Transient human wickedness

For the Doctrine of the Spirits, evil is man’s creation and its existence is only temporary, transient, since it is
part of learning.

(Part 2 and final)* 

"And the passions today are almost the same as yesterday, only more incite, violent and devastating in humans, which continues restless."
Joanna de Angelis

when they are babies and the group who do so with older children. At the end was concluded, "The ones that adopted older children were more mature, emotionally stable and more altruistic than the conventional adopters."

To feel is to cause

Seeking the equivalence of the concept of abnegation and altruism, we can infer that those who devote to the neighbour, forgetful of themselves, have as a directly result, greater maturity and emotional stability (in summary, feelings of fullness, peace so desired by all). To abnegate, in the specific case of late adoption, that is, children who are 2 years old or more, is breaking with the conventions, take the sacrifice of adaptation and give themselves in a higher elevation of love for the child to integrate the new family.

We can paraphrase Martin Claret and say that to feel is to cause. That is, those who intend to use elevated feelings; those oriented to the welfare of the neighbour, they change their own lives. To cause changes in the field of manifestations of emotions, acquiring what is often called psychological balance or centring (“That person is centred and balanced”).

On the other hand, low feelings, loaded of attachment to ego, also cause and promote changes in our lives - personal and collective.

Ethnic and discrimination, which has caused so many problems in the world, is an example of this. The results, in most cases are tragedies, personal, group or collective (the extermination of Jews, already cited, the persecution of Gypsies in Eastern Europe, the subtle discrimination of black Brazilian and other unfortunate examples.)

Fighting evil

Because we do not know how to produce, attitudes and actions in our thoughts, the good in its plenitude, we are surrounded by the remains and waste of our passions that we should get rid of, as proposed earlier in this text. It is not simple, however, to get rid of the evil we produce. Evil that is born in us pervades in us and temporarily becomes part of our personality.

To achieve this aim we must guard the sources of our own heart as alert sentinels, after all it is the place where evil comes from, as Jesus taught us, when He launched a question that continues current: “ How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. "(Matthew 12:34)

Paul of Tarsus in his letter to Romans (7:19) comments on the battle that we should fight to combat evil in ourselves, in the famous phrase: “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing”.

Continuing on this line of argument can lead us to think that the evil that we are talking about is something awful, terrible, odious - and we could cite here certain manifestations of evil that really have such a face. Someone might say to themselves: "Well, fortunately from this kind of evil I am free..." Well, the evil, however, that we are analysing, is not restricted to its most grotesque and tragic manifestations. And that is why this is so present in us. The evil of which Paul talks about in his epistles is unremarkable evil that lives in us and is powered by ourselves. And that, to some extent, gives us pleasure. Hence our difficult in freeing ourselves from it...

Retaking the issue of abuse of instincts, we have a very common evil nowadays that nobody dislikes in principle: eating excess. The instinct of conservation is present in this. Nature established for some functions of this instinct, the sensations of pleasure, well being, repletion, as a way of adjusting it. And when we extrapolate instincts, abusing of them, we attached ourselves to sensations and we literally get addicted to the habit of eating too much, not anymore for our feeding, but to obtain pleasure, crude or sophisticated, of this act. We must also add that we can exaggerate and being comfortably supported in a thousand dissimulations, disguise, excuse, readily accepted by others, because we are complacent with the deviations of others, as our own.

The bad habits of every day tend sometimes to perpetuate themselves in our lives for various reasons, among others, the social approval of them. Living in a society that is still strongly materialistic and hedonistic, it's not surprising that we are impelled to accept as natural all attractions to matter and all pleasures that it provides.

A fight without truce and without quarter against the evil that still exists in us requires not only knowledge, but above all a great effort of deliberate and conscious will, because we are still learning close to our experiences of animal kingdom, hence we feel attracted, dragged by certain features of bad passions. That is why, so often, despite all awareness of good and evil, our acts of rebellion or inattention embraces us in the frame of totally dispensable experiences bringing by consequence pain and responsibilities, directly or indirectly.

