6. Nobility of Soul

6.1: Self-control

The human will does consist in the independent attention of the individual, and it does belong to him alone. The independent attention can never be deprived from the man, no matter what can be experienced from within or externally, whether it does involve the two sources, what other people can do, or what can happen in the environment. For the man does always possess a constant choice of that where his attention can be directed to, what he does choose to see and listen to, what he does choose to pursue for or abstain from, and in what way he will respond to everything else. The man can always choose one thing while rejecting other things at the same time, whether it does involve the human spirit or the mind, and what kind of values belong to either one. The human spirit will continue to give good counsel and help the man for free, while the mind will continue to offer bad counsel and persecute the man for free, whether the man does want it or not. But the man does still have control of his will, what he does choose to give attention to, and in what way he will respond to it, during and after its experience. The sense organs make the man able to see and listen to information in the surroundings, but the sense organs do still not come up with interpretation or response on his behalf. It is rather depended upon the man’s will, whether he will be focused enough or distracted, able to analyze the information or be indifferent to it, and be responsive with his body.
                    It is based upon spiritual values in determining the man’s determination, self-control, and stoical fortitude. It is not like the man does need to know everything in advance, or be able to predict the future. But it is only sufficient that he can possess certainty of his own determination, in receiving all things with inner calmness and a relaxed will. The man does first need to accustom himself to inner silence, before he can be able to concentrate upon all other things, by maintaining the attention alert in the long run. If the man is already silent then he can notice and learn new things with an open mind, because there is no distraction or interruption happening at the same time. The man would otherwise by self-absorbed by his own thoughts and whims, only listening to himself speak and what he wants to say, while neglecting other people and the environment. An inner silence is not something which needs to be strained for, or by repressing as many thoughts as possible, until there can finally be silence. It can rather be said that inner silence is about doing nothing at all, where is allowed everything to pass through oneself, without showing any resistance, without attempting to defend oneself from anything. This does not mean that we have given up and yielded to temptations, because we know that the divinity understands our position and knows what we are going through in our life. This is why we do not need to be afraid of giving wrong impression, and like we need to explain ourselves. Our inner silence is another form in overcoming temptations, in a more efficient way.  The best defence is to rely upon no defence at all, but it is rather had faith in the divinity, that the divinity will be able to save us from everything and conquer the mind on our behalf.
                     Self-control is about silent determination, as if the human will would be naked, without needing any superfluous things stacked upon it. It can be observed and understood things in a silent way, without needing to explain it any further. For that all reassessment only came afterwards, but it does not prove to be the original source, which bestowed such sense or inspiration in the first place. It should be had silent faith in the human spirit and allow it to do its work in the circumstance, because the human spirit is meant to be our only shelter, the only deliverer in our life. But our own thoughts and words would otherwise only get in the way, like when we seek to defend ourselves through frail means and try to find another refuge to flee into. The human body proves to be greater than any clothes, which are only meant to shelter the body. And the similar thing applies about armour, in protecting the body from harm. So that clothes and armour is centred upon the human body, but it is not the other way around. It should be looked upon this in context with the human spirit, for it is well able to speak for itself and support itself, in doing so alone without needing any help from the man. The human spirit is the last thread to hold unto after everything else has collapsed in the man’s life, manifesting itself in a silent awareness and determination. So it is like everything is made acceptable and easier to bear, even that the man has not said or done anything. It can happen that the man shows a sign of weakness and yield to a delusion, but he should still not have guilt over the matter and dwell further upon it. For the man will otherwise take up the thread where it was last left, and remind himself of the very same temptations, even that it is done through different reasons, in wanting to resist it this time. The man should rather allow all thoughts to pass through himself throughout the day, while he does continue to move on with his schedule and have a useful activity. It is thereby like there does not exist any connection between that what is thought about, and what is being practiced at this moment, since the thoughts do either way have no bearings upon it.
                     It can happen that the man stumbles and falls many times on the same day, but he should still continue raise himself up each and every time. It is thereby like it could apply endlessly, because the man will always stand up for one more time, and continue with his attempts. It does correspond to the struggle against the mind, for the man can at some point receive delusions into his temper, like the delusions get hold on him and affect his stability. But the man should still refuse to give up, and refuse to yield any further, regardless of his current location, since it is only sufficient to be vigilant at this moment, from henceforth. It does not matter whether the man has already taken the first steps to corruption, because he can always return to his original conviction, just as what applied before. The man can experience difficulty in overcoming temptations, not because of any lack of right answers, but it is rather because he experiences impulsiveness at the same time. It is like the man is unable to control his own reactions, but he does immediately show anger or some kind of weakness from within, every time he thinks about specific problems. It can thereby be helpful for the man to discover the root of the problem, by tracing himself from the fruits to the branches, and from the branches to the roots. The man must first ask himself why he does receive these things so much into himself, or why does he allow these things to affect himself so much, in taking things too personally. When the man has truthfully answered this question then he must ask again the same questions, unless the question does now apply to the answer, why he does receive it so much into himself. It is thereby always questioned the new answer, and so forth, until it is discovered the root of the problem.
                     The external matters are not the real problem, but it does rather consist in one’s own weaknesses, since it does make oneself already receptive toward temptations. It does thereby not matter when the temptations will happen, at what place, or which person tempts oneself, since that one would either way have been affected by it, because of one’s weaknesses. But if one is already freed from such weaknesses then nothing will be able to affect oneself, and one will no longer choose to see the external matters as a problem, relevant to oneself. It should thereby not only be renounced temptations, but also one’s own weaknesses, which such temptations have hitherto been appealing to and thriving upon. It is not like the man should struggle against all kinds of subjective problems and enemies, while he does still leave his selfishness intact, as the basis of all further weaknesses. It does never work when the man attempts to focus upon that in experiencing a circumstance, and that in saving himself from subjective problems at the same time. For these two things do contradict with each other and cannot be completed at the same time, so the man’s half-hearted effort is the same thing as no effort. It could be likened to that if the man would station himself at the borders between two countries, so that he will have the left leg at one country and the right leg at the other. Therefore will the man be unable to enjoy either country, because he is stuck in between.
                     It can be mentioned the illusion when the mind does both tempt the man and then pretends to respond on his behalf, as if the man had already agreed with the temptation or yielded to it. For an example then the man does first experience delusions about something, and then immediately does appear another delusion which seems to answer it in a selfish way, sounding just like the man’s own voice. But both the temptation and the response is part of the very same temptations, as if a bad person could both offer something to the man and leave it in front of him, even that the man has not agreed to anything nor reached his hands forth to receive it. Therefore has the man still not made any choice, nor yielded to the temptation in question, but it is rather being tested in what way the man will respond after all these things have happened. It is not like the man can always be perfect in everything and never show a sign of weakness, when it comes to maintain distance from all thoughts, in being detached from their influence, and in blocking them at the outset. For there are always some thoughts which are harder to resist than other thoughts, or which can even seem irresistible. These type of thoughts can be called the greater demons, which are stronger than the man in his human might, so that the man needs to rely upon the divinity in order to overcome the same (the divinity is strongest, thereby stronger than those which are stronger than the man).  It is like the man is unable to control his own reactions, but he does immediately show anger or some kind of weakness from within, every time he thinks about specific problems. The man is so personally involved that he cannot help himself, even that he might know thousand correct arguments against the problems. The problem does still manage to grab the man’s head and he finds himself unwilling to let go off it. For example then the man can still hold a grudge against false friends or enemies of the past. So that every time the mind mentions these specific things then the man does immediately agree with it, where he begins to think evil toward other persons and wishes for evil to happen to them. But the man can still realize it within himself that he is now yielding to these thoughts, that what he is doing is wrong, that it should not be sought to justify it, and not acted upon it. The man can now turn to the divinity and confess the truth about his own position, that the man is unable to overcome these problems on his own and that he needs the divinity to help him through it. The man confesses that he is being so personally involved and biased in regard to those persons that he cannot think soberly and pass a fair verdict, that he is in no position to judge them in anything (based on their current attitude and choices). The man asks the divinity to help him forgive other people in his heart, and that the divinity might forgive him. The man asks the divinity to help him have a pure attitude and to be changed for the better. So the man can cast all his burdens upon the divinity and allow it to take care of them. Even that these thoughts continue to emerge and the man can lose himself in them then it is still only bound to the mind, without having any effects upon the man’s actual choices and dealings with other people. So that a seeming spiritual defeat is turned into a spiritual victory, by simply confessing the truth about that what the man is going through within and in relying upon the divinity for further reactions.
                     The man does not need to rely upon selfish arguments and tricks in order to help himself, because it is really only a dead weight to him, making him even more tired in the process. It is like heavy armour which only makes the man sluggish, and it becomes harder for him to avoid the blows of the enemy. Heavy armour is supposed to reduce the impact from blows, but it does never prevent blows. It would have been better if the man had no armour at all, but would rather rely upon mobility to avoid all blows from the outset. The best defence against delusions does consist in that of relying upon no defence at all, since the divinity is meant to be our only refuge, the last thing standing. But the man should never prefer his own foolish and transient creations above the divinity, what kind of words, methods, and human effort can be used against temptations. The creation can never become superior to the creator. So the divinity is superior to the man, and the man is superior to his own creations, but these creations can never surpass his own limits. A much greater amount of time can be spent upon guilt over a mistake, than the time spent upon the original incident. For the man waste many hours or days in accusing and tormenting himself over the incident, even that the mistake only lasted for a couple a seconds. This can apply about common mistakes, when the man has misspoken something, made a fool out of himself, unintentionally given wrong impression, or failed in his tasks. It is of course different when misdeeds are involved, in having transgressed against another person, since the time involved is irrelevant and does not reduce its wickedness. It can also be mentioned when the man does spend much time in expressing himself about his personal problems, and what kind of feeling are had about it. But it takes much shorter time to solve the problem, if the man had only been determined enough to do it.

Equanimity is about experiencing nothing at all, except inner silence, peace, and stability. It is like the man does only experience silence in his mind, or at least most of the time, but he is also free from all impulsiveness, which would otherwise have affected his body. If the heart is made pure then the man’s facial expression will be pure as well, so that his face will become expressionless, without revealing any dubious and pretentious signs. For the man already is true and faithful in his ways, sincere and pure in his intentions, possessing self-control and self-restraint, so it is something to be noticed in his face and overall performance. People do not only smile while they are glad in their heart, but they can also smile while having treacherous intentions, since there is contempt or covetousness in their eyes at the same time. This is why expressionless face is more trustworthy and reliable in comparison, as if there is avoided both extremes, but only kept to the moderate middle course. Where there is equanimity there is also elegance, when the man does carry himself dignified in facial expression, speech, body language, and the movements of the body. The man will also move his limbs in an efficient way, with as few moves and touches as possible. It cannot be searched directly for elegance, but it is merely the consequence, after the man has maintained confidence and equanimity in the long run. The heart and the spirit must first become pure before the body can be so as well, and the man must first be consistent with himself before the body can work in the same way.
