The Logos: The Meletic Testament (Chapter 75 Good Vs Evil)
đź“ś Chapter 75: Good Vs Evil
1. I was asked one day by a Christian, what is good? And I did not answer with holy scriptures—I answered with wisdom.
2. I was asked then the question of what is evil? And I did not speak of demons—I spoke of cruelty, of neglect and of ignorance cloaked in silence.
3. Good is not a gift from the gods above—it is a practice, a habit or a choice. We are born with a mind to know what is good from evil.
4. Evil is not a divine curse or condemnation—it is a consequence, often born of one's ignorance, which is a lack of awareness.
5. The Christians say good is obedience to their god. I say good is more about discernment in the difference between good and evil.
6. They say evil is rebellion and against the will of their god. I say evil can be thwarted when fully understood.
7. I have seen good men condemned to heresy for asking questions, and wicked men praised for their false piety.
8. If virtue is seen as submission to a creator god, then I choose to submit to my character first than to submit to a god whose ego must be pleased.
9. If virtue is clarity, courage, and compassion, then I shall pursue it until my final breath taken in life.
10. Good is not found in temples or sacred places alone—it is found in the way we treat the vulnerable and others who are less fortunate than us.
11. Evil is not found in the claim of heresy—it is found in the refusal to see suffering in the eyes of others.
12. I do not fear divine wrath from the Christian god. I am against the human tendency to justify cruelty in the name of divine justice.
13. They say a god punishes all who are evil in life. I have seen more men punish others, simply because they reject or question their god.
14. Good is not something rewarded with piety. Evil is not always punished. The world is indifferent, when those individuals who punish are men of great power.
15. And so we must choose good not for mere reward, but because it is the right thing to do.
16. What is right? That which is not fabricated from falsehood and honours the way of the truth.
17. What is wrong? That which exploits and deceives the way of the truth willingly and knowingly.
18. I do not believe in the notion of original sin. I believe in accountability of my actions. We do not need a god to tell us what is right from wrong. All we need is consciousness.
19. I do not believe in the eternal salvation of the Christians. I believe more in the illumination of enlightenment.
20. Let others pray for righteousness or for their needs. I shall strive to understand my errors and beliefs.
21. Good is not purity in the religious sense—it is true effort and the sign of our character displayed.
22. Evil is not the corruption of a divine law—it is the empowerment of one's ego to be corrupted.
23. I have seen evil done in the name of good and a god, and good done in defiance of law and scriptures.
24. The law is not always just in its evidence and demonstration. Justice is not always lawful, but it must serve the purpose of fairness to all.
25. Good is not static in its nature—it evolves with the understanding of human nature.
26. Evil adapts to the situations that unfold—it wears the mask of virtue. Evil is good as acting as good, but good can never act as evil; for it would lose its purity and essence.
27. I do not trust the proclamations of righteousness. I trust actions and the worth of men of wisdom.
28. Words are like the wind blowing, they come and go. Deeds are stone that remain intact.
29. Good builds one's character. Evil erodes that character, causing it to be forsaken.
30. Good listens to one's wisdom. Evil silences wisdom, causing it to be overshadowed by arrogance.
31. Good questions one's belief. Evil demands obedience, causing it to be deviated from its path.
32. Good is humble in one. Evil is certain in its nature, causing it to be stained with the impurity of the soul.
33. I have seen good in the eyes of a lonesome beggar, and evil in the throne of an emperor.
34. I do not believe in holy men who proclaim divine word from a god. I believe in honest ones.
35. I do not believe in sacred texts that condemn others to a place of inferno. I believe in shared truths.
36. Good is not divine in its essence—it is human and reflects the deepest aspect of our human nature.
37. Evil is not supernatural or mystic in its nature—it is natural and found in most men's behaviour.
38. Let others fear the blazing fire of hell. I fear becoming numb to suffering and indifferent to others.
39. Let others seek the promise of a heaven in an afterlife. I seek justice on this earth.
40. Good is not a divine destination that one should seek—it is more of a path taken and chosen in life.
41. Evil is not a place for the castigated sinners in the world—it is conduct of behaviour that men are deliberate or cunning to display.
