| From The River Of Heaven |
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| Books By David Frawley |
| KARMA AND THE SCIENCE OF REBIRTH | |
| In this regard
we must remember that most of the evil in the world is done in the name of goodness. It is
in the name of religion or political idealism that the most violence has been done in this
world. We all want to do what is good. It is the nature of the soul to seek the good. No
one will consciously do something they think is bad. The problem is our concept of good is
limited or selfish, or we feel that we can impose it on others. What is good for us may
not be good for everyone else. Any action that is imposing our idea of what is good or
true upon others is in fact evil, because it is a violation of the freedom and integrity
of the soul. Fanaticism and self-righteousness are the most evil of things. For this
reason the Vedic teaching does not try to spread itself through seeking converts, nor does
it encourage any form of propaganda. Most of our own sins or mistakes in life are done out of an effort to be good or to please others. Whenever we attempt to conform to an external standard of what is good, we may lose contact with the real internal source of good, which is our true Self and soul, our inner connection with the Divine. The outer good is a social convention, not the true good of our soul. Only when we are willing to follow what is truly good inside ourselves will we have a beneficent presence or action in life. As long as we act to please others we will remain slaves of the external world and under the power of external influences, which is the real evil. Hence to pursue what is of true good we may have to risk the disfavor of family, friends and the social order. This does not mean we must rebel against these influences and seek to go against them. It means our action must be based upon the universal and the eternal which is not limited to an external standard.
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