                     An inner balance is about maintaining the same beat at regular intervals, like when it is had a stable breathing, and a stable heart rate, unless it applies to the man’s soul. An inner peace and stability is meant to be unconditional, something which comes first before everything else, has priority over all external matters to be obtained or lost away. The inner calmness and balance is meant to influence the external things for the better, rather than the man would allow the external things to affect his internal condition for the worse. The man’s internal condition is not supposed to be depended upon the function of other things, as if inner balance would only come after it has been done this or that. It does not matter what can happen, how the circumstances can change for the better or worse. For the man does already preserve an inner calmness, and he receive every incident just like any other ordinary thing, as if nothing is able to impress him or make him afraid. It should be received both prosperity and adversity with moderation, even indifference, since that such things prove to be transient while the man remains the same person. The man can just as well continue to be calm and at peace with himself, without relying upon the addictive pleasures of the world, since he does already possess greater blessings. The spiritual benefits are something which can constantly be experienced from within, so that in ‘not’ feeling anything from within is better than any obsession and impulses.
                     Equanimity, calmness, peace, and inner stability could be likened to the number zero. It is the moderate middle course, which is free from both extremes and has thereby no faults. Everything from plus one to plus ten does signify different frequency of the selfishness, with its flatteries, briberies, and self-indulgence. But everything from minus one to minus ten does signify self-righteousness, with its self-accusations, attacks, and self-constraint. The path of virtue is always maintained straight, stationed at the number zero, when it comes to undertake everything in an orderly and moderate way. So that many small things will contribute to one great success, and is the most rewarding system in the long run. But both extremes are always followed by constant swings, where one day the man is the number plus ten while the next day he is at the number minus ten. It is like there does not exist anything in between, for the man does fly too high and then takes a deep dive, flies again too high and takes another deep dive, and so forth. So it is like the man does overwork one day and is too lazy the next day, and a similar thing applies when the man is too self-indulgent on one day and too harsh to himself the next day. The man might seem to be eager and devoted for some time, but he will soon give up and return to his old negligence, so that his previous conduct was only temporary.
                     The extreme of selfishness is always accompanied by the extreme of self-righteousness, what comes before or after the other, but one extreme is never lonesome in itself. Each selfish desire does not stand alone, but it is always accompanied by another desire that will lead to opposite effects. A needless expectation is always accompanied by disappointment, a too little self-esteem in one factor is always accompanied by too much self-esteem in other factors, and pleasures derived from chemical abuse is always accompanied by addiction and withdrawal symptoms. However if the former had not existed then the latter would not have existed as well. It would have been better if the man had not felt anything at all except equanimity, and if he had already been contented with his life as it is. For then there would not exist a lack of one thing which would call for a search of another thing as its selfish remedy, but every selfish desire and obsession proves to be insatiable in its nature. Selfish people practice debauchery (drunkenness, fornication, violence) and all kinds of errors, because it is supposed to be some kind of remedy to satisfy their restlessness and inner emptiness. But it is always a sign of weakness when it is pursued for such things, since that the same people are not already happy and contented with their life as it is. For that people would otherwise not pursue for such things in the first place, even as when healthy men do not need any remedies or outside help.
                     The value of impartiality does consist in that in being neutral toward everyone and everything, before it is observed the environment and received testimony from other people. And the next will be passed an impartial and fair verdict concerning the specific case, according to the objectivity of the facts, the choices, and what is deemed to be right in general. It is about the merit of the case, and issues that do belong to it alone, but it is not allowed any personal bias or outside factors to affect one’s decisions in any way. It should never be taken any side in advance before it has actually been witnessed the case in question, like when it is favoured one’s friends even that they have been doing the wrong things, or by being against one’s enemies even that they have been doing the right thing. For that one’s personal attachment and personal grudge is completely irrelevant to the matter, what kind of emotions or impulses are felt about someone, for the better or worse. It should rather be discerned the human motivation, morality, and causality, in what way the persons involved approached the incident, and what measures were carried through. Next it can be determined which person has a more rightful claim than the other. It can be mentioned competitive sports as a good example about personal bias or partiality. For the fans have already take side with their own team even before the game has begun, and be played to the very end. So these fans complain when the judge makes a correct verdict at the expense of their own team, while they rejoice if the judge makes an incorrect verdict at the expense of the other team. But the value of impartiality does rather consist in evaluating the actual performance during the game, whether the team involved played in an honest way, and showed more team-work and merit in deserving a victory. It should thereby first be watched the game before it can be come up with a fair verdict, which exalts the better and more deserving team, regardless of its outward appearance and members.
                     It should first and foremost be taken side with the truth and the justice, and how it will benefit and exalt any person which will abide by it, according to its conviction and choice. The person will be decent and succeed for a long time it will be loyal to the goodness, while the person will be evil and fail for as long time as it will be loyal to the evilness. If the man does abide by the truth and its moral principles then it will affect his person for the better, but if the man does not do so then it will affect his person for the worse. It is namely the man’s own choices which define who he is and what he is capable of, so he should only take side with the rightful claim, instead of being a respecter of persons. The man should not consider his own life to be of any value, when looked upon alone by itself, as if it would be imperative to save his own life, regardless of the means, treacherous or degrading to him. It can rather be said that the man’s life does only have value according to that for whom and what is lived for, and died for. It is about living for the rightful cause, which makes the man able to having a meaningful life, and a higher purpose. The faith in the goodness is the best preventive measure, making the man capable of rejecting all temptations from the outset, as soon as possible. Therefore will the man neither sow evil seeds into the ground, nor feed a monster which is still small and an infant, since the man does not even consider evil possibilities nor speaks of them. But when the man shows unbelief in the possibilities of the goodness then the exact opposite thing will happen. For the man will covet after temptations and dwell further upon them, until the evil seeds have become a huge tree or the monster has reached full size. So the man has already reaped corruption in is soul and evil consequences from his behaviour, making things harder to bear and escape from, like obsessions, self-constraint, and restlessness.

Industriousness is about noble aspirations and useful industry for its own sake, regardless of that what kind of rewards or recognition can be had from it, since it only came afterwards. For the man will be lively and sober in his spirit while the industry does last, and it is like the external challenges serve the purpose in promoting his personal growth. This means that the man will become a better person and move on with his life, rather than by being stuck at the same selfish problem or have a stagnant life during idleness. The useful industry will sharpen the man’s internal activity, where he will have something to look forward to in his life and receive joy from his work. It should thereby be cherished the industry for its own sake, for the man did at least experience its benefits from within himself, like confidence, dignity (self-respect), sobriety, and creativity. But idleness does always breed delusions and selfish problems at random, so the man will be compelled to listen to it all day long, while he is not doing anything else with his time. The matter in question is not about discovering right answers to such problems, but it should rather be asked why the man is idle to begin with, and why he does not have any useful goals to pursue for. It is like all these problems will exist during the idleness, but they will be immediately dispelled during some useful activity. Self-discipline is about possessing a determination or inner strength in acting upon that which is already known, by making the same principles come true in concrete deeds. Education is not about collecting books and have a good memory, nor is physical training about good looks. It is rather meant to make the man ready and competent in the real challenges, whether it can involve a profession or a competition, pursuit for reward or victory. The circumstances and the opponent might be different, but it does still involve the same basics, concerning principles of the approach, the nature and shape of the terrain.
                     Orderliness is about fulfilling the needs of the body, to make it alert and refreshed enough for the challenges ahead, so the man can be in position to handle them in the long run. It does first concern basic needs like food, sleep, cleanliness, and bodily exercise, which needs to be done at regular intervals, in moderate quantity, and often at a fixed time during the day. It is not directly spoken about such things during a profession, when the man needs to support himself through hard work and participate in something with other people. But these issues do indirectly affect the man’s performance during the profession, whether he will attend to work at the right time, be focused enough and up to the tasks at hand. If the man is orderly in small matters then he will also be so in the greater matters. For the man must first be able to take care of his own life before he be trusted with important position, concerning the lives of other people, their investment, and possessions. But the man would never be able to do if he does already neglect his own body and soul, like when idleness and loose habits do only make him distracted and weak. Physical training is all about doing one’s best possible effort, until one is almost unable move or breathe anymore, since there is no longer any energy left in one’s body to continue. It is not like one should stop as soon as the hardship becomes uncomfortable, tiresome, or boring, since it has more to do about one’s mindset than the actual capability of the body. For that one’s thoughts and words are irrelevant to the matter in question, but one should rather be silent and allow the body to let one know what one can truly endure and accomplish. Before it is begun physical exercising then one can feel tired or hesitant or not in the mood  to do it. However it is all an illusion in the the head. Once one has begun an physical exercise then it is forgotten oneself in it, and before one knows it then one has already accomplished/finished everything. One is being so involved in doing one thing at a time, and that to head from one exercise to another at regular interval (after having rested a little), that the activity of the body replaces the activity of the mind.  It is not about thinking first and then doing, but rather to first do it and think later. If one is being hesitant in doing an exercise then it should simply be forced oneself to begin, and forced it on oneself to be daring for a couple of seconds, and then the rest will take care of itself and be resolved by the body in a silent way. When it is lifted weight or jogged then it is best to take the moderate middle course, that is neither too many times nor too few times, and neither too long nor too short. For example when it is begun to lift a specific weight then one can only repeat it about ten times. When it is done the same exercise three days later then one does progress about one more time, so that one can repeat that exercise eleven times. It is progressed one more time every three days. The goal is to lift that weight up to fifteen times, which is being accomplished after about two weeks or five to six exercises total, since it was first begun on that specific weight. And then during the next exercise (three days later) then one does increase the weight to the next level (about four or five kilograms more). When it is begun using more weight then one can only do it about ten times, and the same process will repeat itself henceforth. Also every time it is finished a specific exercise (ten to fifteen times) then it is waited for about twenty to thirty seconds before doing it again, so that when it is used the remaining energy of the body then one can only repeat that exercise about three to four times. Progress is all about ‘one more time’, little by little, again and again, until it has reached one great result with the time.

6.2: Contentment of the soul

Gratefulness is about learning to appreciate the good things which are already had in one’s life. It does especially apply to ones beloved, in loving them and being loved in turn, in rejoicing with their good lot and even by being willing to share everything with them. It does not only reach to one’s family and friends, but it does also concern one’s relationship with the divinity, what kind of presence and benefits can be experienced from within. And gratefulness is not only about receiving good things from other persons, but one can become even more grateful for being given the chance to do good things to other people. The divinity has already given us the greatest blessing from the very beginning of our existence, like good health, charity, truthfulness, innocence, natural talents, happiness, and peace, even before we had actually made any choices or obtained anything from the world. For that such benefits can be constantly experienced from within, at any time and any place, while everything belonging to the world is outside our body. The grateful man does not care about the world and what other people possess in their lives, but he is most of all grateful that the divinity has given him life and existence to begin with. The man’s health and stability is meant to have priority over the external matters, by being totally free from attachment to worldly matters and its needless cares, since it would otherwise only burden his internal condition and make the man distracted. Therefore should the man be willing to sacrifice all external matters in order to preserve his own soul, and to guarantee its mobility in all things. Then the man can always be free in following his own conviction, in making a right decision in everything, and in helping himself.
                     The spiritually blind men have selfish needs and attempt to travel around the whole world in order to satisfy them, even that all selfish desires proves to be insatiable in their nature. It is like a bottomless pit that creates even more emptiness in the man’s soul, since that selfish desires do only led to problems and maladies but are unable to heal anything. The selfish man foolishly presumes that material things and other people are meant to make him happy, where he must first acquire something desirable for once and for all, or accomplish a specific deed, before he can finally ‘deserve’ an inner joy and peace. But the same man will be no nearer to peace and happiness, just as much before he began to search for it, since he is already spiritually empty and afflicted by corruption. For that if the man is not already happy and contented in his soul then he will also not be so in the future, even that he can repeat the same fruitless approach all over again. It is only the divinity which is in position to bestow happiness and peace to the man, in healing and purifying his soul, but the man is never able to achieve it by his own effort alone. It cannot be searched directly for an inner peace and happiness, because it is merely the consequence, caused by the presence of the divinity, after it has revealed itself to the man. It is all about faith, spiritual purity, moral conviction, and choices amidst temptations, but happiness is not something which can be obtained directly through uttered words. If the man is happy and at peace with himself then it is because the divinity has already shown him grace, making him capable of experiencing such benefits in the first place.