42. I do not seek any perfection in my life. I seek instead to progress in life, as a man of Meleticism.
43. I do not seek religious atonement or redemption. I seek more honesty and humbleness in me.
43. The soul is not divided by gods, nor torn by demons, but shaped by the choices it dares to make.
44. Goodness is not gifted—it is cultivated, like wisdom drawn from the well of experience.
45. Evil does not descend—it rises from within, born of neglect, ignorance, and unchecked desire.
46. The agathodaimon is not a spirit above in Meleticism, but the voice of conscience that whispers in silence.
47. The cacodaimon is not a beast below in Meleticism, but the shadow cast by selfish longing and moral decay.
48. Meleticism teaches: the battle is not celestial, but internal—fought in the quiet chambers of the heart.
49. To walk with virtue is to walk with clarity, even when the path is steep and the world unclear.
50. To fall into vice is not to be cursed, but to be blind to the better self that waits to be awakened.
51. Good is the hand that lifts another, the word that heals, the thought that seeks the way of the truth.
52. Evil is the hand that grasps for more, the word that wounds, the thought that deceives.
53. The human character is a field—what is sown in youth blooms in age, be it virtue or vice.
54. Wisdom is the lasting fruit of reflection; corruption, the rot of our self-indulgence.
55. The self is not static in its existence—it bends, breaks, and rebuilds according to the forces it allows to govern.
56. No divine decree determines our ultimate fate; it is the sum of our actions that carves our destiny.
57. The good within us is quiet, patient, enduring; the evil within us is loud, urgent and fleeting.
58. To know oneself is to know the battleground—where light and shadow contend without end.
59. Meleticism does not condemn people to an eternal hell—it reveals the evil within us, and in revelation, it defines man's descent into evil.
60. Let not evil rule by default; let the good rise through deliberate will. And in doing so, the good will triumph over the evil.
61. Each individual is subject to an internal division between their higher, more virtuous self good and their lower, more corrupt tendencies that are evil.
62. Good and evil in the philosophy of Meleticism is not the same as in religion. To a Meletic, good and evil are not associated to a god or a devil. They are associated to our character.
63. In this light, the fundamental essence of being human is one of internal conflict that is an ongoing battle between good and bad, wisdom and ignorance, virtue and vice.
64. What ultimately determines the outcome of this internal struggle is the strength of our character, the choices we make and the decisions we enact in our daily lives.
65. As human beings, we are inherently fallible and imperfect. There is no innate presence of good or evil at birth; instead, these qualities emerge as we grow and experience the world around us.
66. The journey from ignorance to wisdom, from vice to virtue is a gradual process, shaped by both external influences and internal reflection.
67. It is through this process that we become aware of the good and bad tendencies within ourselves, learning to recognise the difference between actions motivated by virtue and those driven by vice.
68. This distinction between good and evil is not merely a moral or ethical judgement, for it is a matter of self-awareness and personal growth.
69. As we mature, we develop an understanding of the consequences of our actions, and we become increasingly aware of the forces that shape our decisions.
70. It is not enough to simply identify what is good or evil in the abstract; we must also understand how these concepts manifest in our behaviour and what they reveal about our character.
71. Actions in themselves are not inherently good or evil; rather, it is the intention and reasoning behind those actions that determine their moral quality.
72. The decisions we make are what ultimately define us what we choose to do and how we choose to act reveals the true nature of our character.
73. It is in the act of decision-making that good and evil reveal themselves. Once we become conscious of this dynamic, we gain the ability to reflect upon our choices and realise the moral implications of our behaviour.
74. Our thoughts, desires and instincts all assume a significant role in shaping our actions.
75. The mind, with its capacity for reasoning and reflection can guide us towards virtuous behaviour or lead us astray into unreasoned impulses.
76. Similarly, our desires, which are those inherent longings and cravings can either align with the good or pull us towards selfishness and corruption.
77. In this sense, the body is not simply a passive vessel for the mind; it is a part of the complex interaction of forces that determine the direction of our lives.
78. It is the soul, the core of our being that represents the core of consciousness and moral awareness.
79. It is through the soul that we come to perceive the presence of good and evil within us.
80. The conscience as a manifestation of the soul serves as our moral direction, guiding us in our decision-making and offering us the ability to discern right from wrong.
81. It is through the cultivation of our conscience that we can realise the true nature of our character and the consequences of our actions.