Many of us succumb to these dispensable experiences because we become unobservant of the fulfilment of obligations that we must achieve, at times painfully. To run away of routine that constrain us but at the same time put us away of many problems, we launch into some adventures that cause us problems without end.

Others, wanting to test inconsequently their own resistance,  end up opening Pandora’s box (which according to Greek mythology contained all evils), arousing feelings, sensations that should remain buried, waiting for better opportunity to be worked, engraved. Therefore, we do not ever have a morbid curiosity to know throughout the extension to "human wickedness" (our own and others) we must, then, keep us on alert to prevent the evil that germinate from ourselves and spreads by contagion finding affinity with the evil that arises in other hearts.

Know yourself to transform yourself 

For all of those who wish to sustain themselves in the combat without respite, we can find in St. Augustine one of the most effective strategies for self-transformation (and therefore for victory over ourselves). This is daily meditation on our own acts, which is essential if we want to combat evil in ourselves systematically. The Augustinian lesson is embedded in the last question (919 and 919-a) of the Third Party (From the Moral Laws) of “The Book of Spirits”.

In the first part of the question (919) Kardec asks: "What is the most effective practical way that men has to improve themselves in this life and resist to evil attraction?" The answer, very direct and clear, is also concise: "An ancient wise man said: “Know yourself. "

Very clever, Kardec unfolds the question seeking to resolve the practical issue that involves the topic of how to do it: "We know all wisdom of this concept, but the difficulty is precisely in each one of us knowing ourselves. Which is the way to achieve it? "

St. Augustine, in reply, composes many considerations, which we will summarize in the lines below.

We should interrogate our own conscience, reviewing everyday acts, for identification of deviations of duties that should have been completed and of outside reasons of complaint because of our actions. By this means, St. Augustine got to know himself “and see what [in him] needed reform."

Whoever is willing to examine their everyday actions to identify the good or the evil that may have made “would achieve great strength to improve them”.  Moreover, they should request God and protective spirits clarification, because "God would help them” in this sense.

Is proposed for the examination of everyday actions, address questions to yourself, the questions are about what you do and what is the purpose in order to identify if we did something that we would reproach if another person did that, and also if we did something that we are afraid to confess.

He proposes more, making us put in front of us in the condition of someone that can return to the world of spirits at any time, where we should take stock of our own acts committed during the carnal experience: when we land on the other side of life where nothing can be hidden, would we “fear the look of someone?

The Test that can rest our conscience is an examination if we haven’t done anything against Divinity, our neighbour and ourselves.

Because self-evaluation and self-judgement are difficult on account of illusions of self-love, is proposed as a way of verification free from illusion to ask how we would classify our own actions if others practiced them. If we have reason to criticize such actions, it becomes clear that we must not do the same.

In the same line of investigation, he proposes that we try to verify what others think about our actions. Plus: the view of enemies, because they don’t have any interest in disguise the truth, we must not neglected that, because they are a good way of warning, using more often than the frankly of a friend would do.

Another advice to those who feel possessed of desire for a serious improvement is to investigate thoroughly their own conscience in order to uproot from themselves the bad tendencies. And as he did, that we could manage to do a daily balance of our moral actions, to evaluate losses and profits, profits will be greater losses, if we follow that advice.

Subsequently St. Augustine says precisely: "If you can say that your day was good, you can sleep in peace and await the wake without fear in afterlife." Your day, we believe, should be understood as the culmination of a succession of days. Either way shows us the need to seize every day and give attention to time that usually flee out of hands, if we don’t administrate it well.

As a way of self-examination of consciousness, he recommends that we formulate “clear and precise questions”, without fearing in multiply them, in order to interrogate ourselves about our own actions. This intimate dialogue, which does not take more than a few minutes and "some efforts", it is the way of conquest "eternal happiness".

Since many have a future as uncertain, the spirits come to dispel our uncertainty "through phenomenon that is “capable of hurting our senses and of “instructions" (which we must, for our time, spread it).

