640 I will give him kindness. If he slander me, I 477 00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:22,640 will speak of his good qualities. If he hate me, 478 00:31:22,759 --> 00:31:27,759 then he greatly needs and shall receive my love with 479 00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:31,119 the impatient. I will be patient with the greedy, I 480 00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:34,799 will be generous, and with the violent and quarrelsome, I 481 00:31:34,839 --> 00:31:39,519 will be mild and peaceable, Seeing no evil. Whom should 482 00:31:39,559 --> 00:31:42,400 I hate or who should I regard as my enemy? 483 00:31:43,359 --> 00:31:47,279 Were mankind, murderous or jealous upon you, my brother, my sister, 484 00:31:48,119 --> 00:31:51,359 I'm so sorry for you. They are not murderous or 485 00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:55,240 jealous upon me. All has been gentle with me. I 486 00:31:55,359 --> 00:31:58,960 keep no account with lamentation. What have I to do 487 00:31:59,039 --> 00:32:03,480 with lamentation? He who sees men as evil imagines that 488 00:32:03,559 --> 00:32:06,680 behind those acts which are called wicked, there is a 489 00:32:06,720 --> 00:32:11,519 corporate and substantial evil prompting those particular sins. But he 490 00:32:11,599 --> 00:32:15,799 is stainless vision sees the deeds themselves as evil, and 491 00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:19,079 knows that there is no evil power, no evil soul 492 00:32:19,279 --> 00:32:23,000 or man behind those deeds. The substance of the universe 493 00:32:23,119 --> 00:32:27,160 is good. There is no substance of evil. Good alone 494 00:32:27,279 --> 00:32:31,720 is permanent. There is no fixed or permanent evil. As 495 00:32:31,759 --> 00:32:35,000 brothers and sisters born of the same parents and being 496 00:32:35,039 --> 00:32:39,440 of one household, love each other through all vicissitudes, see 497 00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:43,000 no evil in each other, but overlook all errors and 498 00:32:43,079 --> 00:32:46,640 cling together in the strong bonds of affection. Even so, 499 00:32:47,319 --> 00:32:51,640 the good Man sees humanity as one spiritual family, born 500 00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:54,559 of the same father and mother, being of the same 501 00:32:54,759 --> 00:32:58,200 essence and making for the same goal. And he regards 502 00:32:58,279 --> 00:33:01,559 all men and women as his brother's dead sisters, makes 503 00:33:01,599 --> 00:33:05,839 no divisions and distinctions, seese none is evil, but is 504 00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:09,759 at peace withal. Happy is he who attains to this 505 00:33:09,960 --> 00:33:10,680 blessed state.