82. A mind that is shrouded by irrational thoughts and untamed desires is likely to act impulsively, driven more by instinct and emotional reaction than by rational thought or ethical consideration.
83. In contrast, a mind that is disciplined, guided by reason and moral reflection is more likely to make decisions that align with good, acting in ways that promote wisdom, virtue and the well-being of others.
84. A person can live a life that is predominantly virtuous, just as another can live a life marked by vice.
85. The difference lies in the choices each individual makes, the values they personify and the degree to which they cultivate the good virtues whilst guarding against the evil temptations.
86. This is what distinguishes religion from philosophy. People of religion are easily swayed by their faith than people of philosophy that think more with reason than faith.
89. Virtue and vice are the two opposing forces that shape our character, and they are the key to understanding the role of good and evil in Meleticism.
90. Virtue represents the qualities of good: wisdom, courage, justice, temperance and compassion. Vice, on the other hand, represents the qualities of evil, which are ignorance, selfishness, cruelty, indulgence and dishonesty.
91. The practice of virtue is the path to aligning ourselves with the good within us, whilst the embrace of vice leads us down the path of moral decay and philosophical corruption.
92. Good and evil are not arbitrary labels; they represent the core of our ethical identity, guiding us towards either a life of wisdom and fulfilment or a life of ignorance and despair.
93. We are not born with an inherent nature of good or evil. Instead, we are constantly evolving, shaped by our choices, our thoughts and our actions.
94. Good and evil are not separate entities; they are integral parts of our own character, and it is through our decisions and behaviour that we come to embody either the virtues of good or the vices of evil.
95. Through ethical reflection, we realise the moral significance of our actions and the importance of cultivating virtues that lead to a good life than a bad life.
96. Let others cast out devils in the name of a god—I shall confront injustice in the name of justice.
97. Good is not a sacred light from above observing us—it is a fire we tend together with the self.
98. Evil is not only the darkness of the self—it is the refusal to see the light of the truth that is good rather than evil.
99. I do not seek to be saved from the temptations of vices—I seek to be awakened and strengthened by virtues.
100. And so I walk forth in life, not towards a divine heaven or hell, but towards understanding.
101. I have walked amongst the ruins of Delphi, where once the Pythia spoke in riddles. Now, silence reigns, and the wind carries no prophecy.
102. The priests have fled or converted to Christianity. Their robes hang limp in the sanctuaries, like abandoned convictions.
103. Rome builds monuments to its own glory and fame, not to the gods. Even Jupiter must kneel before mortal emperors.
104. I do not kneel to no man. Not to gods, nor emperors. My reverence is reserved for reason alone.
105. They call me impious, but I have seen piety used to justify cruelty. Better to be accused of godlessness than to be complicit in selfish violence.
106. The Christians speak of eternal salvation, yet they condemn without hesitation. Their mercy is conditional, their love selective only to those persons they claim saved.
107. I once met a man who claimed the world was fallen. I asked him—fallen from what? He said from grace. I replied in return—And what of accountability?
108. Meleticism offers no paradise in a heaven, no punishment in a hell. Only the pursuit of understanding. That to me, is sufficient as a man.
109. The stars do not judge us. They burn, indifferent and eternal. I find comfort in their silence.
110. Evil is not born of demons—it is born of ignorance, of fear and of blind obedience of human beings towards the supernatural order.
111. Good is not bestowed by divine favour. It is cultivated through thought, through choice, through courage.
112. I have seen men do evil in the name of good, who disguise their evil with their deceit and falsehood. That is the most dangerous kind of evil. One that is cloaked.
113. The scrolls of the old philosophers lie untouched. Their wisdom buried beneath dogma and lost memories.
114. I read them still. Not as scripture, but as living dialogue. They speak to me—not with authority, but with enquiry. I often think of my teacher Asterion, who taught me the philosophy of good and evil seen through Meleticism.
115. The agora is quieter now. Debate has given way to decree. Thought is no longer free—it is taxed.
116. I write in secret, not for fear of punishment, but for fear of distortion. Truth must be preserved, not paraded as scriptures or power.
117. People have grown cautious. Some have converted to Christianity, others have disappeared. I remain not in anonymity but with courage.