                    Needless expectations will only lead to disappointment, and even create needless bitterness. But if the man had never had such expectations then he would have avoided both disappointment and bitterness, so the man would have been better off in the first place. It can be mentioned when the man does only gaze upon the things which he has still not obtained in his life, or which is completely beyond his reach. But the man is at the same time neglecting all the good things in his life, which are still accessible and able to benefit him. However when the man has finally obtained the desirable things in question then he will also not learn to appreciate them, while he gazes upon something else instead, so the same process will continue to repeat itself while the man is covetous and ungrateful. It does not make any sense when the man allows external things to trouble and afflict himself, as if such things were more important than his own health and sanity. It is not like the man should cut away parts of his feet’s in order to make them fit specific shoes, but he could just as well be without shoes or look for better shoes elsewhere. It can be mentioned the contradiction when the man is already contented with his current lot, and it is like no problem does exist in his life. It can however happen that the man does covet after a specific thing but is unable to obtain it, or the man manages to obtain a specific thing but he does later lose it away from his grasp. Then the man presumes himself to be worse off, even that he had been contented with his life as it was, before he had coveted after that thing or obtained it in the first place. For that nothing has changed in the situation, but it is rather the man that has allowed his own desires to change himself, in what way he does see the external matters and considers them relevant to himself. Its personal attachment has only affected the man’s condition for the worse, and lead to completely opposite effects, since he had wanted such things to make him happy. It does thereby prove to be counterproductive, beating the purpose why the man had sought for such things in the first place, since that nothing good did ever come out from it. If the man obtains some desirable thing and later loses it away from his grasp; then it is a good sign that he was never meant to have it in the first place, either because it proved to be a useless thing to him, or the man was not worthy and responsible enough to receive it.
                     Modesty is about letting those things suffice oneself which are truly necessary and useful, when it comes to satisfy the basic needs of one’s soul and body, what makes one able to be alive and well, and what does actually need to be used upon daily basis, for the goals at hand. It should kept to the general role of each object, what it is meant to be used for and to help improve the man’s lot, while the outward appearance does not matter as much. For an example then it should be preferred the nutrition of food above its taste. Clothes are important so long as they can cover one’s nakedness and offer protection from the weather, but there is nothing else beside it. And a similar thing applies how the home is supposed to offer a shelter and security, but it does otherwise not matter how the house looks on the outside, in the eyes of other men. Beautiful clothes and luxurious objects cannot in any way exalt one’s person, since it is irrelevant to all merit, and does not change anything about one’s capability. Luxury is superfluous most of the time, like when something is beautiful to look upon, but that objects does otherwise remain stuck at the same place, and cannot be used at all. It should rather be kept oneself to thing which can appeal to one’s needs and ability, like what can be used during education, profession, creative work, and physical exercises. The man should only seek for those things which he is willing to deserve through honest work and ability. But he should otherwise not seek for such things in the first place, if the man is not ready to make the required sacrifices nor assume responsibility of it. Covetousness and envy only gazes upon the consequence, or incidental things, while it is neglected the path prior to it, how to make an accomplishment that leads to reward. It is not like the man should crave after these or those things, expensive and luxurious, only because other people possess it and the man wants to advertise his image among them. For the man is otherwise in no need of such things, where it is unable to arouse any good effects in his soul, and the man does not even know what he should use it for.

Generosity does not only reach to that in giving away money or material objects to other people, sharing possessions with them or offer them temporary access to something for free. It is also important that the man can have a lively, light-hearted, and generous spirit, a constructive presence which is able to arouse something good in other people. The people involved do thereby enjoy the company of each other, forgetting all about their problems and anxiety, and becoming instead confident, cheerful, comforted, and hopeful about everything. The man becomes generous to other people because they are more in need of it than him, whether it does apply to their morale or their living conditions. It should be done the decent thing for its own sake, and as its own reward, so it is never expected any repayment or recognition from it. For the generous man did truly believe in the value of that choice, that it was able to help and benefit the persons involved. The good act has already blessed the generous man from within, or he was already blessed in such way even before it, since the divinity made him capable of being generous. The generous act does reflect a generous spirit, the nobility of soul or altruism of the doer. It is thereby most important that the man can first become generous in his intentions, and then it will affect his conduct in the same way, in what way he does treat other people.  The generous man is really willing to do so by his own free will, where he does really care for the person he wants to help and what kind of value it has for the recipient.
                     Generosity is not the same thing as a selfish compromise, like when it is paid money to charity organization in return for a specific trinket, service, or an access to entertainment for ‘free’. It is also not a virtue if the man does intentionally reveal his good act to other people, does boast about having done it, and receives recognition from other people. For that generosity is about giving something for free, without getting anything in return, no matter how little it might seem to be. There does not exit anything in between, but the man is either generous or not. Even that the man is not stingy then it does still not necessarily mean that he is generous, as if an absence of vice is the same thing as a virtue. The generous man is also supposed to be discreet, only concerned about that in helping other people, and that the matter stays between him and them. For that he is only contented with the accomplishment, so long as that person would be able to receive help, whether the man himself or somebody else offered it. And it is also sufficient for the man to know the truth for himself, and what the divinity feels about it, while it does not involve anybody else, as if the whole world and the rest of mankind were irrelevant. It is not like everyone would need to be overly generous, by offering everything which they own to other people, while leaving nothing for themselves, so they would suffer in consequence. It can rather be said that it is only sufficient for the human people to share things together, and be willing to loan objects to others, according to the need of the moment. For an example then the man can own hand tools, but he does need to carry such tools and use them all the time. The man can just as well loan the tools to other people, until he is again in need of them, but it does otherwise not matter what person uses the tools in the meantime.
                     Chastity is not only bound to sexual abstinence or faithfulness during marriage. It is also about spiritual purity. If the man is already pure in his heart then he will look upon all things with pure eyes, experience everything in a pure way, and approach the matter in a pure way. The man’s heart and eyes will correspond to white and empty paper, so it can be written precisely down that information which is required to be known. But there is no stain upon the paper, which would otherwise get in the way and make everything hard to read, even as how contempt and covetousness makes the man biased and impure. The spiritual chastity is like a faithful relationship with the divinity, because it is abstained from all selfish intentions and corruption, which does belong to the opposing source. Where there is purity there is also sincerity and charity, when it comes see the person as it is, accept and receive the person as it is, and esteem the person most above other things. For the man will give himself proper time and space in order to get acquainted with the person, in knowing what kind of person it is, and what dwells in its heart. It is had more interest in the person itself, than what can be obtained from the person, so it is not like anyone needs to prove himself or offer some advantage to the other. The selfish man would otherwise seek to exploit or manipulate the person, as if the person were a mere tool, only having value for as long as the man could satisfy his impulses. For the selfish man does implicate his own impulses to the person in advance, like sexual lust or hatred, but he does not actually see the person as it is, outside his own self. If the man is having difficulty resisting sexual desires and he is beginning to fantasize about sinful things; then he should remind himself that covetousness does contradict pure and sincere love, and that he should rather focus upon that in noticing the person when it is actually met with it, above that in having thoughts about the person and preferring such illusion over the actual person. For that when the man does finally meet with the person then he is being roused to decency and he repents of having thought of the person in such way. And the man should remind himself of that how the divinity has led him into the truth, and made him understand what kind of forces are working within the man, and made him able to withstand temptations and rise above them. It would indeed be an indecent thing if the spiritually discerning and strong man would be exploiting the position of a woman which is living in weakness, where that woman is being credulous toward her internal activity, where she is being swept back and forth by thoughts/impulses which she does not discern to be equally wrong, and she does not know what she is doing. She is being needy and only trying to feel better by doing something,  however misguided it can be.
If the man is being a true spiritual figure then his main objective is to help other people feel better, to bless them with his good presence and make them be at peace with themselves. A truly virtuous man would not trade away the integrity behind it for anything, like by having sexual intercourse with women that look up to him and seek his spiritual support, as if his spirituality could be rewarded with carnality, since that in itself would make him just as carnally minded as the godless heathens. If the one writing this ever manages to spread out the message to other people and restore the ‘church’ of God (the community of the true believers); then may God make him boring and unresponsive as a person, that people might learn to follow God alone and trust in His words, instead of following a ‘charismatic’ human leader and centre their lives upon him. Let it be duly noted that the one writing this has little by little accumulated moral lessons from God, as when the Israel people gathered manna (heavenly bread) in the desert. And yet there is really nothing more behind the man writing this, since he is being an empty and restricted person. It can apply that if the virtuous man is going to help a spiritually sick person then all words or correct arguments can be insufficient to begin with. It corresponds to that if a man would seek to convince an intoxicated or spirit possessed person of that what is being rational, where every argument would fail to obtain reception because of the internal condition of the same person. Since the person is spiritually sick then it experiences everything in a spiritually sick way, where the person is being so fearful and distracted and afflicted by the mind that it is no condition to receive a correct argument and understand it further and apply to its life. The mind does immediately distract the person and makes it misinterpret the correct argument, so that there is derived some improper meaning from it and it leads to improper behavior. Hence the virtuous man must first pray for the well-being of the spiritually sick person, and bless the person with his presence, that the bad internal things might go away and good internal things enter instead. Once the person does experience inner peace and wide enough space within (contrary to the obsessive and narrowing thoughts) then the person is in better condition to be taught the right path, and to give itself time to understand it, and to find itself willing to do it.
                     Altruism is the same thing as self-sacrifice, where it is willingly sacrificed away any concerns for one’s self-interest, so one can be loyal to the divinity and obey its voice in humility. For the man should love the divinity more than it is loved himself, since the divinity loves him more than he loves himself and is in better position to know what is best for him. The faith in the divinity is the supreme means in loving and helping oneself, since it is guaranteed that it will be treated oneself with self-awareness and dignity (self-respect). Altruism is about benefiting the common good, the welfare of the whole people. The man does thereby willingly choose to forfeit his selfish claims, and prefer the rightful cause above his own life, so the proposed undertaking can be more likely to obtain success. For the man did at least do the right thing, by giving a good example to other people. If all men were as equally selfless then nothing would be impossible for them. If the man is truly noble in his soul then he will be willing to confess it when he is wrong about something, then stand back and make a room for worthier person with a better claim. And the noble man does never want other people to trouble themselves on his behalf, or that they should suffer for having made a wrong decision concerning his life. For the man is already contented with himself and at peace, since the divinity has already saved his soul and freed him from all fears. It does thereby not matter whether the man can be deprived of everything, since he is already alive and rich in spirit. It is namely our compassion and mercy toward each other which is able to redeem us. We might fail and suffer defeat in our body, but we have still proven victorious in our spirit, since that we did at least attempt to help and save each other. But it is a shameful thing when the man chooses to be indifferent and refuses to help another person in distress. For that if everyone would behave in such way then the human race would be already doomed, since the merciless man would share similar guilt as the person committing a crime.  But the noble man does not care about any pain and shame which could befall him, for he is only concerned about preventing similar evils from befalling innocent persons, by helping them escape from it, or by reducing the harm from it. If the heart is already full of love then it will overflow any selfish desires that seek to infiltrate it, since the wrong things contradict to the love had for oneself and other people. The noble man does not make good acts at random, but it is always in context with the love of the divinity. First the divinity loved the man, next the divinity taught the man to love himself, and then finally was the man able to love other persons, since he already knows it of his own accord.
