Part II: The Spirit of Wisdom (and the Corruption of Madness)
The Dividing Line Between Vice and Virtue
A line exists between vice and virtue. It is the same line that separates evil from good. You may have heard it said before that our virtues are our strengths and our vices are our weaknesses, but this is flawed thinking that does not fully describe the relationship between vice and virtue.
If someone is physically weak, then when a situation arises where great physical strength is required to complete a task, it doesn’t matter if that person’s motivations are good or evil. If their muscles aren’t strong enough to do the job, they won’t be able to complete the task because they are too weak. To be weak in a certain area is to be lacking in strength.
Vices and virtues are different because they both can be very strong. It is not the relative power of these attributes that determine whether they are vices or virtues, but rather, it is how we choose to use these attributes—for good or for evil.
This is important to understand so that we don’t get caught in the trap of believing that our vices must always be our vices and our virtues will always be our virtues. Whatever quality it is that makes our greatest vices so powerful can be transformed into one of our greatest virtues if we master it with good instead of evil. Likewise, our finest virtues can become our ugliest vices if we do not remain diligent, but instead allow evil to creep in and corrupt them.
When seeking to understand the world around us, we do so by looking through either the lens of wisdom or the lens of madness. In this pairing, wisdom is the virtue to madness is the vice. This might be difficult to understand for some because typically a person accused of being overcome by madness is thought of as being insane, or at least very foolish. But, imagine this:
You meet someone who is highly educated. They possess a great amount of knowledge within their area of expertise; they are a leader in their field, and the conclusions they reach on difficult topics are both insightful and elegant. They are someone who you would describe as very intelligent, and with regards to the knowledge they possess this may be true. If you have wisdom enough to look closely at how they apply their knowledge to their life, though, the madness that guides them starts to show through. You see that the foundations of their worldview—their perception of good, evil, right, wrong, life, and death—relies on faulty assumptions, flawed logic, or a belief in false-facts that either do not exist or are so far distorted from the truth that they are unusable. This is because, in the areas of life that matter most, they view reality through the lens of madness. For one reason or another, they have chosen not to align their mind, heart, and soul with All-That-is-Good, and by rejecting wisdom the final conclusion of all of their learning is madness, evil, and death.
But what happens if suddenly this person has a change of heart, and sees their madness for what it is, and starts to view the world through wisdom’s lens? Will they have to relearn everything they knew and start their education all over again? No. Will their brilliance that led them so deep into madness be taken from them? No. They will still possess the same level of brilliance, as well as all of the facts and experiences they’ve acquired over the years. Many of their conclusions will have to be thrown out and many personal theories redrawn, but by aligning themselves with good rather than evil, their greatest vice that saw them marching down the road to death can become their greatest virtue and now steer them and all who listen to their teachings toward life.
Let’s consider this truth in more basic terms:
Imagine someone who is very clever, and is known for being so. Is this person’s cleverness a vice or a virtue? Well, it depends how they use it. If it is used for evil it is a vice, but if it is used for good it is a virtue. If one day this person abandons the path of evil and seeks after All-That-is-Good, they will not lose their cleverness and have to acquire it all over again. No, they will still be clever, but now they use it in cooperation with the Way of Life and their vice has become a virtue.
What about someone who is very determined and does not give up easily? Is their determination a vice or a virtue? It is a vice if it causes them to stubbornly refuse to listen to reason as they charge headlong down the path of destruction, but it is a virtue if they have the sense to turn around when they start heading off in the wrong direction.
Some people are nurturers by nature and give readily of themselves in order to care for others. Is this a vice or a virtue? It depends. Do they baby the people they care about and encourage them to stay comfortable, self-centered, and weak; or do they encourage their loved ones to pursue good, to not be afraid, and to realize their full potential?
There are people in this world who are very passionate. What they feel and desire is a strong motivating force within their lives. When their passions are selfish this leads to harmful addictions, disregard for the well-being of others, and obsessing over one’s own happiness to point of misery and death: This is passion acting as a vice. When passion aligns itself with good and desires more of All-That-is-Good, it expresses itself through personal growth, concern for the well-being of others, and the rejection of all unhealthy desires that do not promote goodness within one’s own person and the surrounding environment.
