Good, Evil And The battle We Have To Win.
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Thanx guys.
God bless
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Peace O,
Thank you for the thought-provoking essay. I'm currently wrestling with some of the concepts you've touched on and just thought I'd comment on where I may disagree or perhaps misunderstand.
My position thus far is that evil does not exist. It is an illusory consequence of distraction from unity. It is exactly like darkness, which does not exist, but only symbolizes obstructed light. I believe you've described a simlar understanding but there are a few points which have confused me. For the sake of brevity, I will only comment where I disagree or do not understand, for I am in total agreement with the majority of your essay.
you stated
Love and fear became the two opposite forces behind our choices.
I don't view love and fear as opposities at all. Fear is a factor of love, not it's opposite. In fact, love has no opposite. It just is.
We can only win through a battle, and a battle can only exist if the two prime opposites exist, Good and Evil, Love and fear. Avoiding evil does not mean that we are winning, without the confrontation and the fight, nothing can be gained.
Good and evil are subjective, and love and fear are not opposites. If the goal is peace/harmony/love, then the goal does not need defeating a negation in order to be attained. Harmony is evident throughout life. Nature does not need to defeat it's imagined antagonist to reach harmony. Trees don't try to grow, they just grow. Clouds don't try to rain, they just rain. Attaining harmony is an acceptance of our nature, not a prize after a conflict. We attain harmony by accepting that we are already there.
By leading a peaceful life without any struggles you are running away from the real fight, you are leaving the battlefield for other people to ensure its out come.
I disagree. Leading a peaceful life does not denote stagnation. One can be peaceful and contribute peacefully, without conflict. It is like planting seeds. You don't need to find a toxic wasteland, uproot the soil, re-sod the field, and start from scratch. You can simply plant seeds where they will grow. The more we plant, the more growth, and eventually, the growth will overcome the toxicity by it's sheer mass.
This can also be visualized in a pyramid structure. The world of humanity is certainly structured like a pyramid. The few elite at the top, with the masses holding the structure up. One does not change the substance of the pyramid by merely toppling the apex, since the tier below will only form a new but similar apex. One changes the substance by changing the foundation. If all the little people become aware of their collective power, of their untiy, of their true identity, then the entire pyramid crumbles to one level.
Looking forward to your thoughts.
Peace,
Tay -
Peace O,
Thank you for the thought-provoking essay. I'm currently wrestling with some of the concepts you've touched on and just thought I'd comment on where I may disagree or perhaps misunderstand.
My position thus far is that evil does not exist. It is an illusory consequence of distraction from unity. It is exactly like darkness, which does not exist, but only symbolizes obstructed light. I believe you've described a similar understanding but there are a few points which have confused me. For the sake of brevity, I will only comment where I disagree or do not understand, for I am in total agreement with the majority of your essay.Peace tay,
And thanx for the great comments. I love to explain myself, it helps me understanding my own thought. It is true that evil (Satan) does not exist, however, do not forget that evil deeds are committed daily, and this is the main purpose of this essay. Is to awaken us to that fact that we are creating evil by making the wrong choices. The points that confused you will be explained in details and I hope that you can extend on these detailsyou stated
Love and fear became the two opposite forces behind our choices.
I don't view love and fear as opposites at all. Fear is a factor of love, not it's opposite. In fact, love has no opposite. It just is.
If you try and understand how fear came about, you might find the answer. The reason I am saying that fear is the opposite of love is because I believe that fear was created the minute we were separated from our source. Absolute love existed and we knew for sure that we are one with everything. When that knowledge was taken away from us and replaced by ignorance (blankness), fear was born.
So when we knew, we loved
Then when we didn?t know, we feared.
The force that existed before our life was the force of knowing = the force of love. We were one and we knew it.
The forces that exist today are the force of uncertainty (not knowing for sure). Uncertainty = fear + Love. We are not sure if we are one as some of us say. We do not know the source, we are not sure. We fear tomorrow, other people, life and even God. Should we now know for sure that we are one with everything, love would prevail and fear would disappear. Hatred, resentment, jealousy, and etc are all by products of fear.We can only win through a battle, and a battle can only exist if the two prime opposites exist, Good and Evil, Love and fear. Avoiding evil does not mean that we are winning, without the confrontation and the fight, nothing can be gained.