                     There are not only external laws accessible to the man, invented and offered by the society. But the divinity has already endowed the man with spiritual laws from within, which are meant to guarantee his self-love, spiritual freedom, reason, and boldness. The human rights of the society are meant to appeal to and encourage corresponding rights from within, the humane side in the man and what is considered natural to him, so the man cultivate it further, become spiritually mature and complete. It is like the external laws are meant to remove all needless restrictions, like ignorance, prejudices, corruption and superstition, so these things will not get in the way of the human spirit. It should be discerned the spirit of the law, why such laws were made in the first place, what kind of behaviour the laws are either meant to encourage or prevent. It is in the nature of the justice to understand the human nature, what did originally happen from within, what motivated the man’s intentions and behaviour. It is thereby first understood the man himself before it can be understood the things which come from him, why the man does speak, respond, and behave in a specific way. For an example then the man seeks for food because he is already hungry, and he seeks for the company of other people because he is already lonely or cares for them. It is depended upon the will of living beings in shaping the external matters for the better or worse. The current state of the world is merely the consequence, while the living beings promoted it.
                     The justice aims to promote benefits in the individual. For the soul needs moral principles and privacy, even as how the physical body needs food and shelter. It can also be mentioned confidence and security, freedom and citizen rights, reason and wise government, so there is always something in the society which corresponds to the human spirit. The justice makes all men equal before the divinity, its sense of truth and justice, when it comes to evaluate each man by his own merit and whether he is competent enough. It applies both to that in deserving a specific position and handling it with moderation, along with that in showing responsibility of his own choices, even that it can lead to failure. And the justice does not only reach to that in punishing crimes, but it is also about preventing it in the first place, by creating ideal conditions in the society and teaching the citizens to be virtuous, so there will be no shortage from within or without which encourage errors. All crimes are originated in the deliberate will to sin, but not in the external environment. For that people can experience the same living conditions but respond in a different way, since it has everything to do about the internal activity, its motivation and interpretation. This is why it is more important to remove the will to sin, than by applying all kinds of punishments, whether it is of physical nature or supposed to isolate the criminal. But justice is not the same thing as revenge, nor should a punishment be an end in itself, since it does not deal with the original cause, what encouraged the man to commit crimes. Where there is justice there is also mercy, meant to encourage repentance and improvement in the wrongdoer, so he will no longer possess the faults from within himself. Living beings are the most precious resource upon the earth, since that everything is made possible so long as they can continue to live, and become better with the time. For that only a living being is able to make a choice for itself, by repenting of its faults and do better next time, while a dead person will no longer be able to accomplish anything.

6.3: Overcoming the fear

The man is not really struggling against himself from within, but he is really struggling against the impersonation of the mind. For the mind does pretend to be the man’s own voice, and makes it look like the man has consciously or unconsciously wanted such selfish thoughts to appear into his life, even that such process would either way happen automatically. The mind itself is the root of the problem, for it is thoughts that want to see problems in the external things and other people, and it is implicated fears and impulses to the external things, as if the latter had caused it or aroused such fears from within. It did however originally begin from within, according to the initiative of the mind, but it had real nothing to do with the external things which were thought of at the same time. All the conceived reasons are a merely a pretence, because all temptations are originated from the mind’s malice, since it does deliberately seek to corrupt and enslave the man. But it has nothing to do with the man himself, what he has hitherto experienced and done. If the man is afraid of unpleasant thoughts and imaginations then it means that he is really afraid of the mind, what kind of opposition the mind can threaten to inflict upon him. But if the man does no longer fear the mind itself then no external things will be able to scare him, since the fear does begin from within and it is then implicated to incidents and other people. So the man must first overcome his own fears before he can overcome the world, where he must conquer himself before he can be able to conquer evil men. It should replaced the fear with hatred toward the mind and all the evilness which it stands for, as if the man’s hatred would prove to be stronger than his own self-preservation, forgoing any profit and pleasures that could otherwise be derived from selfishness. The man must be willing to sacrifice away any weaknesses and dishonest gain in order to conquer the mind, as if it would be applied scorched earth tactic toward any selfish desire, since the mind could otherwise use it against him and obtain power over his will.
The struggle against the wicked is not really about physical force. It is rather about wiping away all their evil influence/trace from one’s soul, and to make their remembrance cease within oneself, as if they they had been wiped off the face of the earth and that they no longer existed at all. It is kept renouncing all concerns and affections for the wicked until it is no longer turned the face to them at all and ever moved past them. It is like they are dead to oneself and no longer there and never regarded in anything. Even so it should be treated the mind, an invisible adversary ever craving after one’s attention. We do not ask the divinity to humiliate our wicked  enemies and make them feel miserable. We do not ask the divinity to kill or destroy our wicked enemies. It is only sufficient that the divinity drive our wicked enemies out before us, and turn their attention elsewhere, and turn our attention away from them. That the divinity cast our wicked enemies out of our sight, and make them absent from our lives. An absent enemy equals a killed/dead enemy, involving the very same end, since that wicked enemy is no longer there and we are being rid of his presence. When we are being tempted or tested by the divinity then it is like the divinity does temporarily allow an invisible evil spirit to come in front of us, so that we temporarily experience evil thoughts or evil influence from the presence of that evil spirit. We do not know when the divinity will send this evil spirit away from our lives, but what matters is that we face that evil spirit long enough in rejecting it with firm determination. Once the divinity knows that is our true stance, and that we are being consistent in rejecting evil, even after all of this which has happened and despite all of this; then the divinity does deem it the proper time to cast that evil spirit out of our sight. When we have a difficulty resisting temptation then it is like we want to do two opposite things at the same time, which thereby makes it into an internal struggle. But even that we are being weak and unstable in our determination in fully rejecting evil then the faith does still offer us a a way out of this, if we are at least willing to confess the truth about it, and that even after all this movement back and forth within then we still refuse to justify that corruption in being part of our lives. We acknowledge that this spiritual adversary is being strong or stronger than us (having some kind of hold over us), and yet we also acknowledge that this does not diminish the power of God in any way, since God is being just as capable in overcoming that adversary on our behalf. Whatever our failures and short-comings with its realization of our powerlessness then God does ever remain the same person. By believing in a perfect being then it makes us, an imperfect being, able to do the perfect thing in the situation. By believing in a being which is higher than us then it makes us, whom have stumbled and fallen down on the ground, able to rise up and rise above the hindrance and reach out for higher things.
                     The man must overcome any evil influence from within himself, which does manifest itself in selfish desires, delusions, and impulses. But in order to accomplish it then the man must first look upon the mind in the same way as if a human adversary would be involved, unless that adversary would be positioned behind the man and could not be seen. That adversary would be constantly be pointing at and lying about the things in front of the man, for the purpose of misleading, corrupting, manipulating, or destroying the man from within. Therefore would the human adversary do everything in his power to undermine the man through personal attacks and insults, in daring the man to do something wrong through a fear of something else, by slandering and distorting the interpretation of the man’s intentions, or the experience of recent events and the choices of other people. Now the man is not able to look behind and notice that human adversary, but he is still the same able to hear his voice and understand what that adversary is saying to him. The man does allow such adversary to have power over himself, for as long time as the man is willing to listen to his lies and obey them. But if the man is going to overcome that adversary then he must refuse to heed him any further, and no longer want him to be part of the man’s life. This is why the man must be willing to endure any lies with silence and with full self-control, so it not shown any sign of weakness or need for that adversary. The man must be willing to stand his ground and answer truthfully, for the purpose of convincing himself about the proper course, and in being consistent with his own conviction. It can also be turned defense to offense, by simply commanding that adversary to remain silent and be gone from the man’s life, as if that adversary were of no significance. It would however not make any sense if the man would constantly be repeating clichés with himself, relying upon method and tricks in order to deceive himself, by attempting to change the words of the human adversary into having another meaning. This is why it can be condemned psychology for being vainglorious and foolish, since it cannot be changed or convinced the mind to be of different nature than it already is.
                     The man should not be credulous when the mind pretends to be his own voice, by taking the will of the mind for his own and then attempt to self-justify that that’s how he is like. A permanent ‘personality’ or qualities is nothing more than propaganda, a mere illusion. The voices and the tones in the mind are completely different from the man’s real voice, when the man does actually speak with his mouth and how it does usually sound to other people. For the subjective voices might sound somewhat similar to the man’s voice, but it can still the same be sensed something different about them, pretentious and exaggerated. There exist ego-tones, quibbling tones, doubtful tones, arrogant tones, envious tones, flattering tones, covetous tones, and so forth, according to each vice or weakness. It can happen that the man listens to specific thoughts and allow them to change his mind, so the man does then say something in egoistical or quibbling tone, like when it is rebelled against the higher authority or disregarded the transparent truth in the situation. The mind is false and wicked, constantly lying and trying to deceive the man, but there is no truth or wisdom to be derived from the mind, as some kind of process of elimination. It is not like the man is able to outsmart the mind through similar craftiness and tricks, since that nothing good will ever come out from that in relying upon evil means against the evilness. The mind can come up with a trick which seems to be simple and obvious, but there can actually be a greater trick behind it, appealing to the man’s pride and vanity. The man should not move over to the mind’s foundation and then attempt to overcome it there, since he will otherwise fight at a natural disadvantage and where the rules are biased against him. For an example then the man can seek for answers upon a wrong basis, be occupied in a needless struggle against illusions, and obtain a ‘wrong’ victory at most (red herring), since he only ended up alienating himself from the truth and the goodness.
                     The subjective psychology might at first seem to look well on the paper, because the healthy psychologist does not experience aggressive thoughts all day long. But the mental patient does often need to endure constant interference of delusions and impulses, so he is in no position to answer each and every thought, by dwelling further upon them. For that each delusion can last about a second, while the answer can last for much longer time, so the mental patient would need to be on the defensive all day long, self-absorbed by the suggested system. It would be much more efficient if the mental patient remained silent on his behalf, and ignored every thought, while focusing upon actual choices in the reality. The mind is on the offensive while it does seek to interrogate the man, by coming up with aggressive questions, quibbling and distorting every answer from the man, and accusing the man of everything. The person that asks the question is in better position than the one which answers it. For the questioner is obtaining new information about the other, while the answerer is only revealing his own weaknesses and restrictions, but getting nothing in return. So the questioner has everything to gain, while the answerer has everything to lose. This means that the answerer will make himself too predictable and vulnerable, while he is trying to defend, explain, and self-justify himself in the eyes of the other. We can already discern that the person is our enemy, constantly tempting and opposing us, so that nothing we can say will ever be able to convince that person. Therefore should we not seek to convince our enemy to cease his opposition, but we should rather convince ourselves in enduring it, with courage and firm resolution. This is why it is obtained more protection from the silence, because silence can work against any questions, traps, accusations, and tricks, since it will either way ignore everything. The adversary will know nothing about us, what kind of person we are, what kind of strengths and weaknesses we have, so he will be unable to connect our internal activity with external events or other people. Therefore will our adversary be unable to understand the context, neither make a correct assumption nor read between the lines, concerning what had happened, how, and why. It is matter of overcoming our enemy in the long run, by being more patient than him, and always willing to endure his opposition for one more time.