118. They ask me why I resist. I tell them: because I remember what philosophy was, and I remember To Ena, the One.
119. I remember a time when gods were questioned, not feared. When virtue was a practice, not a sermon. Now, to question the Christian god is considered heresy.
120. Now, virtue is dictated by religion. And dissent is branded as evil that is rooted in philosophy. They consider me evil, because I reveal to them their truth.
121. I have watched people abandon foolishly enquiry for faith. They crave answers, not questions. That was never the tradition of the ancient Greek philosophers.
122. But answers without scrutiny are chains. They bind the mind in comfort, not in truth. Faith can never replace reason. They can attempt to explain faith as necessary, but they forget that the mind is empty when forsaken.
123. The old gods were flawed, yes—but they were the manipulation of men. Born of our fears, our hopes, our stories, much like the Christian god.
124. This new god is foreign. He speaks of eternal salvation, but could not even save himself, as he pleaded to his father.
125. They say he is love, yet his followers speak often of punishment to the disbelievers who live in original sin. What kind of love is that, which condemns than embraces one's autonomy and free will?
126. I do not fear their god's punishment. I think of those minds that are silenced. The silence of minds no longer able to think for themselves, because they are indoctrinated with scriptures than with wisdom.
127. In Meleticism, I found no altar, no priest, no promise of an afterlife in a kingdom in a heaven. Only the mirror of the self that represents my image.
128. And in that mirror, I saw myself—not as sinner, not as saint, but as seeker of the truth.
129. The path is not lit by divine revelation. It is carved by human reason, step by step, as one walks this path with awareness.
130. I do not walk this path alone. There are others—quiet, scattered and resolute who walk this path also.
131. We do not preach like the Christians. We converse like people of philosophy. We do not convert others. We question them.
132. They call us dangerous. Not because we threaten their god, but because we threaten their scriptures and faith.
133. I have seen scrolls burnt with my own eyes, names erased and histories rewritten.
134. But thought cannot be destroyed, by the foolish acts of ignorance. It waits, dormant and in silence.
135. Even now, I write not for applause, but for preservation and remembrance of those wise men and women, who lived philosophy through the logos.
136. Let this chapter be read by one, or by none. It matters not, because I understand what is good and what is evil.
137. For the way of the truth, once spoken, echoes beyond its actual moment in time.
138. I have no absolute power given me from a god, but I have memory. I have no scripture, but I have reason.
139. And reason, unlike faith, does not demand submission to a god who sits upon a throne in a kingdom of heaven.
140. It invites. It challenges. It liberates the mind, the self and the soul. That for me is the foundation of Meletic philosophy.
141. They ask me what I do worship their god. I tell them: nothing; for no god is deserving of worship. What a god can do, a man can do as well, if he only trusted his potentiality and wisdom.
142. For to revere the cosmos is not to kneel before it, but to observe it witnessing its emerging existence.
143. The grain of wood, the curve of thought, the breath before speech—these are no sacred, they are visible signs of the Logos.
144. But not sacred in the way they mean to others. Not ordained. Not decreed by a divine law.
145. I do not need a god to know the difference from what is good from what is evil. I need only the awareness in my mind and soul.
146. The Christians say I am lost and hopeless without their god, but I have never felt more at peace in my life.
147. The path I walk is not straight or one that leads to eternal salvation, nor smooth, but it is mine to walk.
148. I have stumbled in my life on many occasions, but each fall taught me more than any sermon on the mount.
149. The Christians speak of original sin as the reason for evil. I speak of error of mankind. It is easier to blame men's faults on a devil than it is to accept accountability for one's actions.
150. Error is a part of who we are. Sin is a construct that builds fear in one, and is a contradiction to our human nature.
151. They fear sin as something that corrupts the mind of people, but it undermines the essence of the soul. The soul is the conscience of the self. A self that can be swayed by the ego if not attentive.
152 Thus, it is the ego that Christians should fear than sin. Purity of the soul is not achieve through religious redemption. It is achieved through one's virtues in life.
153. I have seen men destroy themselves chasing the divine purity of the soul through faith.
154. Better to be flawed in life with one's imperfections and aware than pure and blind through religious redemption.
155. They offer this form of redemption, as the only way of the soul's purity. I offer instead reflection and wisdom.
156. They demand submission to their god who died on the cross. I ask only awareness that guides us through the soul's journey in life.