Good and evil are subjective, and love and fear are not opposites. If the goal is peace/harmony/love, then the goal does not need defeating a negation in order to be attained. Harmony is evident throughout life. Nature does not need to defeat it's imagined antagonist to reach harmony. Trees don't try to grow, they just grow. Clouds don't try to rain, they just rain. Attaining harmony is an acceptance of our nature, not a prize after a conflict. We attain harmony by accepting that we are already there.
I agree with you when you say that Nature does not need to defeat it's imagined antagonist to reach harmony. Trees don't try to grow, they just grow. Clouds don't try to rain, they just rain. The point you are missing here is I am not asking the trees or the clouds or the rain to do anything. I am asking human beings, we are different. We experience life in a different way. For every emotion there is a shadow of emotion. For every force there is a shadow of that force. We live in a dual-natured life. Now, to explain to you why we humans can not attain harmony by simply accepting our nature, we will have to answer a very important question first. Namely, why are we born ignorant? Why there is fear? Why there is shadow of emotions? Why we do not know for sure who we are? The trees know, the rain know, and the cloud know or they do not have the ability to question as we do. This duality was created for us experience the opposite to what existed. By experiencing the opposite you apperciate what you have more. By loosing youreslf and finding it, you go through an experience you would never dream of experiencing. You can only attain harmony after knowing who you are, and to know who you are you have to face every fact of life, love and fear. You can noy choose one and ignore the other. The answers are in experiencing and facing bothof them.
By leading a peaceful life without any struggles you are running away from the real fight, you are leaving the battlefield for other people to ensure its out come.
I disagree. Leading a peaceful life does not denote stagnation. One can be peaceful and contribute peacefully, without conflict. It is like planting seeds. You don't need to find a toxic wasteland, uproot the soil, re-sod the field, and start from scratch. You can simply plant seeds where they will grow. The more we plant, the more growth, and eventually, the growth will overcome the toxicity by it's sheer mass.
This can also be visualized in a pyramid structure. The world of humanity is certainly structured like a pyramid. The few elite at the top, with the masses holding the structure up. One does not change the substance of the pyramid by merely toppling the apex, since the tier below will only form a new but similar apex. One changes the substance by changing the foundation. If all the little people become aware of their collective power, of their unity, of their true identity, then the entire pyramid crumbles to one level.
We were taken from warm to cold for a reason, from knowing to not knowing and we were given the ability to question our existence. The knowledge which we were denied exists all around us, a cure for your son?s illness could be right behind you and you do not know. Likewise, the reason why we are here could be right inside you while you are not aware. The answers are all around us, yelling at us and most of the time we let them pass by. We choose what is good for us, we accept it and accept its message, but when the evil happens we resist or become passive, thinking that leading a peaceful life could not hurt anyone. Yet, we are missing the one reason why the evil deed happened to us. Things happen for a reason, and when they happen, they carry a message that need to be received and understood, Should the message be ignored with the excuse that we are leading a peaceful life, my miss the message, the true opportunity that came to us to awaken us to a certain truth. Yet, the battle I referred to is a peaceful battle. It is a battle about understanding why things happen the way they happen instead of ignoring them because we happen to label them evil. It is like facing your fears, understand it and overcome it. This is the battle that could lead to harmony.
Unity is torn apart by the duality we live. We can not unite until we understand why we are different and where our differences came from. It would take a serious of evolutions for human beings to agree on wherever that understanding is. It is about knowing or not knowing, loving or fearing.
Looking forward to your thoughts.
I enjoyed replying to your great comments, let me know if my reply is not clear or which points you do not agree with.
Peace,
TayGod bless
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Thats brilliant bro. A nice positive read. I just remembered a quote you could insert if you repost it somewhere.
"All it takes for evil to truimph, is good men that does nothing"
Peace
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Peace openurmind,
Good article but some mish-mash concerns.
Love and fear became the two opposite forces behind our choices
Fear is not the opposite of Love; hate is. Several definitions fall under ?love? and ?hate?
Love is affection, amity, appreciation, a crush on, devotion, enjoyment, fondness, etc., while hate is abhorrence, animosity, resentment, antipathy, aversion, hostility, ill-will, revenge, etc.
Fear can lead to either love or hate, think about that one.
If you see evil winning remember that it was us who give it the power to, it was us who had the choice to let it win. Evil has no choice; it does not even exist unless we create it each second we fear. Whatever our source is, it knows the evil can not win as long as we have the will and the power to fight it.
If evil does not exist, then the question of being created, winning or overcoming it, becomes redundant. While fear is being afraid, agitation, despair, tremor, scared, panicky, etc., its opposite is bravery, valor, courage, boldness.
