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From: beth@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP (Beth Christy)
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: Re: Some thoughts on availing ourselves to evil
Message-ID: <1120@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 11-Sep-85 18:50:28 EDT
Article-I.D.: sphinx.1120
Posted: Wed Sep 11 18:50:28 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 12-Sep-85 11:59:00 EDT
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Organization: U. Chicago - Computation Center
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[NO, PLEASE, ANYTHING BUT THE LINE-EA

From: levasseur@morgan.DEC (Ray  EMD & S Admin  223-5027),
Message-ID: <379@decwrl.UUCP>:
>I guess that I've been keeping the
>gatekeeper on duty more often than I used to and have developed a sensitivity
>to the presence of evil. The more evil we let in, the more twisted the soul
>becomes.

Hmmm, an interesting article, but I do want to express some concern I feel
after reading it.  The notion of an ever-vigilant "gatekeeper" constantly
working to resist evil, to "keep it out", can be very draining.  It can
work for a while, but nobody can keep up active resistance forever -
you'll have to rest sometime.  And, according to the model I think you've
proposed, whenever you rest you're completely vulnerable.  I'd like to
suggest a couple alternate visualizations that can be just as effective,
but that won't require such humanly impossible eternal vigilance and hence
won't be so draining.

The first is to view evil as a negative energy flow and, rather than
trying to stop the flow entirely, try to divert it someplace harmless.
Imagine the difference between the force a river exerts on a dam and the
force it exerts on its banks, and you'll know why I'm suggesting you be
a bank instead.

The basic notion of the second is that, rather than focussing your
energies on resisting evil, you focus on following good.  Again, if you
view good and evil as positive and negative energy flows respectively,
then, rather than actively resisting the negative flow, you merely try
to keep yourself immersed in the positive flow.  Its momentum will carry
you along most of the time, and you only have to actively work when you
feel yourself getting to the edge of it (by feeling the effects of the
negative flow more strongly).  Then you simply direct yourself towards
the center (by surrounding yourself with positive), and again allow
yourself to be guided by the good.

A more traditionally religious approach is one that many Christians use,
and is based on the verse "Come unto me, ye who are weak and heavy laden,
and I will give you rest" [sorry, don't know the chapter:verse].  You
simply have faith in God that s/he will protect and nurture you.  It's
similar to what I just proposed in that, whenever you feel the presence
of evil, you focus on something positive (i.e., God and you're faith in
her/him) and allow that to carry you through/away from the evil.

Evil (or at least a lot of negative stuff) exists, and you can't change
that.  Don't think that if you fight it actively and eternally, it will
go away - it won't.  So don't weaken and drain yourself needlessly.  You
can shrug it off in ways that leave you much more energy to enjoy the
delights that exist too.

Relax and enjoy,
  --JB
-- 

--JB       (Beth Christy, U. of Chicago, ..!ihnp4!gargoyle!sphinx!beth)

		"Oh yeah, P.S.,
		 I...I feel...feel like...I am
		 in a burning building
		 And I gotta go."            (Laurie Anderson)