                     Impulses like fear can befall the man at random, without being in relation to the circumstances that he is experienced at that moment, or what is actually being thought of while the fear does last. The man can all of a sudden experience fear that manages to affect his stability, or seem to overwhelm himself. It describes itself in that the man does first experience a fear, but he does afterwards presume all kinds of reasons in order to explain the fear, what had actually caused it, even that the fear itself emerged from the initiative of the mind. For it is namely the mind which does produce forth a fear in the man’s body while he is in the presence of other people, while experiencing specific circumstances, or during a specific practice. But the man should not implicate the external matters to the fear in question, as if these incidental things had caused it, since the contrary thing does apply. It is the namely the mind which implicates the fear to the external things, in order to make the fear seem logical, even that the fear itself came first, and would either way have happened. The man can experience fear of something which he has still not participated in, and a fear of a specific location which he has still not arrived to. But the man is actually experiencing completely different circumstances during the fear, like when it feared to travel with an airplane even that the man is still on the ground and far away from it. Therefore has the fear in real nothing to do with the flight itself, or the airplane, but it does only seem so because the man is thinking about such things at the same time. But these thoughts and imaginations would otherwise not seem dreadful in the man’s eyes, if he was not experiencing any effects of the fear in his heart or body at the same time. It is because of the impulse, which seems to touch or get a hold of the man’s body in some way, affecting his stability, leading to instable breathing or pressure in his head. For it seemed like the man’s sight was shrouded with darkness, in only seeing and interpreting bad things to befall himself, that he had already lost the struggle and his self-control.
                     The fear could be likened to that if an invisible adversary was positioned behind the man, and able to inflict blow upon the man’s body or grab it in an unpleasant way, while the man is thinking about something at the same time, suggested by himself or the adversary. Now since the man cannot see that invisible adversary then he does presume that the pain in his body is caused by the words that he is hearing in the mind, or because of the place where he is now at, since the man has hitherto not experienced such fear elsewhere. The man does not need to stop with his life and try first to get rid of that fear, for the fear which accompanied the delusions could not have happened in any other way, since it would otherwise not be a temptation if it did not have any effects upon the man. For that just like that fear did happen at random then that same fear will vanish at random, sometimes later on, since the divinity is capable of dispelling such fear on the man’s behalf. This is why the man should constantly move on with his life, in doing the things which he had intended for all along, before he had experienced that fear in the first place. The man does not need to save himself from the fear, or try to get rid of the fear directly, but the matter is rather about that in showing courage and stoical mind after it has been experienced. This means that the man will still feel the fear from within, and what kind of effects do follow it, but the fear is still somehow bearable and does not control the man. The man is still able to undertake the challenges in question and endure them to the very end, even that the fear did not make the experience easy or delayed the man for some time. It should be learned to live with the fear, and as if the fear could exist alongside other matters. The man should willingly allow the fear to befall himself for as long time as possible, because it is something which can be endured rather than prevented from happening. The man does not need to give the fear further attention, nor sort out anything in the mind. It can happen that the man does not feel any fear in his heart, but he does still experience its symptoms in his body, like stammering, shaking limbs, or difficulty in breathing. So it might seem to give the wrong impression that the man is afraid of something, and other people will presume so, unless it is no context with his current attitude.

It can be said that the man’s life does not have any worth in itself alone, but only while he is able to do the right thing, in living for a higher cause, in helping and benefiting other persons. The man should thereby seek to save his own life if the benefits do outweigh the bad things, if he is able to endure and fight another day for the good cause, and save more people in the process. But the man should otherwise not choose life through base and degrading means, like by complying with the evil demands of wicked men and become enslaved by them, by betraying or persecuting innocent persons in order to save his own life, or by doing anything which is unbecoming the man as a human being, a dignified one. So the man should welcome pain and death if it is preferable to a dishonourable survival, since the man is either way not able to do further service for the goodness except by sacrificing himself, and thereby freeing himself from the power of evil enemies. It will be discoursed upon possible scenarios concerning crimes, blackmail, and terrorism. But it should first be acknowledged the grace of the divinity in caring for us, and hoped that such evil things will never come to pass. No man should ever find himself in such position, or playing with the lives of other people. It is not like one should imagine scenarios where one can play the ‘hero’, while other people are suffering. The goodness is more concerned about that in saving the lives of innocent persons, than by punishing or destroying evil men. So that if the man would need to choose between that in saving an innocent person from danger, or that to chase after the criminal which caused it; then it is a matter of principle in first saving the person, even that the criminal can get away. The wicked man is already condemned by the divinity, so it is only a matter time when he will be punished, in this existence or the next one.
                     In can first be discoursed upon blackmail, when the man’s enemies possess information which can be used against him, like faults from the past or something deemed shameful. These enemies do thereby threaten to reveal that information openly, unless the man does comply with their wishes, since the alternative would otherwise seem humiliating to him or his people. However the most prudent thing is to consider such information something which is already lost, permanently, since the man was not able to prevent it before it was too late. The man should rather focus upon that in enduring the humiliation when it will happen, and suffer for that in being consistent with himself. It is preferable to that in falling under the evil influence/control of the blackmailers. The man did perhaps commit faults in the past, but it is no longer relevant if the man has already repented and is doing the right thing in the present time. It does not make any sense if the man would again commit faults in the present time, by yielding to the demands of evil men and give them power over his will, just so that other people will not know about the faults which belonged entirely to the past. This is why it is prudent to turn the thing upside down, and respond in the exact opposite way. It would be better if the whole world would know about the man’s past faults, while he is able to maintain his will free and be at peace with himself. It is a preferable option than if the man would keep such faults secret to the whole world, while being slave to evil men at all time, even that he can pretend to be free in the eyes of other people.
                     The worst case scenario would consist in that when evil men have an innocent person as a hostage, someone which the man cares for and is afraid that it can come to harm. The man should be willing to sacrifice himself if possible and switch place with that person, or by offering any transient riches in order to guarantee that person’s release, since that a living being is always more important than any lifeless things, money or objects. It is however different when the blackmailers threaten to harm their hostage, unless the man will help promote their evil ends, at the expense of other innocent people in the process. If the man does comply with the blackmailers then he will give them even more power to inflict harm, so it is sought to escape from small danger to a greater one. For the man can seek to save an innocent person that he knows, while disregarding innocent persons that he does not know, even that they do otherwise share corresponding position. These wicked men possess the will to commit evil deliberately, in harming and abusing innocent persons. So that nothing good ever comes out from that in helping the wicked men, since they still possess the same evil intentions. The man should never help a wicked person, which does at the same time want to harm him and his beloved ones, whether that wicked person will attempt to do so now or in the future. It does not make any sense that the man should seek to make that wicked person more powerful, in better position to commit evil against innocent persons, and more likely to get away with it. Imagine if a terrorist would take one hostage, and then threaten to harm that hostage unless he will get two hostages, and so forth, until he will be in position to corrupt and destroy everyone. This is why it should never be complied to the demands of terrorists, because it will otherwise encourage them to commit similar crimes in the future.
                     All goodness or evilness is originated in the man’s will to do so, where he has already chosen either influence from within, even before he has committed the actual deed. In this world can be experienced pain, shame, loss, and death. It is actually the evil man which degrades himself when he does commit an evil deed and mistreats an innocent person. The innocent person suffering an evil has not done anything wrong, nor wished for anything wrong to happen. That person should not have any guilt over the matter, nor feel responsible for it. It can be mentioned Aesop’s fable when a mischievous man sought to prove that a particular oracle was a fraud. For that man held a live sparrow in his hand from behind or underneath a cloak, and he wanted to ask the oracle whether that bird was alive or dead. For that if the oracle would say that the bird was alive then the man would crush the bird in his hand, and then present it forth as dead. But if the oracle would say that the bird was dead then the man would present it forth unharmed. The oracle did however tell that man that it was depended upon him alone, whether that he was holding was dead or alive. It should be looked upon this in context with that when the wicked men threaten to harm their hostage, someone that the man involved cares for, unless he will further their evil designs. It is the wicked men alone which commit the wicked act, but it is not fault of those who have refused to comply with their wicked demands. The wicked men might perhaps proclaim that it was all that man’s fault, that his inactivity guaranteed that the hostage would be harmed by them, instead of being saved. However the wicked men choose to interpret things in an evil way and they made the evil choice. Nobody forced them to do it, and it had nothing to do with the choices of other people. The wicked men would either way have distorted the interpretation of everything, by deriving an evil meaning from it, seeking for pretences in order to justify their evil acts. It does of course not matter whether the man in question gets all the blame or not, so long as the hostage can be saved or spared further harm. But the man should seek to deliver the hostage in honourable way, without being at the expense of someone else. A person capable of such wicked things (blackmail, taking hostage and threatening to harm him/her) is also capable of being false (lying about everything) and betraying its promises. Even if the man would do everything in a faithful way on his behalf then the wicked person would still respond to everything in a treacherous way. It is not a question of money (how much money), but about the recipient of the money. The matter is not about that whether the man (being targeted for blackmail) could receive blame or be held responsible for bad consequences, or that he should seek to gratify his image in being caring for his beloved ones by complying with everything which the wicked person demands from him. For that by giving money to a wicked person does not end the matter, since that wicked person will make use of that same money to promote further wickedness to other people. It should not be sponsored a wicked person in sponsoring wickedness, when a wicked person draws other wicked people to its wicked cause and bribes people in important positions to give their support in corrupting the society.
                     The wicked person is already guilty and accursed, pronouncing its own harsh verdicts and falling into the very same trap which it had intended for innocent people. The wicked person may escape from the authority of men, but it can never do so from within, when it experiences spiritual death, emptiness, torment, chaos, insanity, and maladies. The divinity is able to make the innocent person courageous and of stoical mind, when it comes approach adversity with confidence and endure it with longsuffering. The divinity is also able to comfort the person, give it hope, raise its spirit, and heal its spiritual wounds. And the divinity is always able to have the final world, in passing the final verdict, both during this human existence and in the next one to come. This means that the wicked men will never prove victorious in the end, even that they are able to hide their crimes from other people and escape from the human authority. For the divinity knows everything and is able to achieve anything, so the wicked men will surely be punished after the death, experiencing far greater suffering than anything by human hands. The divinity can also create a new world and a new life for the innocent persons, so the persons will no longer remember the suffering and shame that belonged to the past. This is why the wicked men do only ambush their own soul, when they threaten to harm innocent persons. For the wicked person is threatening to commit a wicked act, which will guarantee that the wicked person will be in danger of hell fire, be doomed to end there. The innocent person does on the other hand obtain hope in its suffering, because the divinity can always nullify any bad experience and resurrect the person in the world to come.