Selfish choices that have no regard for others are based on fears.
Personally I believe selfish choices are not based on fears but ego, arrogance, overconfidence, self-interest, haughtiness, etc.
We can only win through a battle, and a battle can only exist if the two prime opposites exist, Good and Evil, Love and fear. Avoiding evil does not mean that we are winning, without the confrontation and the fight, nothing can be gained. By leading a peaceful life without any struggles you are running away from the real fight, you are leaving the battlefield for other people to ensure its out come. Your contribution is important for you to become one with the whole.
One doesn?t need to battle (as in physical or emotional infliction) evil, hatred or fear. One can overcome these emotional addicts by consensus, reflection, meditation, counseling, avoidance and finding alternative solutions for themselves rather than confrontations, animosity, revenge and hence worsening the situation.
What say you friend?
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Peace O,
Thanks for articulating further.
You stated
The reason I am saying that fear is the opposite of love is because I believe that fear was created the minute we were separated from our source.
I believe this is the crux of the matter, and perhaps the dichotomy of my view and yours. See, I don;t think we were ever seperated from our Source. I think seperation is impossible.
Absolute love existed and we knew for sure that we are one with everything. When that knowledge was taken away from us and replaced by ignorance (blankness), fear was born.
Rather than ignorance, I choose to understand birth as bliss. Babies are in constant awe of the universe. They are unconditionally happy. They are perfect. It is with knowledge that the illusion of seperation begins. Harmony is not knowledge, it is knowing without thought.
You can only attain harmony after knowing who you are, and to know who you are you have to face every fact of life, love and fear.
I disagree. There are plenty of examples of folks who have never had the chance to experience every fact of life. Homeless malnourished children who die of starvation never get to experience the gamut of human emotion. If what you say is true, then God is unfair, unjust. If the only path to harmony is to experience the full range of human emotion, then billions of people throughout time have been short changed.
Rather, I say to know who you are you have to stop letting the mind dictate who your are. The mind is a product of the environment. It is the sum total of experiences. But that is not you. It is just the lens through which you experience this life.
...more to come when my eyelids aren't so heavy, Inshallah
Peace,
Tay -
Peace O,
Thanks for articulating further.
Peace Tay, and thanks for the reply.
I noticed that you have mostly disagreed with my explanation, but I have also noticed that you did not understand what I meant fully, I will show you what you missed.You stated
The reason I am saying that fear is the opposite of love is because I believe that fear was created the minute we were separated from our source.
I believe this is the crux of the matter, and perhaps the dichotomy of my view and yours. See, I don?t think we were ever separated from our Source. I think separation is impossible.
I agree with you that separation is impossible, but I meant the mental separation. It is not about feeling that we are connected, it is about knowing that we are connected. If you do not know that you are connected, you would feel separated. Although separation happened as an illusion, this illusion seem very real to us. There is even a time and date for it; it is the time and day your mind has taken over.Absolute love existed and we knew for sure that we are one with everything. When that knowledge was taken away from us and replaced by ignorance (blankness), fear was born.
Rather than ignorance, I choose to understand birth as bliss. Babies are in constant awe of the universe. They are unconditionally happy. They are perfect. It is with knowledge that the illusion of separation begins. Harmony is not knowledge, it is knowing without thought.
It is the same thing, you can not say harmony is not knowledge then you say it is knowing, when you know you know knowledge, so harmony is knowing the knowledge. And I did not say anything about thought, this is a differnt subject. In reality I see that we agree more than we disagree, it is only that we are using different words for one meaning, or expressing the same meaning in a different way. A baby? connection is so intense because his brain is still developing, but one the ego takes over, the connection fades away and that person feel lonely and separated.
You can only attain harmony after knowing who you are, and to know who you are you have to face every fact of life, love and fear.
I disagree. There are plenty of examples of folks who have never had the chance to experience every fact of life. Homeless malnourished children who die of starvation never get to experience the gamut of human emotion. If what you say is true, then God is unfair, unjust. If the only path to harmony is to experience the full range of human emotion, then billions of people throughout time have been short changed.