With a little bit of wisdom, these examples should not be difficult to understand, and you can probably already imagine how to apply this thinking to other human attributes. But some vices are harder to comprehend as being a virtue.
If someone is physically weak, then when a situation arises where great physical strength is required to complete a task, it doesn’t matter if that person’s motivations are good or evil. If their muscles aren’t strong enough to do the job, they won’t be able to complete the task because they are too weak. To be weak in a certain area is to be lacking in strength.
Vices and virtues are different because they both can be very strong. It is not the relative power of these attributes that determine whether they are vices or virtues, but rather, it is how we choose to use these attributes—for good or for evil.
This is important to understand so that we don’t get caught in the trap of believing that our vices must always be our vices and our virtues will always be our virtues. Whatever quality it is that makes our greatest vices so powerful can be transformed into one of our greatest virtues if we master it with good instead of evil. Likewise, our finest virtues can become our ugliest vices if we do not remain diligent, but instead allow evil to creep in and corrupt them.
When seeking to understand the world around us, we do so by looking through either the lens of wisdom or the lens of madness. In this pairing, wisdom is the virtue to madness is the vice. This might be difficult to understand for some because typically a person accused of being overcome by madness is thought of as being insane, or at least very foolish. But, imagine this:
You meet someone who is highly educated. They possess a great amount of knowledge within their area of expertise; they are a leader in their field, and the conclusions they reach on difficult topics are both insightful and elegant. They are someone who you would describe as very intelligent, and with regards to the knowledge they possess this may be true. If you have wisdom enough to look closely at how they apply their knowledge to their life, though, the madness that guides them starts to show through. You see that the foundations of their worldview—their perception of good, evil, right, wrong, life, and death—relies on faulty assumptions, flawed logic, or a belief in false-facts that either do not exist or are so far distorted from the truth that they are unusable. This is because, in the areas of life that matter most, they view reality through the lens of madness. For one reason or another, they have chosen not to align their mind, heart, and soul with All-That-is-Good, and by rejecting wisdom the final conclusion of all of their learning is madness, evil, and death.
But what happens if suddenly this person has a change of heart, and sees their madness for what it is, and starts to view the world through wisdom’s lens? Will they have to relearn everything they knew and start their education all over again? No. Will their brilliance that led them so deep into madness be taken from them? No. They will still possess the same level of brilliance, as well as all of the facts and experiences they’ve acquired over the years. Many of their conclusions will have to be thrown out and many personal theories redrawn, but by aligning themselves with good rather than evil, their greatest vice that saw them marching down the road to death can become their greatest virtue and now steer them and all who listen to their teachings toward life.
Let’s consider this truth in more basic terms:
Imagine someone who is very clever, and is known for being so. Is this person’s cleverness a vice or a virtue? Well, it depends how they use it. If it is used for evil it is a vice, but if it is used for good it is a virtue. If one day this person abandons the path of evil and seeks after All-That-is-Good, they will not lose their cleverness and have to acquire it all over again. No, they will still be clever, but now they use it in cooperation with the Way of Life and their vice has become a virtue.
What about someone who is very determined and does not give up easily? Is their determination a vice or a virtue? It is a vice if it causes them to stubbornly refuse to listen to reason as they charge headlong down the path of destruction, but it is a virtue if they have the sense to turn around when they start heading off in the wrong direction.
Some people are nurturers by nature and give readily of themselves in order to care for others. Is this a vice or a virtue? It depends. Do they baby the people they care about and encourage them to stay comfortable, self-centered, and weak; or do they encourage their loved ones to pursue good, to not be afraid, and to realize their full potential?
There are people in this world who are very passionate. What they feel and desire is a strong motivating force within their lives. When their passions are selfish this leads to harmful addictions, disregard for the well-being of others, and obsessing over one’s own happiness to point of misery and death: This is passion acting as a vice. When passion aligns itself with good and desires more of All-That-is-Good, it expresses itself through personal growth, concern for the well-being of others, and the rejection of all unhealthy desires that do not promote goodness within one’s own person and the surrounding environment.