157. Effort is not easy to achieve perhaps. But it is honest, when truly practised with good intention.
158. I do not promise the world everlasting peace. I promise thought, knowing that man by habit is a seeker of power and greed.
159. And thought, even though restless, is the only true freedom that man will ever owe in life.
160. Let those of religion and power preach with self-righteousness. I shall write with the seed of my wisdom.
161. Evil does not dwell in the underworld or hell as we are told. It walks beside us daily, wearing our face with disguises that are masks.
162. It is not summoned by any ritual, nor cast out by prayer. It is born of choice and deception in one. It is we humans that carried the ego within us.
163. I have seen distortion it in the eyes of men who obey without question their ego.
164. In the hands that strike not from mere rage alone, but from the influence of the ego.
165. Evil is not mere chaos that is created in the world—it is corruption without conscience.
166. It thrives in the words of the powerful that are corrupted, in the silence of emperors, or in the comfort of man's vanity or wrath.
167. Good is not divine, nor it is the possession of a god. It is pure without the need to call it sinless in its nature.
168. It speaks when silence is safer to be revealed. It stands when kneeling is not expected or demanded.
169. I have seen the presence of good in the poorest, the quietest and the forgotten of society.
170. Not in divine miracles professed, but in actual moments—small, stubborn acts of kindness revealed.
171. Good is not rewarded because of its intention. Often, it is punished in the name of a god, only for the reason that that god represents.
172. But it persists in the character of one. Not because it is commanded, but because it is chosen.
173. It blinds men to believe that they will be rewarded for their religious actions. There is no ledger. No tally of sins in the soul.
174. There is only the accountability of our deeds and virtues. There are the awakened ones we leave behind—the lives we touch, the harm we avoid.
175. I do not fear the burning flames of a hell. I know that the worst hell is the one men create to impose fear unto others.
176. I do not seek a divine heaven that awaits me after death. I seek to be just unto others, as they are just unto me.
177. Let others chase the whims and longing for eternity. I shall follow my integrity and wisdom.
178. For in each man that lives, lies both the tyrant and the healer within. This is the contrast between good and evil in a man.
179. And every day that we live on this earth, we decide which one to become, and which one will either lead us or corrupt us.
180. That to me, is the true battle—good versus evil, not in demons or angels, but in ourselves. We have the power in our hands to be virtuous or corrupted.
181. The sword is not the evil that we should dread. The hand that wields it decides one's punishment, not the sword itself.
182. The law is not good, because it is divine in its nature. The heart that enforces it determines its justice.
183. We are not born wicked or corrupted in the soul or self. Nor are we born wise; we become either one that bears our wisdom or our corruption.
184. We are born with the capacity to know and to learn what is good and what is evil. That is both our burden and our gift.
185. I have seen manifold men build prisons to punish the evildoers, but there are also men of innocence who are falsely punished by men of authority.
186. I have seen others break the chains of oppression and call their defiant, an act of rebellion.
187. Both believed they were right in their just cause, but we must understand the nature of good, if we are to understand evil.
188. So I ask not what a man believes is good and evil, but what he defends when no one watches?
189. The measure of good is not in one's sacred creed proclaimed, but in the compassion of one's soul.
190. The measure of evil is not in one's wrath displayed, but in the indifference of the ego towards others.
191. A man may speak volume of virtue in his life, and still betray those people who are weak or are meek.
192. Another may speak little about the nature of the soul, and still lift the fallen people from the soul's descent.
193. I have learnt to listen less to the words of those people, who seek to impose their beliefs more than the voice of their actual deeds.
194. To judge not by the garments one wears, but by the wounds they cause unto others.
195. If evil is indeed a lingering shadow with its own presence, it is cast by our own turning away from the way of the truth and our lack of virtues.
196. If good is a light that is shone then, it is lit by our own hands than of divine will.
197. No god will save us from ourselves. It is we who must save ourselves from the presence of the ego.
198. No devil will damn us without our consent or fear. It is who create our own devil from within the mind.
199. Just as we are the authors of good, the architects of our virtues, we are also the authors of evil, and the architects of vices.
200. So let us choose, each day, to be good than evil. Listen to the self that guides you in life than the ego that corrupts you.
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