Good and evil, is there a line that divides the two?  Are they really opposites, or have we, in our attempts to categorize and simplify things, overlooked a deeper truth?

We humans create language, made up of symbols, sounds, and words, in order to connect, communicate, and express.  Words can be limiting, as well as liberating.  We think words are set, solid; they are not. The emotion attached to a word can change its meaning.  Context can change the meaning of a word.  We make up new words when the old ones are not adequate to express what we desire to communicate.  We sometimes even box ourselves in and cause ourselves to suffer because of our stuck ways of thinking about things, which begins with words.  Perhaps we need to expand our vocabulary.

I don't believe everything I read, but I consider what I read.  Some writings I need to deeply consider to understand.  David R. Hawkins writings require that and more; I also must suspend preconceived notions.  I am reading a piece of his called Transcending Duality:The Polarity of the 'Opposites', form his book called I, Reality and Subjectivity.  I am going to quote a couple of his sentences because they "blow my mind".  Under the heading of "The Paradox of 'Good' versus 'Evil' he writes "To transcend the great classic seeming opposites of good and evil, it is beneficial to appreciate that all seeming opposites are the illusory consequences of collective labeling from an arbitrary point along a scale that includes only one variable, not two."  In the same passage, he also writes, "If we examine much of what the world traditionally calls evil, what we discover is not evil, which is an abstraction, epithet, and label; instead, we see behaviors that could be described as primitive, infantile, egotistical, narcissistic, selfish, and ignorant, complicated by the psychological mechanisms of denial, projection, and paranoia in order to justify hatred.'

Wow!  That opened some new pathway in my brain, and connected it up to some pretty liberating information already in there.  When I read that, what came to mind was a few teachings Jesus shared with his disciples.  Teachings that happen to be in my favorite book of the bible, Matthew.  Chapters 5-7 are packed with great practical information that can be applied to daily life; living, not just hearing, these truths make us free.  If I really grasp that it is not this against that, but steps along the way to becoming more loving, more like Christ, then I will find Jesus' admonition to "Judge not" much easier to practice.  Jesus uses the terms 'good' and evil' in this way,"A good tree can not bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit."  If you want to read the context, it is Matthew 7:15-20.  My eyes were opened regarding this passage while listening to a teaching by Neil Douglas-Klotz, an Aramaic scholar.  In Aramaic, the words here translated as 'good' and 'evil' actually mean ripe and unripe.  Ripe and unripe make much more sense, and fit with what Hawkins is saying about good and evil not being opposites, but a variable along a continuum.

We need a way to rise above our intolerance and ignorance.  If we actually lived the simple truths Jesus and other great spiritual teachers have shared, the result could shatter what we have come to think of as reality.  I think change begins with the words we think and speak to ourselves and others.  What do I want to create with my words?  Am I really ready to be responsible for what I emote?  I am.  And... I intend to keep in mind it's a journey.