With a little bit of wisdom, these examples should not be difficult to understand, and you can probably already imagine how to apply this thinking to other human attributes. But some vices are harder to comprehend as being a virtue.
| Transforming “Mental Illness” |
The inner workings of our minds are shaped by the complex union of our physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual selves. They determine how we process information and perceive reality. A popular term that people like to throw around when describing themselves is “crazy”—particularly when alluding to their insecurities. Sometimes this is done light-heartedly and the word “crazy” is just used as an excuse to not have to address a negative behavior that we know is wrong, but don’t want to fix. Other times we use it to refer to a deeper psychological issue that we have tried to fix but failed to, and so we dejectedly label ourselves “crazy.” It is also possible that our minds just work differently than the minds of those around us, and even though there is nothing truly wrong with us, we are told that we are not “normal”, and allow ourselves to get pressured into believing that “crazy” is who we are.
To be clear, mental disabilities do exist where certain parts of the neural network of our brains are damaged or destroyed, and our brain’s ability to function is truly limited. This damage can lead to erratic behavior and a distorted perception of reality due to an inability of our bodies to regulate hormones or correctly process stimuli. Difficulties such as this are an example of a real handicap, not a vice.
Having said that, though, many times our erratic behavior, irrational thinking, inability to focus, etc. are a product of poor physical, emotional, spiritual, or mental discipline which turns our brains’ natural virtues into vices. Bearing this in mind we should be careful to not allow ourselves or others to inappropriately label parts of us as crazy, diseased, or handicapped, when they are really a virtue in disguise.
To be clear, mental disabilities do exist where certain parts of the neural network of our brains are damaged or destroyed, and our brain’s ability to function is truly limited. This damage can lead to erratic behavior and a distorted perception of reality due to an inability of our bodies to regulate hormones or correctly process stimuli. Difficulties such as this are an example of a real handicap, not a vice.
Having said that, though, many times our erratic behavior, irrational thinking, inability to focus, etc. are a product of poor physical, emotional, spiritual, or mental discipline which turns our brains’ natural virtues into vices. Bearing this in mind we should be careful to not allow ourselves or others to inappropriately label parts of us as crazy, diseased, or handicapped, when they are really a virtue in disguise.
DEPRESSION
Most people will experience mild to moderate depression at some point in their life, even if it is never formally diagnosed as such.
This crippling state of mind can limit our ability to function, cause life to feel pointless, our best efforts to seem worthless, and even lead to thoughts of suicide. Anyone who has struggled with depression will not hesitate to call it a vice. But, how can something that brings such misery, and has the power to make us believe life isn’t worth living really stem from some quality inside of us that is actually a virtue?
Since evil is only a corruption of good it can be understood that whatever it is inside of us that we have allowed to be transformed into something so disabling and destructive must also have the capacity to be equally uplifting and empowering when we align our hearts and minds with good. But what quality inside of us is the source of our depression?
Put simply, it is our spiritual awareness, specifically our awareness of the presence of good and evil in the world around us.
As spiritual awareness increases we become more aware of the presence of good and evil, right and wrong, and life and death within our world. But when our awareness of these things outpaces our understanding of them, this leaves the door open for madness to creep in and depression to take hold.
It is not uncommon for people to go through a period of depression when they are made more keenly aware of the presence of good and evil in our world. This is because when our senses are heightened we are flooded with new thoughts and realizations that we weren’t conscious of before. During these times, wisdom will continue to call out to us, like it always does, to try and lead us toward a greater understanding of the things we see—thereby making our heightened spiritual awareness a virtue. But, we must voluntarily choose to answer its call, because if good does not willingly cooperate with good then it is evil, and there is no wisdom in evil, only madness.
On the other side of the dividing line, evil—whether it be the selfish evil inside ourselves or outside of ourselves—is free to attack us without restraint because it doesn’t require our cooperation in order to turn our heightened awareness into a vice. It only needs us to hate or lose faith in good in order to plant the seeds of depression.
By letting evil creep in and guide our thinking we mistakenly start to believe that evil is winning the fight, that wrong actions produce better results than right actions, and there is no hope for us—because we are too weak and we live in a world where selfishness and cruelty thrive; where people who try to do the right thing always seem to have less money, less support, less resources, and are constantly taking losses. We might start to believe that good isn’t really good—that evil is good and good is evil. Or, we may doubt that good and evil exist at all.
