21 levels of Self-Deception: THIRD EDITION by Tom Wallace - HTML preview

T W E N T Y - O N E L E V E L S

context in which we live. Only in the manifest world can any kind of contingency arise. Darkness and chaos may manifest in destructive and evil acts within the human economy. It could be said that the response to beauty here has failed. Beauty is too much and for some reason the destructive personality flees from it or crushes it rather than trying to reflect it back into the world. But this is not ultimate reality. Even the most depraved and debased person is not pure evil. They still have intrinsic value. To deny this is to deny the true reality of the world. It is also to deny a part of ourselves. We are all one, so there is darkness and chaos running through us all.

The economy of descendancy tells us that we are part of our soul rather than our soul being part of us (even if we interpret this in a non-literal fashion). So too, our soul does not belong to us but has her own ways. She is part of mystery, with far more knowledge than we will ever find by ourselves. The soul is rooted in mystery. Darkness and chaos are as much part of who we are as light and beauty. The soul mediates between our essence and our personality to make us the person we are. We may be fortunate in that all these things conspire to allow the lighter side of our souls to shine through. Or it may be that darkness and chaos come to the fore. This does not make the soul herself evil. However, I don’t intend to explain — far less, explain away — the reality of evil. Just as in nature we see predator and prey as well as benign co-operation, so too in human society we see evil as well as good. I think this is a paradox we must live with.

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