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42 BYWAYS TO BLESSEDNESS

deep Truth that all sin, or evil, is a condition of ignorance and therefore to be dealt with in a loving
and not a hateful spirit.
And as with bad habits and lying so with all sin — with lust, hatred, malice, envy, pride, vanity,
self-indulgence and selfishness in all its forms; it is a state of spiritual darkness, the absence of the
Light of Truth in the heart, the negation of knowledge.
Thus when, by overcoming the wrong condition in one’s own heart, the nature of evil is fully
realised and mere belief gives place to living knowledge, evil can no longer be hatefully
condemned and violently resisted, and the wrong-doer is thought of with tender compassion.
And this brings us to another aspect of evil-namely, that of individual freedom; the right of
every person to choose his own actions. Along with the seeing of evil in others is the desire to
convert or coerce others into one’s own ways of thinking and acting. Probably the commonest

delusion in which men are involved is that of thinking that what they themselves believe and think
and do is good, and all that is otherwise is evil, and therfore to be powerfully condemned and
resisted. It is out of this delusion that all persecutions springs. There are christians who regard all
Atheists as men wholly evil, as given up to the service of an evil power; and there are Atheists who
firmly believe that all christians are doing the greatest harm to the whole human race by their
“superstitious and false doctrines.” The truth is that neither the christian nor the Atheist is evil,
nor in the service of evil, but each is choosing his own way, and is pursuing that course which he is
convinced is right.
Let a man quietly contemplate the fact that numbers of followers of various religions the world
over are, as they ever were, engaged in condemning each other as evil and wrong, and regarding
themselves as good and right, and it will help him to realise how all evil is merely ignorance,
spiritual darkness; and earnest meditation on that fact will be found to be one of the greatest aids
in developing greater kindness, charity, insight and breadth of mind.
The truly wise and good man sees good in all, evil in none. He has abandoned the folly of
wanting others to think and act as he thinks and acts, for he sees men are variously constituted,
are at different points in their spiritual evolution, and must, of necessity, think and act differently.
Having put away hatred, condemnation, egotism, and prejudice he has become enlightened, and
sees that purity, love compassion, gentleness, patience, humility, and unselfishness are
manifestations of light and knowledge; while impurity, hatred, cruelty, passion, darkness and
ignorance; and that whether men are living in light or darkness they are one and all doing that
which they think is necessary, are acting in accordance with their own measure of light or
darkness. The wise man understands and understanding, he ceases from all bitterness and
accusation.
Every man acts in accordance with his nature, with his own sense of right and wrong, and is
surely gathering in the results of his own experience. There is one supreme right which every
being possesses — to think and act as he chooses. If he chooses to think and act selfishly, thinking
of his own immediate happiness only and not of that of others , then he will rapidly bring upon
himself, by the action of the moral law of cause and effect, such afflictions as will cause him to
pause and consider, and so find a better way. There is no teacher to compare with experience, no
chastisement so corrective and purifying as that which men ignorantly inflict upon themselves.