Ok, there are plenty of examples of folks who have never had the chance to experience every fact of life, but the question is did they attain harmony? I did not say that people has to experience the full range of human emotion. You said that, not me, all I said is you have to face every fact of life that confronts you in your life. What I meant is, if someone stole you, face the reality of the rubbery, ask why you have been stolen, look for the reason inside your life in order for to understand why things happen. When you turn your back to what happens to you, you miss the opportunity to learn about your life.Rather, I say to know who you are you have to stop letting the mind dictate who your are. The mind is a product of the environment. It is the sum total of experiences. But that is not you. It is just the lens through which you experience this life.
...more to come when my eyelids aren't so heavy, Inshallah
Peace,
TayThis is a great teaching, I do sense that you have some great understanding about life. I used to talk the same way about the mind, then I changed my mind, I stopped generalising, it is true that the mind is a product of the environment, and it dictate to you in a selfish way, however, the mind is also a tool that helps understanding universal intelligence. So it is not only about stop letting the mind dictate who you are, you also should bring it to an intelligent level that is able to understand who you really are. I am not saying you have to, but this is one of the life facts, we are intelligent for a reason, we are able to acquire knowledge for a reason. You might not agree with me on that, but this is another subject we could talk about it under new Knowledge and Intelligence thread.
God bless
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Peace O,
Thanks for explaining further. It does seem that we are closer in our understandings than meets the eye, however, I do still see some differences - which is OK.
You stated
Although separation happened as an illusion, this illusion seem very real to us.
Agreed.
It is the same thing, you can not say harmony is not knowledge then you say it is knowing, when you know you know knowledge, so harmony is knowing the knowledge.
I disagree. The knowledge gained did not lead to harmony. The harmony is always there. It is with knowledge that I've learned to express this only. Knowledge, in fact, is the obstacle one must surpass/suppress in order to experience harmony.
A baby? connection is so intense because his brain is still developing, but once the ego takes over, the connection fades away and that person feel lonely and separated.
Exactly!
Ok, there are plenty of examples of folks who have never had the chance to experience every fact of life, but the question is did they attain harmony? I did not say that people has to experience the full range of human emotion. You said that, not me
Actually, O, what you said was "You can only attain harmony after knowing who you are, and to know who you are you have to face every fact of life, love and fear."
Again, this is where we differ. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I don't think one has to face every aspect of human emotion in order to attain harmony.
I said is you have to face every fact of life that confronts you in your life. What I meant is, if someone stole you, face the reality of the rubbery, ask why you have been stolen, look for the reason inside your life in order for to understand why things happen. When you turn your back to what happens to you, you miss the opportunity to learn about your life.
I agree that one should face every experience as a learning experience, whether it seems good or bad.
This is a great teaching, I do sense that you have some great understanding about life.
Thank you for the kind words. The feeling is mutual.
I used to talk the same way about the mind, then I changed my mind, I stopped generalising
Did you change or did your mind change?
it is true that the mind is a product of the environment, and it dictate to you in a selfish way, however, the mind is also a tool that helps understanding universal intelligence
Absolutely. The mind is a tool. One should always maintain that understanding in order not to mistakenly identify with the tool.
So it is not only about stop letting the mind dictate who you are, you also should bring it to an intelligent level that is able to understand who you really are. I am not saying you have to, but this is one of the life facts, we are intelligent for a reason, we are able to acquire knowledge for a reason. You might not agree with me on that...
I do agree, atleast partially. The mind can be trained to express aspects of our true nature. But it cannot comprehensively express our nature, just as one cannot put into words the definition of "love", or "God". Our nature is eternal, infinite, while the mind is temporary. As they say, the orange cannot explain the orange tree.
It's been a pleasure chatting.
Peace,
Tay -
It is true that evil (Satan) does not exist,
I beg to differ...
Evil / Devil / Shaytan / The Serpent does exist...
Such as Angels does exist...
Such as Jinns / Spirits does exist... As also humans there are good and also evil Jinns / Spirits...As invisible to the naked eye as they are, does not necessarily mean they do not exist.. Maybe in the near future we have the necessary technology and tools to detect and prove their existence 'scientifically'.... Insha Allah...
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Peace Jaxal,
If you have trouble understanding, perhaps you should ask for articulation, rather than call those who's opinions are different than yours "mind-boggling shock "
I understand why and how both you and Jafar recognize shaytan as an entity that exists and I have no problem with it. It's OK to disagree. We don't have to choose sides bro. We're all just kids trying to understand. One God, One Love, everything else is just details.
Peace,
Tay -
Peace openurmind,
Good article but some mish-mash concerns.
Peace Danish, and thank, let?s clear the Mish-Mash then.