6.4: External adversity

Now the man can show a sign of selfishness or self-righteousness in his bearings, but it is still not the same thing as if he was evil or that he could not be redeemed. For the man can show weakness in small matters while he does however prove to be scrupulous in the greater matters. That man does really love other persons and cares for them, is humble enough to repent of his faults and confess it, and is merciful toward other people in distress. It can thereby happen that the man commits some faults, but it does still involve a mistake or accident on his behalf, something caused by ignorance on his behalf. So the man did never commit evil in a deliberate way, nor was it directed personally against anyone. Every person can show a sign of weakness and human frailty, but it can still have the heart in the right place, since the person would have done the right thing if it would only know better and be given the chance. The person did not know what it was doing, where it was like a unwary child with good intentions being misled by an adult with bad intentions (higher forces).  An ignorant person thought/believed it was doing the right thing when it turned out to be wrong, and that person was unintentionally being wrong about something when it thought it was telling the truth (based on an inaccurate memory). An angry person was not thinking clearly and not being in full control of its temper when it retaliated evil with evil, and that person was being so blinded in the heat of the moment that it did not foresee the damage that its action would lead to. So it is a fact that the ignorant or angry person did something wrong, but it can still be said in their defence that they were not being led by deliberate ill will or malice. Or an unhappy person does know that drunkenness and fornication is being wrong, and that person really tries to resist its urges and stay sober. But since the person does lack faith in dealing with its internal activity in the long run then it succumbs to its weakness. But it can be said in the defence of that person that it kept repenting and trying again to do the right thing, without giving itself wholly over to the wrong things. That person did at least try to do something right within the wrong things, by trying to do wrong things in a less wrong way and still maintain some degree of decency, by being open about that how things really are and not try to make it seem like something else. It is a misguided thing when it is tried to mix right things with wrong things, and yet that person did what it could in its human weakness while knowing little and possessing little strength. But a truly wicked person does know what is being right and yet it does deliberately choose to disregard it, and that person does know what is being wrong and yet it does deliberately choose to do it, while being internally stable and in full control of itself, without being under any compulsion or seeming forcing of circumstances. The wicked person does give itself wholly over to malice, wholly over to the lies and wickedness of the mind. It wholly betrays the truth and goodness of the human spirit, and it wholly betrays the human people in their human weakness. It should be evaluated each person by its own merit, where every good quality should be admired and acknowledged, regardless of that whether that person is our friend or enemy, as if our own life would not matter. Even that the man has been persecuted by his enemies then he is still unable to predict the future, whether some of them will repent or not, in becoming a better person and able to help other people in distress. So the man may not understand it now in his current position, but perhaps later then his enemies can finally be converted from within. This is why the man should not wish for the downfall of his enemies. For such people may be ignorant now and not know what they are doing, but these persons can later on experience similar adversity in their own life and be taught humility by it. So that for as long as that person continues to live on then it can be given a chance to redeem itself.
It can apply that a person is being hostile and resentful toward the man, not because that person is being truly bad, but because it is being unhappy and unsatisfied with its life. That person has been discriminated and excluded by the group, and it has not yet experienced acts of kindness and mercy from a noble man that is genuinely concerned for its welfare. But if that person would feel good and become contented with its life then it would become grateful enough to let go of its hostility and resentment. Hence we should pray for those that are being hostile and resentful toward us, that the divinity might help them to feel good and be at peace, enough that the person will no longer care about its subjective problems and forget all about them. Just like a person can be quick to become resentful over bad treatment then it can become quick to become grateful over good treatment, where little good things can rouse the person to repentance and decency once it has been experienced, and convince that person to turn away from great and many sins. It can apply that a person is being so accustomed to that in being treated in a good way by other people that the good things fail to reach to the heart of that person. All these good things, no matter how great and many, fail to rouse gratitude and repentance and humility in the person. (It can be likened to that when an emperor is surrounded with servants that fulfill all his needs, but since that emperor is being sheltered from the outside world then he experiences no opportunities to good things to others.) But if that person would for once experience what it is like to be selflessly good and to do good to another person (instead of receiving it) then it would acquire ‘taste’ for the goodness, so the person would be encouraged to do good again. Hence when the person does now know it for itself what it is like to be good then it will also learn to appreciate that in being treated good by other people. The person will confess it with itself that it is being treated better than it deserves, and it will thank the divinity for all the good people that are in its life. When it is raised a child then it should be created opportunities which appeal to its giving/generous side, instead of the child always being on the receiving side.
                     If the man does truly repent in his heart of all the suffering which he has caused to other people then he should never become dejected in spirit, or overwhelmed by his own guilt. For the divinity has made that man capable of repenting in the first place, and humble enough to confess that he has been at fault. This is why the man is both able to ask for forgiveness and receive it, because the divinity has prepared his soul and heart from within. The man should consider himself fortunate, that the divinity loves him enough to make such repentance possible, making the man worthy to be redeemed in its eyes. But if the man was truly irredeemable then he would never experience any repentance in his heart, where he would be indifferent to the suffering of other people, be proud and stubborn enough in continuing with his evil ways, and that without confessing anything. The humble sinner does on the other hand assume responsibility of his own choices, and he is able to become a better person after having repented of his faults. For that man does not repeat such errors again, not against the same persons, and not against people in similar position. But that man has already improved himself from within and his conduct as well. When it was repented then it was sought to do better next time in a corresponding situation, from henceforth. When the man succeeded in doing it then he made peace with his conscience.  However when a wicked man does not experience any repentance then it is because he is still being punished from within, and brought to even more shame by the divine justice. It is because the divinity has not restrained nor disciplined that wicked man in any way, which would otherwise have preserved him from greater troubles and corruption. But this process will continue to escalate while that man remains proud and stubborn.
                     When wicked people are involved then they commit evil in a deliberate way, and it is directed against the person, for the purpose of causing it harm, shame, and loss. The wicked man seeks to mislead the person, to corrupt and destroy it from within. So the wicked man is already guilty in his intentions, even before he has actually or said or done anything, since he has wished for evils to befall an innocent person and rejoiced over its misfortune. This is why it should be rejected evil people from the outset, because they are already contemptuous and covetous in their heart, false and treacherous, and hypocritical in all their dealings. It should thereby not be regarded the wicked people nor had any company with them, since that nothing which one can do on their behalf is able to change them for the better. Even that the man can do a good act toward a wicked person then the latter will still never see it as a good act, so it will neither acknowledge nor appreciate its significance. For the wicked person is already treacherous and corrupt, so it will interpret everything in a similar way, suspecting other people of the same false intentions as it does possess. The wicked person does consider the goodness of other people to be a weakness, something which can be exploited against them, an opportunity to betray their trust, in repaying good with evil. The honest people can do the right thing toward the wicked person, through good and pure intentions, but that person will still always choose to see something contemptuous and covetous about it. The ideal thing is to love all people in an unconditional way and treat them with longsuffering, but it does still not mean that one should trust everyone or seek to have company with everyone. For that one can continue to do the right thing toward other people, but one should still not seek for the company of the wicked men while they continue to be wicked. It is not like one should be in need of the wicked men or crave after their approval, but they must first have an initiative to repent and be converted the divinity, before they can begin to approach other people in honest way.
                     It can happen that the man allows himself to be deceived by delusions, in continuing to have company with wicked people in order to help them, and change them for the better, since that man will otherwise have guilt over that in shunning their presence. However if all previous effort has hitherto been fruitless then it will also be so in the future, because the wicked people continue to have the same heart and mindset in all things. For that nobody else is able to help or change the wicked person, but it is ultimately depended upon its choice alone, whether that person will sincerely repent in its heart. The matter is only between that person and the divinity, what is heeded and chosen from within, in preferring the truth and its moral principles above the selfish influence of the mind. The wicked person will otherwise blame everyone and everything for its own evil choices, as if other people had first started the problem and that person is merely repaying them in the same way. But if that person would find itself abandoned and isolated then it would discover that all such evil desires and delusions is bound to itself alone, since that person continues to crave after such things even that other people are absent. It is not like the man does first need to have friendship with evil people, and then be betrayed by them, before that man can finally cease to trust them and reject further dealings with them. For it can already be discerned such signs in their bearings, that prove to be false and dubious. It can already be read between the lines during the human relations, in sensing something false and contemptuous and covetous in the eyes of the wicked person, and where its tone proves to be pretentious and egoistical. It can be noticed that person having eyes and smile of wickedness, eyes and smile of the devil. The wicked person can all of a sudden blurt out an improper opinion, like when it is spoken shamelessly about indecent things like any ordinary topics, or too lightly about the misfortunes of other people. And when the wicked person notices another person in a weakened state then it will seek to exploit the opportunity, by manipulating or abusing the person in some way, and by looking upon the person as a mere tool in order to satisfy its selfish desires.
                     The wicked person is already insincere in its intentions, having ulterior motives behind its outward speech and gesture, so that person is unable to suppress the signs that follow treacherous desires and thoughts. It corresponds to a fair-weather friend to some extent, where that person does pretend to be our friend while we experience a time of prosperity in our life. But that person will be the first one to abandon us and turn against us, when we experience a time of adversity and there is no longer any advantage to be had from us. It is a transparent sign that such person was never our friend to begin with, because that person did never have any sincere and good intentions before we accepted it as our friend. It can happen that the man does already have a friendship with an evil person, even that he does not find himself in such bad company and dislikes the person, so he does no longer feel any longing in continuing it. But the man does still not choose to do so, against his own willingness and better judgment, because of his misplaced concern for the evil person. It is because the man is afraid of making that person upset and unhappy, if he does cease to give that person attention and has no further dealings with it. The man is thereby inventing these or those reasons which seek to justify further friendship with the evil person, as if there was something good about it or to be hoped for in the future. But all such enumerated reasons are made upon a wrong basis, because they have nothing to do with the actual person, its attitude and choices in general.  For it is like the man could invent such ‘positive’ reasons about anyone in order to justify anything, without being in context with current circumstances and his personal experience, how the matters have hitherto been and will continue to be in the future. These ‘positive’ reasons do not change anything about that evil person and what it is capable of, but the man must rather make a decisions based upon facts and adapt to the situation.
                     The spiritual soil in the wicked person is already barren, so that nothing good can be aroused in it, regardless of that whether one can have good intentions and wish to help it in some way. The goodness is meant to lead to good reception, in benefiting the man from within and making him a better person, increasing his understanding and capability in the process. If the man’s effort for the sake of an evil person does not lead to anything good; then it means that such an effort did never belong to the goodness in the first place. The goodness did never encourage the man to throw his pearls before the swine, because the goodness did already know it in advance that all such effort would be doomed to failure. The evil person is already closed in advance, and no man will be able to convince that person otherwise, since that evil person has already rejected the divinity from within itself. It does not matter whether the evil person had once done favours to the man, because it does still not justify that he should be obliged to repay it with complicity in corruption. For that a good act should call for another good act, rather than an evil one. It can be mentioned when an evil person has hitherto never appreciated anything which the man has done for it. It has nothing to do with the man himself and what he should ‘rather’ have done, but it has everything to do about that person’s ingratitude and inner emptiness. It would not have mattered if the man had been perfect and made some great accomplishments, because that evil person would still not acknowledge it nor appreciate anything. That to waste time and effort upon an hypocritical person is time and effort that could have been invested in a decent person. Just like weed takes the soil and denies that soil to beneficial plants then a company with a hypocritical person makes one miss out on company with decent persons, which would otherwise have made one feel good in doing good to and receiving good from. That to hate evil and to separate oneself from an evil company is necessary if one is going to aspire for good things and make good use of one’s life. Otherwise one would always be spiritually stuck in seeking to gratify selfish and ungrateful people, where one would neglect to change within while seeking to change them, even as when it is sought to change the mind itself.