The brief comment of Kardec in response to this is also worthy of examination. And for that we are going to transcribe it literally:

Many sins that we commit are unnoticed by us. If, indeed, following the advice of St. Augustine, we ask more often our conscience, we would see how many times we failed without perceiving it, only because we don’t analyse the nature and objective our actions. The interrogative form is something more precise than any precept, which often we fail to apply in ourselves. The latter requires categorical answers, a yes or a no, that does not offer place for any alternative and that are other many personal arguments. And, by the result of the answers given, we can compute the sum of good or evil that exists in us.

In conclusion 

Given the banality of evil that spreads across the world of men, we should individually and collectively launch ourselves to the good fight, which is constant, requiring us discipline and perseverance. The war of good against evil, subject of countless books and films, must be waged in our own hearts, above all.

Reminding us of the allegory of eggs of the serpent, we must break all of them while they are still in nest, before we release the evil that still insist on living in us. If we have already released evil, we can only go through its consequences, with serenity and strength.

If we embarrassed ourselves in intrigue of evil, isn’t enough that we regret of our actions and commit ourselves to change by relieve of conscience (or for any form of promises), it is necessary to meditate deeply in the objective of our actions, we must, finally, plunge a probe of investigation in our spirit to the exam of our deepest feelings and thoughts.

If our action took place, for example, in the exercise of violence, we must look into our hearts for the roots of this violence, being it is where it is, and there is only a way to definitively annihilated the roots of all evils: being of permanent readiness to tame, control them with the words ... You learn in the meetings of Anonymous (alcohol in particular) that our vices (the bad passions) do not have a cure, but only control. The struggle without end and without quarter against evil requires from us, this way, full availability of surveillance and prayer.

In case of "meditation" on roots and fruits of evil is superficial, if we do not examine rigorously causes of our actions, inevitably we will incur in the same errors, when circumstances change, when we are in other scenarios. The reason of recurrence is that we do not exercise our "moral reasoning", which also develops as the logical, mathematical reasoning, etc.

On the other hand, even if we are not around the more visible expressions of evil, as human passions have become more "violent and devastating in humans, which continues restless” according to Joanna de Ângelis, it is possible that the consequences of these passions reach us, directly or indirectly. The trend of refuge ourselves in our world, that still preserved of the contagion of many tribulations, can make us alien to this world of trials and atonements. Keeping ourselves sensitive to the pain of our neighbour, even if that can annoy us or constrain us is a genuine Christian attitude ... Refuge ourselves in indifference, as an escape of uncomfortable pain that passions and mistakes of others cause in us, it is healthy measure.

It becomes necessary that we learn from our experiences, practices, with the exercise of "moral reasoning" and with an overflowing material for learning: ours and other people mistakes. Ultimately, the ethical and moral improvement requires reflection and a dive in you. And if necessary, review our fall and slide periodically in the moral field, enabling memory to remind us of the many thorns that have brought carnations in the "flesh of spirit" as Paul of Tarsus taught. These thorns will remind us of our condition of patients in long-term recovery stage that needs care...

In addition, we can believe, as in Final Court, Nelson Cavaquinho’s song, that "The evil seed will be burned / love will be eternal again” being sure that the whole empire of evil will fall when we break the ties that we keep with inferior portions of our own individuality!

References: 

Ebrahim, Surama Gusmao. Late adoption: a study in terms of altruism, maturity and emotional stability. João Pessoa, 1999. 200p. Thesis (Mas ter in Psychology) - Universidade Federal da Paraíba.

FRANCO, Divaldo Pereira. Sun of Hope (various spirits). 2nd ed. Salvador: Livraria Spiritist Alvorada, 1978.

Kardec, Allan. The Spirits’ Book. 76th ed. Brazilian Spiritist Federation: Rio de Janeiro, 1995.

MACEDO, Joel. Our every day evil”- Philosopher takes on the Lisbon earthquake to show how evil is no longer divine and becomes a creation of man. Available in http://jbonline.terra.com.br/jb/papel/cadernos/ideias/2004/03/05/joride20040305001.html. Accessed on 7 mar. 2004.

* The first part of this article was published in issue 108, May 24, 2009, this journal.