I believe half the battle in transforming evil lies in becoming aware of it and to be willing to acknowledge its existence. Sometimes evil works subtly and quietly in individuals and in our social, economical, political and educational institutes. It is important to realize that dealing with evil is an ongoing process.
In our movie and story telling culture, one evil being is presented and then is defeated. In reality we have multiple evil beings to deal with. We are continuously working with them and it is not a question of destroying them but how to use them effectively.
In How to Know Higher Worlds, Steiner informs the spiritual student, “In every evil, we must seek out the elements that allow us to transform it into good. We will then see more and more clearly that the best way to combat wickedness and imperfection is to create what is good and whole. We cannot create something out of nothing, but we can transform what is incomplete into something more perfect. The more we strengthen our creative tendencies, the sooner we will find ourselves capable of the right attitude toward whatever is bad and imperfect.” (pg 104).
I believe the solution to evil can be found within itself. We must not view evil as bad. We must look within it to see how we can transform it. We must not run away from it nor seek to destroy it. We must confront the evil within us first and by accepting and transforming our own evil and egoism, we can meet evil around us with the same love and compassion we created for ourselves.
He continues to inform the spiritual student about 2 Guardians. One of our most important spiritual experiences is with the First Guardian of the Threshold. This guardian is an astral entity and it is the collection of all of our past errors and fears. Because it is such a horrible sight, we must have developed enough inner strength to perceive it. This being reveals to us the corrections we must make in life.
Steiner also discusses the Greater Guardian of the Threshold. This meeting involves choosing the black path or the white path.
“You have freed yourself from the world of the sense. You have earned the right of citizenship in the supersensible world. From now on, you may work from there. For yourself, you no longer need your physical bodily nature in its present form. If all you wanted was to acquire the capacity to dwell in the supersensible world, you would never need to return to the world of the senses. Look at me. See how immeasurably I am raised above all that you have already made of yourself up to now. You have reached your present stage of completion by means of faculties that you were able to develop in the sense world while you were still dependent upon it. Now you are entering a time when the powers you liberated must continue to work upon this sense world. Until now, you have worked only to free yourself, but now that you are free, you can help free all your fellow beings in the sense world. Up to now, you have striven as an individual. Now you must join yourself to the whole, so that you may bring with you into the supersensible realm not only yourself, but also all else that exists in the sensible world.
Some day, you will be able to unite with my form, but I myself cannot find perfect blessedness as long as there are others who are still unfortunate! As a single, liberated individual, you could enter the realm of the supersensible today. But then you would have to look down upon those sentient beings who are not yet freed. You would have separated your destiny from theirs. But you are linked together with all sentient beings. All of you had to descend into the world of the senses to draw from it the powers required for a higher world. Were you to separate yourself from your fellow beings, you would misuse the powers you were able to develop only in consort with them. If they had not descended into the sense world, you would not have been able to descend either. Without them, you would lack the powers you need for supersensible existence. You must share with the others the powers that you achieved with them.
Therefore I refuse to admit you to the highest regions of the supersensible world until you have used all your powers for the deliverance of your fellow world and fellow beings. What you have already achieved entitles you to dwell in the lower regions of the supersensible world. But I will stand at the doorway to the higher regions “like the cherubim with the flaming sword before the gates of Paradise.” I will deny you entry as long as you still have powers that you have not put to use in the sense world.
If you do not use your own powers, others will come who will put them to use. Then a high supersensible world will incorporate all the fruits of the sensible realm, but the ground you will stand on will be pulled out from under your feet. The purified world will develop over and beyond you. You will be excluded from it. If this is your choice, then yours is the black path. But those from whom you separate yourself tread the white path.”
It is in this meeting of the Second Guardian that we experience our greatest temptation. The black path is choosing the path where we are only concerned with our inner salvation. On the black path nothing that our egotism desires is denied us. The fruit of this path is the complete satisfaction of egotism.
The white path is choosing the path where we are concerned with liberating all of humanity and ourselves. This includes people who have hurt us or do not understand us or annoy us. Taking the white path does not appeal to our egoism. When we have this meeting with the Greater Guardian and have chosen the white path we will realize that the black path leads us nowhere. It is the white path that allows us to be creative and loving.
The task of confronting evil will enable us to not only to liberate ourselves but also to contribute to the liberating of the human race. We can offer our gifts and talents to the sacrificial altar of humanity.
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