Love and fear became the two opposite forces behind our choices
Fear is not the opposite of Love; hate is. Several definitions fall under ?love? and ?hate?
Love is affection, amity, appreciation, a crush on, devotion, enjoyment, fondness, etc., while hate is abhorrence, animosity, resentment, antipathy, aversion, hostility, ill-will, revenge, etc.
Ok, you believe that the opposite of love is hate, but I believe hate is the opposite of what you think love to be . Please read my thread ?What is Love? http//www.free-minds.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4166
The question is why do we hate? How does hate sparks? Is there a prime reason behind its existence? I would say yes. We mostly hate because we do not understand or know the subject we hate, we might think we know it/him/her, but we never really reach the absolute knowing. We draw conclusions based on people?s actions, then we decide whom we hate and whom we love. That is why you could hate what I love and I could love what you hate. Yet when we say we love we just mean that that person is satisfying an image we hold in our mind that represents a need. True love is not really an emotion, it is a force, it is an absolute knowing that you are one with someone, with everything, that is why the rest of the universe in a state of harmony or love.
Hate is the opposite of love which you call love, while I never regard it as love. It as Elk put it
when you say love is dog crap, i guess you mean the love that is made mainly of egoism and possessiveness and mostly a love of your own ego even if disguised as "romantic" love. I don't even call this love. The French have a word for this "l'amour vache" - "cow love" but better translated as "mean love"...
Slm, lk
Fear can make you hate and not the other way around. You definition of love is from common everyday?s meaning, but not the universal point of view.Fear can lead to either love or hate, think about that one.
Was that easy! How come bro, could you prove that? I agree that fear could lead to hate and that makes fear the prime force. But how could fear lead to Love? Think about it. Fear could lead to all sort of things but not to love, love is the other prime force. You could never love who you fear, you love who you know to be one with, and those you never fear. And you fear who you do not know, tomorrow, the unknown. You always start by not knowing then you begin to know and when you know and understand you start to love. You could never start by knowing then become not knowing.
Look at it this way
You love, you know
You fear, you do not know. (Hate or whatever is just a by-product of fear)If you see evil winning remember that it was us who give it the power to, it was us who had the choice to let it win. Evil has no choice; it does not even exist unless we create it each second we fear. Whatever our source is, it knows the evil can not win as long as we have the will and the power to fight it.
If evil does not exist, then the question of being created, winning or overcoming it, becomes redundant. While fear is being afraid, agitation, despair, tremor, scared, panicky, etc., its opposite is bravery, valour, courage, boldness.
The devil does not exist, evil deeds do happen everyday in our life and because they happen we think of Evil (The Devil) as a being or a soul. So I meant we should overcome the evil deed and forget that the devil exists, we are only creating it by our belief that it exists, that is why the only power it has is the power we give to it over us by believing of its existence, however, it is just an illusion, the power is ours all the way. You say the opposites of fear are bravery, valour, courage, boldness, don?t you thing LOVE has any thing to do with all of those nice words. They are all by products of love. Bravery is motivated by love, as well as valour and courage, when you fight for a reason you believe in it is out of love for your family or your country or even yourself or God. Boldness is forthcoming form the self, only those who know themselves and love who they are can be bold. If you look closely at all the words you have been using, all the actions you have been taking, you would see only two motivations, two forces at work, either out of Love or out of Fear.
Selfish choices that have no regard for others are based on fears.
Personally I believe selfish choices are not based on fears but ego, arrogance, overconfidence, self-interest, haughtiness, etc.
And why the ego or the arrogance or overconfidence or self-interest or haughtiness exist? Your ego was created when you thought you are alone and you feared the others, ego came about to protect you form what you feel, fear. The mind created it because it could only act on what you know and you thought that what is outside yourself is not you. The ego shelled you from the outside world which you are in fact afraid of. It begin by not knowing and turned to fear. Fear = Lack of knowledge. While Love = Knowledge (knowing)We can only win through a battle, and a battle can only exist if the two prime opposites exist, Good and Evil, Love and fear. Avoiding evil does not mean that we are winning, without the confrontation and the fight, nothing can be gained. By leading a peaceful life without any struggles you are running away from the real fight, you are leaving the battlefield for other people to ensure its out come. Your contribution is important for you to become one with the whole.
One doesn?t need to battle (as in physical or emotional infliction) evil, hatred or fear. One can overcome these emotional addicts by consensus, reflection, meditation, counselling, avoidance and finding alternative solutions for themselves rather than confrontations, animosity, revenge and hence worsening the situation.