We may also be so wrapped up in our own selfish desires that evil forces don’t have to try and discourage us at all, but only encourage our selfish, self-destructive thinking to continue to prosper and grow.
We cannot fully get rid of the stain of evil in this life, but as we align ourselves with good and our understanding of the truth grows, so does our hope. Our imperfections become increasingly insignificant once we see that every vice can be transformed into a virtue. Even death will no longer haunt us because, for those who align themselves with good and follow the Way, it is only a door to the life that awaits us beyond all evil and vices.
There is no wisdom in depression, only madness. Apply yourself to the pursuit of wisdom and cultivating a love for All-That-is-Good. Add spiritual understanding to your spiritual awareness so you may transform the vice of depression into the virtue of spiritual enlightenment—which is a wellspring of hope, joy, confidence and peace, a love for yourself and a love for others.
This crippling state of mind can limit our ability to function, cause life to feel pointless, our best efforts to seem worthless, and even lead to thoughts of suicide. Anyone who has struggled with depression will not hesitate to call it a vice. But, how can something that brings such misery, and has the power to make us believe life isn’t worth living really stem from some quality inside of us that is actually a virtue?
Since evil is only a corruption of good it can be understood that whatever it is inside of us that we have allowed to be transformed into something so disabling and destructive must also have the capacity to be equally uplifting and empowering when we align our hearts and minds with good. But what quality inside of us is the source of our depression?
Put simply, it is our spiritual awareness, specifically our awareness of the presence of good and evil in the world around us.
As spiritual awareness increases we become more aware of the presence of good and evil, right and wrong, and life and death within our world. But when our awareness of these things outpaces our understanding of them, this leaves the door open for madness to creep in and depression to take hold.
It is not uncommon for people to go through a period of depression when they are made more keenly aware of the presence of good and evil in our world. This is because when our senses are heightened we are flooded with new thoughts and realizations that we weren’t conscious of before. During these times, wisdom will continue to call out to us, like it always does, to try and lead us toward a greater understanding of the things we see—thereby making our heightened spiritual awareness a virtue. But, we must voluntarily choose to answer its call, because if good does not willingly cooperate with good then it is evil, and there is no wisdom in evil, only madness.
On the other side of the dividing line, evil—whether it be the selfish evil inside ourselves or outside of ourselves—is free to attack us without restraint because it doesn’t require our cooperation in order to turn our heightened awareness into a vice. It only needs us to hate or lose faith in good in order to plant the seeds of depression.
By letting evil creep in and guide our thinking we mistakenly start to believe that evil is winning the fight, that wrong actions produce better results than right actions, and there is no hope for us—because we are too weak and we live in a world where selfishness and cruelty thrive; where people who try to do the right thing always seem to have less money, less support, less resources, and are constantly taking losses. We might start to believe that good isn’t really good—that evil is good and good is evil. Or, we may doubt that good and evil exist at all.
We may also be so wrapped up in our own selfish desires that evil forces don’t have to try and discourage us at all, but only encourage our selfish, self-destructive thinking to continue to prosper and grow.
We cannot fully get rid of the stain of evil in this life, but as we align ourselves with good and our understanding of the truth grows, so does our hope. Our imperfections become increasingly insignificant once we see that every vice can be transformed into a virtue. Even death will no longer haunt us because, for those who align themselves with good and follow the Way, it is only a door to the life that awaits us beyond all evil and vices.
There is no wisdom in depression, only madness. Apply yourself to the pursuit of wisdom and cultivating a love for All-That-is-Good. Add spiritual understanding to your spiritual awareness so you may transform the vice of depression into the virtue of spiritual enlightenment—which is a wellspring of hope, joy, confidence and peace, a love for yourself and a love for others.
OTHER CONDITIONS
Depression is not the only mental disorder that has the capacity to be transformed from a vice into virtue. Any condition that adds to our perception of reality, or alters it from what others may consider “normal”, is most likely not a true limitation, but a misunderstood ability.
