Discipline, Compassion and the word 'Evil'

Spirit (Ling): Greetings.

I am having a little smile to myself because I am going to cause a… oh I think you call it a cat amongst the pigeons … but I want one of you please, to repeat the Seventh Principle that was given to Spiritualists.

I don’t mind whom; you can all do it in chorus if you wish.

(Long pause)

Ah, you’re repeating the Principles from the beginning some of you. (Mirth) (Another pause)

Sitter (K): Would it be… ‘Continual progress is open to every human soul’, no, ‘Eternal progress is open to every human soul’?

Spirit: That is the Seventh. Oh is that what I said, ‘Seventh?’

Sitter: Yes I think so.

Spirit: That is my error and I humbly apologise! I really want the Sixth!

You are quit correct my friend, if I said ‘Seventh’. Now the Sixth please? I should go back right through them shouldn’t I, and see how good you all are?

(Pause)

Sitter (H): And I used to know them all right too, sorry I can’t think at the moment.

(Pause)

Sitter (J): Sorry I can’t either.

Spirit: Do you mind if I have a little laugh? (Laughter).

Well I will repeat them from the beginning: ‘The Fatherhood of God’, ‘The Brotherhood of man’, (and I have heard some of you people put ‘Universal’ in front of them and of this we approve), you ‘Commune with spirit and the ministry of angels’, ‘Survival of bodily death’, and ‘Personal responsibility’, with ‘Compensation…

Sitter (K): And retribution here and hereafter, for all the good and evil deeds done on earth.

Spirit: That is right, and of course you knew the Seventh.

Now there has been some question in the minds and discussions of one or two of you, over the ending of the Sixth one … do you remember what that was, those who participated?

Sitter (K): About evil deeds done on earth.

Spirit: Correct. I think it was our medium that said, or wanted to question. I think she said to you Ken, “I have done some things in my life that I don’t like, but I don’t feel I have been evil”. You agreed – is that correct?

Sitter (K): Yes.

Spirit: She has also discussed it with others. And what conclusion would you Ken come to over evil? What is evil? (Pause) Now you other two please think, ‘What is evil’, discuss it if you wish.

Sitter (K): To me evil would be, that which affects other people badly.

Sitter (J): Yes, harming other people.

Sitter (H): Yes deliberately harming other people I would think, in some way or another, or animals … deliberately doing it, knowing better but doing it anyway, because you wanted to, and it suited you.

Spirit: I think a word that possibly may be used is ‘sadistic’. So if you think carefully, and really think hard on that, we condemn a lot of people, we think of them as evil, but they are not.

In your lives or in your history, going back, there are not many evil people. There are mistaken people, there are people as you say who harm others deliberately, and that is evil. But the person who is stupid over drink, and drugs, and many of the corrupting things that can happen in your world today, the person who drives their car in a stupid way because they‘ve taken too much alcohol… we must not get to the stage in our thinking that we look down on them as evil.

They must not be punished in their minds for that, for people to rant and rave at them over the sins that they have committed, the evil they have done, that is not going to help them. They, because they are living in a physical world must have physical punishment, discipline, which is something we are always trying to teach you, ‘discipline’.

But, in your hearts, though you may say, “That person must be disciplined”, have compassion, unless, and this would be a hard thing for you to do, (and under-standably), there has been sadism involved against humans or animals. Even here there can be a question mark), was it done in ignorance, like with a child? You might say, “The little evil brute”, because a child has been cruel to its pet; but then who is the cruel person if you say to a little boy for example, “Naughty boy you mustn’t do that, that would hurt pussy” and he immediately turns around and does it again … because he doesn’t know what the ‘hurt’ is, and is punished?

A mistake has been made in many parts of the world over ‘discipline’. It must be given, and we must all have it, but with compassion behind it!

So though it is in the Sixth Principle, most of you, most of the people of the world have probably not been evil, but there are those who have, and they must eventually overcome that. So tonight’s talk is really ‘Discipline with Compassion’.

Is there anything you would care to ask, because I realise that one or two of you have been questioning this talk that came from spirit, many, many years ago?

Sitter (K): Yes there’s something I can recall of the discussion between Joyce and myself here. I think one of the things we looked at was, “How evil or how bad is a person like these suicide bombers, who at the moment are killing twenty people or more at a time? Do we hold that against them when they believe that they are doing it for the right reasons, for they have been told by their religious leaders that they will then go straight to heaven? It seems to me that they could almost be held blameless, in looking at it from one point of view?

Spirit: How true you speak, because they could be held blameless, as long as there has never been a question in their minds. If that question is there and they do nothing about it, then it becomes an insidious evil in them.

Say they have been to their synagogue or church or whatever it is they attend, and they are told to go out and kill so many people because they do this, that, and the other thing – and they don’t question it, they accept it … they are not to blame. But if, even for a second, it enters the mind, “That doesn’t seem right”, that is enough! If they go ahead, they are overcoming the good of their spirit, because after all that’s what they are, the same as you – spirit. Does that help you?

Sitter: Yes thank you.

Spirit: Anything further?

Sitter (J): Nothing from me thank you Ling.

Sitter (H): Nor from me either thank you.

Sitter (K): Could be lots of things later on, but nothing more from me just now thanks.

Spirit: It does not harm my friends, to question things that come from spirit. We, as we have told you, can make mistakes. We are not infallible, look I started off tonight with one big one already. (Mirth)

But we understand what you were getting at, and it is appreciated, because you are living, you are living spirits and naturally you must think. One does not develop unless one thinks and questions, so by all means if you have any doubts, talk about them, and perhaps we will be sufficiently close to you that we will hear. If not, perhaps when you are talking to us in these circles we have, we might be able to bring it up, or you might.

Well on that note, remember we are your friends; we want to help, because others are also helping us to learn.

Goodnight and God bless you.

Sitters: Goodnight.

I realise somebody reading this might think that Circles have a great interest in the 'Seven Principles'. While this one appears to do so it is not usually the case and I have not been in one that has even mentioned them. Spiritualism has no 'Book' but does have a set of 'Principles' received from Spirit through Emma Hardinge Britten. J.H.H.