What say you friend?Obviously you did not read what I wrote thoroughly. I quote from my original post.
We can fight evil by healing evil, we can attack evil by reasoning and understanding and feeling for each others, and we can surround evil by listening to its message and taking action against it source. It is not an easy fight; it is a fight that knows no hatred, no fear, and no doubt as to the end result. It is a fight that requires knowledge, understanding, intelligence, love, determination, hope and most of all our empathy.As you can see I never mentioned revenge as you are suggesting. I believe in confrontations though. But not the one you are thinking of. I quote again from the same thread
The answers are all around us, yelling at us and most of the time we let them pass by. We choose what is good for us, we accept it and accept its message, but when the evil happens we resist or become passive, thinking that leading a peaceful life could not hurt anyone. Yet, we are missing the one reason why the evil deed happened to us. Things happen for a reason, and when they happen, they carry a message that need to be received and understood, Should the message be ignored with the excuse that we are leading a peaceful life, you miss the message, the true opportunity that came to us to awaken us to a certain truth. Yet, the battle I referred to is a peaceful battle. It is a battle about understanding why things happen the way they happen instead of ignoring them because we happen to label them evil. It is like facing your fears, understand it and overcome it. This is the battle that could lead to harmony.Now, the point is I have been working on this concept for a considerable time now. I know I can not convince you by this reply because there is a lot more to say in that regard. There are definitions we have to agree on, lots of them and only when we agree, we could put thing together which, I promise you could lead to you a new understanding.
That is what I think
God bless
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I do agree, at least partially. The mind can be trained to express aspects of our true nature. But it cannot comprehensively express our nature, just as one cannot put into words the definition of "love", or "God". Our nature is eternal, infinite, while the mind is temporary. As they say, the orange cannot explain the orange tree.
It's been a pleasure chatting.
Peace,
TayHow could you be sure that an orange could not explain the orange tree? I believe an orange could explain the whole universe. The mind is what you understand now, tomorrow, the mind would be what you understand tomorrow. It is developing and, like the rest of the universe, it has no limit. Why do you think there should be a limit to anything, let alone something as unique as our mind? Even theoretical scientist do believe that the whole universe is as connected as a speck of dust. No matter how vast is expanding is magically connected and in each particle of it you could find the wholeness.
I am glad that we now agree most of the time, however, I would like to know from you why do you think the devil does not exist. How did you come to this conclusion. I believe I have told you why I think it does not exist.
It is great pleasure chatting with you sir.
God bless
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Peace O,
You stated,
How could you be sure that an orange could not explain the orange tree? I believe an orange could explain the whole universe.
Then please have this orange explain it to me wink
The mind is what you understand now, tomorrow, the mind would be what you understand tomorrow. It is developing and, like the rest of the universe, it has no limit.
As you stated in your reply to Danish, we need to come to an agreement on definitions of words before we delve into their deeper meanings. To me, mind and brain are the same thing, while soul and spirit are the same thing. The mind/brain is finite, while the soul/spirit is infinite. Therein lies our dual-nature.
I would like to know from you why do you think the devil does not exist. How did you come to this conclusion.
My understanding of God as omnipresent and omniscient leaves no room for another omniscient being that exists strictly as a counterbalance. In simpler terms, there can only be one "One". The traditional understanding of shaytan occupying all of our minds at all times simply doesn't fit. Furthermore, a being created for the sole purpose of driving evil would mean that God created an evil being, which would mean that God, by nature, is atleast partly evil. This, again, doesn't fit.
I see shaytan as the natural consequence of free will. There is no darkness, there is only a temporary obstruction of light. In eastern terms, this is called consciousness versus unconsciousness. It is not Good and Evil. You're either following the path of God, or you're not.
peace,
Tay -
SaLaM Tay
Bro i have read the discussions on this topic here. I think, it comes down to the point of view. For example, and correct me if im wrong, you think that its a mental state? or force of nature? Where as when i read the Quran, i see it as an entity. An entity which defied God
When we said to the angels, "Fall prostrate before Adam," they fell prostrate, except Satan; he refused, was too arrogant, and a disbeliever.
I just cannot see how it can be anything BUT an entity.
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Salaam Jaxal,
Which is why you cannot accept alternative views. My sentiments are with Tay when he says
If you have trouble understanding, perhaps you should ask for articulation, rather than call those who's opinions are different than yours "mind-boggling shock "
Joe