For instance what is the difference between social anxiety and empathy? Both are examples of increased social awareness, but we develop the vice of social anxiety when we let doubts and insecurities overwhelm us and cause us to fixate on negative things about ourselves and others. To be empathetic is to be able to key into other people’s thoughts and feelings more easily. When used appropriately empathy can make it easier to connect with people on a deeper level, it can steer us away from people that mean to do us harm, and it can even allow us to detect internal struggles going on inside someone that other people are unaware of.
Does hearing voices, or feeling multiple presences inside your head mean you’re crazy?
There are many unseen forces in this universe, which can speak to us from the spiritual realm. They act on everyone, but most of us are not consciously aware of their influences. If you hear voices you can’t explain, it could be due to damage in the brain, or it could be a result of heightened spiritual perception. Explore this condition; seek to understand it with the help of wisdom, the Perfect Guide, and the One Great Spirit; and you may find that you are not sick at all, but just more attuned to the unseen forces that are always at work around us. In cases such as this the difference between vice and virtue is whether you let these voices drive you toward fear and madness, or if you view them through the lens of wisdom in order to better understand the universe and your place in it.
Some people process, or store, information differently than what is considered “normal” and we give their conditions labels, such as Dyslexia, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and Synesthesia. The “normal” thing that people often do after labeling something that they don’t fully understand as a deficiency is they try to "fix" it and tell these misunderstood people that they are "broken". In truth, everyone is broken to some degree, even "normal" people. But this reaction to outliers, puts pressure on people with these conditions to believe there is something wrong with them, and it causes them to focus more on their weaknesses, instead of seeking to develop their strengths. In cases such as these, the real vice is our negative perception that causes us not to take advantage of whatever enhanced abilities may come with these “abnormal” cognitions.
Everyone is limited in their understanding, everyone sees life a little bit differently, and everyone comprehends certain things more easily than others. The dividing line between vice and virtue is good and evil, not “normal” and “crazy.” Don’t let the opinion of others prevent you from discovering and developing your virtues, and be careful not to let your negative thinking or neglect turn them into vices.
For instance what is the difference between social anxiety and empathy? Both are examples of increased social awareness, but we develop the vice of social anxiety when we let doubts and insecurities overwhelm us and cause us to fixate on negative things about ourselves and others. To be empathetic is to be able to key into other people’s thoughts and feelings more easily. When used appropriately empathy can make it easier to connect with people on a deeper level, it can steer us away from people that mean to do us harm, and it can even allow us to detect internal struggles going on inside someone that other people are unaware of.
Does hearing voices, or feeling multiple presences inside your head mean you’re crazy?
There are many unseen forces in this universe, which can speak to us from the spiritual realm. They act on everyone, but most of us are not consciously aware of their influences. If you hear voices you can’t explain, it could be due to damage in the brain, or it could be a result of heightened spiritual perception. Explore this condition; seek to understand it with the help of wisdom, the Perfect Guide, and the One Great Spirit; and you may find that you are not sick at all, but just more attuned to the unseen forces that are always at work around us. In cases such as this the difference between vice and virtue is whether you let these voices drive you toward fear and madness, or if you view them through the lens of wisdom in order to better understand the universe and your place in it.
Some people process, or store, information differently than what is considered “normal” and we give their conditions labels, such as Dyslexia, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and Synesthesia. The “normal” thing that people often do after labeling something that they don’t fully understand as a deficiency is they try to "fix" it and tell these misunderstood people that they are "broken". In truth, everyone is broken to some degree, even "normal" people. But this reaction to outliers, puts pressure on people with these conditions to believe there is something wrong with them, and it causes them to focus more on their weaknesses, instead of seeking to develop their strengths. In cases such as these, the real vice is our negative perception that causes us not to take advantage of whatever enhanced abilities may come with these “abnormal” cognitions.
Everyone is limited in their understanding, everyone sees life a little bit differently, and everyone comprehends certain things more easily than others. The dividing line between vice and virtue is good and evil, not “normal” and “crazy.” Don’t let the opinion of others prevent you from discovering and developing your virtues, and be careful not to let your negative thinking or neglect turn them into vices.