                     The man should  invest his time and effort upon a mutual friendship, which is the most giving to both persons, since they know how to appreciate what the other is doing. It should thereby be cultivated further relationship with those that do already love in an unconditional way, rather than by neglecting the decent person in favour of the unworthy one. If the man is going to separate himself from an evil person then he must ignore all direct and indirect communication with it, no matter what that person can attempt to do about it. It is not like the man does first need to explain himself before that person, since that person will either way disregard the truth and continue to obtrude into his life. The man should rather convince himself in continuing to reject that person, when it comes to shun dealings with that person in all forms and never reveal any sign of weakness to it. It should thereby never be made any compromises, nor given in to any demands. Now the evil person can come up with excuses and promise to behave better in the future, but it does still not involve a genuine repentance. For that person is only coming up with a temporary show in order to convince the man that it is repentant, while that person has not convinced itself of repentance from within. This means that the evil person does not actually understand what is deemed to be right or wrong, in understanding the value of the choice and by being willing to do so, ‘how’ it can actually improve itself. So the evil person can perhaps change its manner of speech and gesture, by pretending to be ‘good’ for a certain time, but it does never involve any right premises or intentions. It can however happen that the evil person does really repent, and carries an endeavour in improving itself, regardless of that whether the man will believe it or not, forgive it or not. That attitude and conduct proves to be genuine at that moment, but it is also a matter of that whether the person will remain so, by being consistent with it in the long run. The man can thereby still be wary of the person, and not give it his trust too hastily, but both of them can go their separate way from some time, and focus upon their own life. For the man can very well have a good life without that person, and that person can very well have a good life without that man. But perhaps can it be begun a new friendship sometime in the future, if that person has proven itself honest and reliable in own affairs.

The man can find himself living in a place where the majority of the people are hostile and discriminating to him. It can apply that the man is innocent, where he has done nothing wrong in order to deserve such treatment, but he is being persecuted for not being as corrupt as that people. Or it can apply that the man does have a bad reputation because of his past life and faults, so it is like he is condemned and shunned in advance, even that the same man has already repented and improved.  If the man does find himself in such position then it has in real nothing to do with his person and what he can do about it. It is not like the man does first need to prove himself in the eyes of other people before he can finally be accepted by them, or by seeking to convince that people to cease their disrespect, since they are already biased and closed in advance through an ill will. The man should thereby not consider himself obligated to stay in such place, and continue to look for company with such people. But the man should rather seek to begin a new life, at a new place with a new people, which is solely for his own sake and not for anyone else, since the man should do things according to his own premises. It can of course happen that some person are good and friendly to the man, but it does still not mean that he is obligated to stay in such place, only for their sake, especially if these persons do already have an acceptable life. A similar thing can apply when the man does have false and treacherous friend, which is constantly going behind his back and does not appreciate his company. For that false friend can be friendly to the man at regular interval, but the man should still not feel guilt over that in wanting to end the friendship, since the man is already unhappy and vexed most of the time.
It can be hard for a sinner to become a new and better person while the people of that place continue to see and judge/treat him as the same bad man of the past. They are ever questioning his motives, seeing always something bad about every act which the man does, and inventing something new to hold against him. The sinner is ever seeing himself through their hostile eyes, and thereby can it be so distracting for him that he treats himself as such (loss of faith in himself, low self-esteem, repeating again the faults that he had tried to avoid). However, the repentant and improved sinner does not really need to say or do anything about this. He can just continue to move on with his life and do the right thing, while he allows all these hostile people to  judge him and slander him behind his back. For that the man is not judging anyone for their faults and showing mercy to those that live in weakness, while the hostile people continue to judge him for the past faults and showing no mercy to those that live in weakness. These hostile people judge themselves by judging others, since they have been committing corresponding faults which they accuse others of. These hostile people will only turn out to be hypocrites in the long run, when it is manifested that the persecuted person has changed for the better and is now doing the right thing, while these hostile people have still failed to change and are still doing the wrong thing. Hence it is best to allow the weaknesses of our enemies to prove their own undoing, without ourselves needing to regard them or lift up a finger for them. All this superficial and hypocritical prattle of our enemies subjects them under the same superficial and hypocritical standard, so we should just allow them to prattle and take care of everything from their end. (We should not regard those which sit at a comfortable place and speak ill of those that are distant, being themselves far away from all hard choices and circumstances, without daring to confront anything or openly stand for that which they claim in secret.) Wicked people are either unwilling or unable to withstand the selfish thoughts in their lives, and hence they fail to change in their lives. When the wicked people realize they cannot overcome these selfish thoughts/problems then they try to divert their attention from this, by judging and slandering and persecuting those persons which are able to rise above these things. These selfish thoughts have managed to make the wicked people so resentful and bitter and angry that they seek for someone as a target to unleash their frustration upon, as if that was supposed to make their problem go away or make them forget all about it. When a wicked person is alone with its thoughts then it becomes fearful and cowardly toward them, and allows itself to be enslaved and controlled by the mind. Next the wicked person reacts by pretending to be bold and courageous when persecuting innocent people, as if that was supposed to exalt the wicked person and make it seem powerful in the eyes of other people. But none of this would have happened if the wicked person been manly enough to endure the thoughts in its life, without being so proud/sensitive and receiving things too personally, without being so quick to lose patience and give up. The wicked people have failed to become virtuous in their own lives, and yet they presume that if they punish ‘sinners’ for their sins then it is supposed to make up for it. They try to make it seem like the victim is supposed to have done something wrong to make it into a bad person and that it deserves to be badly treated. The wicked people are still doing bad things to other people, whatever the reasons/pretences behind it. They look as far back as they can to ‘dig up’ something bad from the past and then try to hide behind it when making their attacks, since they could otherwise not openly persecute a good person for the reason of being a good person. Because the wicked are being wicked then they will never confess the true motivation behind their actions and never agree that the good is being good. The divinity is the ultimate judge which decides who is being forgiven and having his sins forgotten, and who is being condemned and having his sins revealead. The wicked people should mind that in giving account of their own sins to the divinity. It can be come up with a following parable about hypocrisy. Three men participate in an archery contest. The first man manages to hit the mark. The second man misses the mark. The third man misses the mark further away. The second man now presumes himself to be in position to condemn and mock and persecute the third man for having missed the mark further away, even that himself neither hit the mark. That makes the second man into a self-condemned hypocrite. Instead of trying to improve himself and manage to hit the mark then he spends his time belittling those that are trying to improve themselves and hit the mark (repentant sinners).
If the man has been brought up in a place where the majority of the people are hostile and discriminating to him; then it is too time-consuming and life-draining for him to keep answering and reacting to every disrespectful move of theirs. If the man is constantly on the defensive and following the initiative of his enemies then he will remain spiritually stagnant (fail to grow as a person). But if the man continues to disregard his enemies while focusing upon that in growing as a person then he will in the end become spiritually strong and wise enough to outgrow his enemies. The man will no longer feel the need to say or do anything in regard to these enemies, since they only seemed to be big in the man’s eyes while he had been little/immature in the past. But now the man has become a different person, doing different things, and faring in a different way, while these enemies are still stuck on the same things. It is enough to let the silent deeds speak for themselves and let them disprove the problem, since it is already transparent who has been doing things which work out and who has been doing things which do not work out, who is now being better off and who is now being worse off. Let’s say that enemies mock or accuse the man of being bad in a particular sport. Then the man should not put a stop to the training while producing endless arguments in order to convince his enemies otherwise. But the man should rather disregard his enemies while focusing upon the training in that sport, until the man has become good enough in the sport to disprove all false/unjustified claims. Even so we should not quarrel with our enemies when they ascribe something bad to our person, but we should rather focus upon that in becoming a better person. We should cease to repeat things that are blameworthy and surpass our enemies in virtue. These hostile people presume that they can hide behind the group when doing evil, convince each other and agree among themselves that the man is an object of contempt. If the man is stationed at an unfavourable place and being outnumbered then he should not seek to fight an enemy here or there, but the man should rather ‘pull up the ground under the enemies’, along with them all, and ‘throw it into the sea’. That to ‘pull up the ground under the enemies’ is to not desire the things that they desire, and not to pursue the things that they pursue (debauchery), and not to have the bad qualities that they have, and not to seek to become like them and one of them. The man should rebuke and chasten them all as a group, by making the same rule befall them all and without making any exception for anyone. The man keeps being indifferent to all of them, shunning them all, and moving past them all. It is not like the man would only disregard some of them while regarding others, have no initiative in talking to some of them while being the first one to talk to others, or seek no company with some of them while seeking the company of others. But the man should consider that group to be the one and same person, and treat them as one and the same person (a bad sort). First the man should move away from that place and live elsewhere, that he might have a proper space and peace to grow as a person, and that the hostile people might no longer find shelter in their numbers. Then if a hostile person from that place ever comes over to the man’s place (his basis) and they come across one another somewhere sometime by chance; then the man should focus upon withstanding that person as a single and isolated enemy. It is not about fighting everyone at the same time, but rather to focus upon one enemy at a time, until the next one, as if the rest of them were waiting in a row. So when the man finally meets with one of the hostile people then he treats it with utter indifference, without regarding that person the slightest, without saying or doing anything for it, while the man keeps doing his intended thing and moving on with his life. Spiritual victory is determined by that which person considers itself less in need of the other person, and which shows less attention to the other person. It is a question of that who goes back to the other, and who goes after the other, who is the first one to lose patience and have an initiative in seeking the other’s attention. Even if an enemy does speak bad of the man and does something bad to him then it is still a sign of the enemy’s weakness, since he is the one constantly giving the man attention with this and chasing after him. That enemy would not be doing this unless he was constantly thinking about the man. But the persecuted man who thinks little as possible of that enemy, and never mentions him at all, and never goes over to him; that same man does hold the higher ground. It is not about convincing our enemies to cease their disrespect or to make them suffer, but rather to rise above them all and be wholly free of their influence. And if we really want to insult our enemies in a discreet way then we should continue to be spiritually free and happy regardless of them, as if all of them were expendable to us, having nothing to offer in regard to spiritual progress and happiness. They are being shutted out and excluded from the bright time we are having, where they have no share in our time of prosperity which they had no part in leading to (promoting). We are being better off without them, while they are being worse off without us. It can be noticed the bright countenance of those that were persecuted and driven out of that hostile place, and the bright countenance of former persecutors that have already repented and are now having the heart in the right place, where the divinity is being gracious to them and shining on them and making them prosperous. It can be noticed a clear difference between the righteous and the wicked, when righteous people are drawn to other righteous people and keeping to that side, when they are being separated from the company of the wicked and maintaining their distance from them, and not going over to the other side.
Even that some of the people are being open and friendly toward the man during his time of prosperity then he should still not allow it to ensnare him into returning back to the people as a group, since that he will then find himself back in the same position and have his current prosperity undermined by them. But the man should be mindful of the time when he was spiritually down on the ground and what was then the people’s attitude toward him and how they treated him. They had back then rejoiced when he was down on the ground and ‘kicked’ him, while they now feel bad after he has stood up, or they finally changed their mind and are having regrets when it no longer matters. Since the man is now doing well (higher position) then it does no longer involve a choice in showing mercy to someone in a lower position. Now they are being open and friendly to the man because they think there is some kind of advantage to be had from his higher position. They are not in love with the man, but rather in love with his prosperity (bright time). But if the man would still by lying down on the ground then the same people would still be exploiting his weaknesses and advertising his shame. These people are even now still despising and discriminating other persons in a corresponding position. Their attitude has not changed, in what way they behold those that are in a higher position and those that are in a lower position. If the people are now truly being sincere and repentant of that in having despised and discriminated the man in the past; then they really not need to do anything for him. But they should in their hearts cease to despise and discriminate the lacking persons that are still among them, and rather open their hearts to those persons, and welcome them among them, and treat them as their equals. And if the people truly care for the man and wish him all the best and rejoice with his prosperity then they should stand aside and let him go, that he might continue to feel good in the things he has hitherto been doing, being free from the place of his misery, even that it means that the people will no longer have him in their lives. But why should the man consider himself obligated by little friendly things to turn back and keep staying in a place involving much hostile things? The man would not be doing it for himself but rather for the sake of other persons. It is sufficient that the man speak neither good nor bad to the people, and that they speak neither good nor bad to him. May the divinity bless those persons that were being sincere and compassionate and merciful toward the man during his time of misfortune,  and may the divinity make it up to them that the man has not had initiative in being open and friendly to them in turn, since it was expedient to his spiritual survival not to go back.
The wicked people kept persecuting the righteous people and driving them out of their place; until there would only be wicked people remaining there. Now the divinity would no longer shine on the many for the sake of the few, but the divinity would in the end punish them all with the same thing at the same time. Their wickedness was not being rebuked and chastised at regular interval, thereby seemingly enforcing their presumption that they would always be able to get away with everything and continue it endlessly, unlike God’s chosen people which kept experiencing little adversity that they might be saved/restrained from a greater adversity to come, since they would be humbled by it and repent and turn back to decency. But the divine wrath over the continuing proud and stubborn attitude of the wicked would be stored up and finally unleashed in one great catastrophic punishment. Now let those wicked people try to hide behind the group when they are feeling bad, convince each other and agree among themselves that they should feel better, that they are being justified and deserving of spiritual relief. Let the wicked people flee one to another and seek comfort with one another, whom are feeling just as miserable and helpless within, and let the wicked flee from one place to another, when the whole basis under them is cursed and the whole area around them a spiritually barren wasteland. What are the wicked going to come up with when their soul/heart keeps being hit and penetrated by subjective problems (spiritual sword), being disturbed and made upset by it, roused to fear and desperation? What are the wicked going to come up with when their souls keeps being blocked from all spiritual benefits and relief (spiritual famine), when their spirit and inner life and energy keeps being drained by long-term absence of good? What are the wicked going to come up with when their soul is being tormented and made restless and maddened by overwhelming sickening (spiritual pestilence), as if each moment was being unbearable and impossible? The wicked people keep trying to save their own self/ego from this and resorting to alternate means to deliverance, without realizing that these seemingly ‘positive’ thoughts and fleeting/temporary sensations are misleading them (false saviour on a white horse), where all of this will lead to a dead end and a waste of effort and further alienation from the truth. Even that a wicked person has experienced continual prosperity for a long time and without any setbacks then all of this does still not mean anything when the divinity finally decides to punish that person with spiritual ruin. In one moment, as if hand would be waved, then everything will go straight to hell and become unbearable for all time. When a wicked person presumes that it has finally reached the top and made everything in a perfect condition to enjoy henceforth then that person will in an instant become swallowed up by its own mind, and experience everything in a bad way from the belly of the dragon, and not know how to get out of it. A man of good sense will stand aside and depart and not be among the wicked when the divinity will punish them all, that he might not be consumed with them. Let this be their epitaph: a people which pushed their weak brethren out of the way and left them spiritually dying nearby, while the people got drunk and had fun and fornicated, ever passing by their weak brethren, not even once visiting them in their time of distress, never reconsidering the matter, since the people kept telling themselves they were already occupied with their own lives, that they had no time for them, and that they would not miss out on the fun that others were having.

It is in the nature of the spiritually blind men to appeal to corresponding vices and weaknesses in other people, just as what such men possess and experience in their own life. For an example then a self-righteous man can preach something to other people, so they will become just as meddlesome as him, accusing, and hypocritical about the faults of other persons. A selfish man can come up with flatteries toward other people, so they will become just as envious as him, covetous and vainglorious about their own self-importance. And a malicious man can come up with arrogant speech and slander innocent people, so the audience will also be filled with the same ill will as him, treachery and cruelty. For the spiritually blind man has already been defeated by selfish desires and vices, where he is now enslaved by the mind and does not dare to rise up against it. That man does now wish other people to share his defeat and suffering, by dragging them down with him, so he tries to tempt that people to have the same wrong opinions and corruption. The innocent person is unable to prevent the evil people from speaking evil things about it, and what kind of devices they can come up with in order to undermine or attack it. For such evil people had already been intent upon that in doing the wrong things, regardless of the truth in that matter, what the innocent person could say for itself or do in order to appease them. It is already transparent that the evil people are a liars and guilty of wrongdoing, but nobody is able to control in what way they choose to think and speak.
                     But the innocent person does still possess a free choice, how it is chosen to look upon the adversity, and how it is chosen to react toward the opposition of evil men. For that person can always refuse to allow such things to affect itself in any way, by ceasing to become credulous and sensitive about it, since that such things would either way not have been avoided. The innocent person does at least know the truth for itself, and it can continue to do the right thing in regard to its own life, while the choices of evil men are their own problem and responsibility. It is most important that the person does not give such opposition any power over its will, so the person will no longer consider this to be its problem, and no longer have any initiative in subjecting itself under its influence. This means that the person will never lose faith in itself, never restrict itself, never neglect its true potential, and never cease to treat itself with self-love, self-awareness, and dignity (self-respect). It is the divinity which is able to understand and determine everything, and pass the final verdict. But the empty words of evil men are powerless, and cannot change anything from within, unless the innocent person chooses to believe their lies and treat itself in a superficial and unfair way. It is most important that the innocent person can overcome its own weaknesses, which make itself receptive toward such temptations and opposition from other people. It is true that the evil man is guilty of falsity and wrongdoing, but the innocent person does have itself to blame for choosing to heed and yield to such temptations. The evil man did not force the innocent person to make wrong decisions and mistakes, but such troubles happened after that person did choose to become too credulous and sensitive, in receiving such things too much into itself, or too personally. For an example then the innocent person can begin to neglect its own affair and even punish irrelevant people for it. So the main problem does not really consist in the original incident with the evil man, but rather in that person’s improper interpretation and response.
                     If the man has been betrayed by a false person then the real problem does not consist in that person, but rather in the man’s credulity and error of judgment, in having presumed that such person was trustworthy and chosen to have association with it. If the man does have a friendship with a ungrateful person which does not appreciate him and treats him with disrespect; then the real problem does not consist in that person. It is rather because the man does consider himself to be in need of such person, in making himself too depended upon it. The man did first want something from that person (expectation), and next he began to regard that person (attention), and then finally he began to seek its company (behaviour). The actual problem did exist within the man long before he experienced bad things from that person. The bad things within did draw the man toward bad things without. But if the man had never wanted anything from that person in the first place then he would never have wanted to have anything to do with that person. The mind obtains power over the man’s will every time the man wants something selfish, where all these selfish expectations of the future (as a remedy toward problems of the past) makes the man depended upon the mind in order to get it. That is how the great tempter manages to gain access to the man’s soul, since the man is willing to listen to the mind while the mind says that what the man wants to hear and get (illusions). But if the man frees himself of all selfish desires then the mind loses all power over his will. The man will no longer regard anything which the mind can come up with, whether it is bound to bad things of the past or ‘good’ things of the future, that in seeking for and obtaining some kind of self-gratification. It is usually dwelt on selfish problems and selfish expectations for this end, that the man might justify himself and be right about something, that he might get the better of enemies and make them suffer, and that other people should please him and make him happy. If the man does experience an adversity from another person and allows it to have bad influence upon his temper, resulting in negligence of his life and beloved ones; then the real problem does consist that man’s own sensitivity and revengefulness. If the man has been deceived by another person and endured some loss (fraud, scam, hoax) then the real problem does not consist in that person. It is rather because of the man’s own vanity and greed, which had made himself short-sighted, blind, and easily exploited. If an intoxicated man has been convinced by another person into doing something reckless and fall into trouble; then real problem does not consist in that person. But the man is rather to be blamed for having chosen to drink alcohol in the first place, which made him lose his self-control. It can be calculated the real intentions of evil people, by being aware of that what kind of reactions they are attempting to arouse in oneself, by saying or doing this or that. It should be noticed what kind of response or consequences will happen if there is believed their words and acted upon it, so it can thereby be discovered their real plans. It does correspond to the principle that the guilty part is he whom does profit most from a crime. It is about discerning what kind of selfish desires drive the evil people, for there is always some selfish advantage, profit, or pleasure which they do covet for themselves. It is like everything else is pretence, what they can pretend to say and do in order to obtain it.
Pride and covetousness can be likened to shackles, because if the man possesses such weaknesses then he will allow himself to be drawn/attached to the bad company of bad people. A better man can be overcome by a worse man if the better man makes use of worse things in their dealings. When a righteous man keeps to the righteous side then he cannot be overcome by a wicked person, but if the righteous man leaves the righteous side and goes over to the wicked side of the wicked person then it exposes him to manipulation. For example when a wicked person says or does something bad to the righteous man then it is in the power of the latter to not allow it to go/reach any further, since the righteous man has himself not been doing anything bad and he is not being responsible for it. However if the righteous man becomes proud over this then it will induce him into thinking about the wicked person and showing it attention, and to seek the company of the wicked person that he might have the ‘final word’. So that righteous man, which is being righteous in all factors expect in this one (pride, absence of humility), allows this weakness of his to draw him to the wicked person, and their meeting/quarrel will become a new source of bad things said and done. The end of one thing will mark the beginning of another, as if this could go on endlessly. This corruption, which began with pride, will spread out to other factors and lead to many vices. If the man seeks for a confrontation with a ‘tempter’ because of the previous temptation; then the man will only end up getting tempted further. If the righteous man keeps repaying evil with evil then he will in the end possess nothing good which can be drawn from within. And let’s say that the man has been righteous in all factors, but if he is now yielding to covetousness (no longer being righteous in that factor) then he will be drawn to a wicked person which he expects to help him obtain success in its pursuit. But the wicked person, being the worse person, will exploit this opportunity to deceive and manipulate and undermine the better person, and to cause it shame and loss. The better person will only end up making a fool out of itself, having been unaccustomed to the falsity and deception and hypocrisy of the wickedness, having listened to the bad advises of the worse person and deemed it to be trustworthy. The better person was being covetous in that factor, and yet it retained the virtue of sincerity and truthfulness, by being honest and outspoken about its covetous inclination. But the better person made the error of judgment in presuming that the worse person it consulted with did also possess such good qualities, when the worse person was altogether being pretentious and false and dishonest. The better person was doing things in good faith with the worse person, while the worse person was being altogether faithless and treacherous. It is like the better person was trying to do bad things through the truth (misguided attempt), when a true evilness is devoid of all truth, always making use of lies as means to an evil end. If a righteous man seeks to play the ‘game of the devil’ then he will surely get outmaneuvered and beaten by a wicked person (which is being more crafty and insolent). It is like a sheep would go over to the wolves and try to become like a wolf, but that sheep would lack their sharp teeth and appetite for meat, and ultimately be unwilling to be as aggressive as them (to go that far in insolent and despicable dealings). By being among the wolves the sheep is only calling for that to be eaten.
A truly wicked person is also being false and pretentious, while a truly righteous person is also being truthful/sincere and outspoken. It is truly bad persons which pretend to be good in the eyes of other people, instead of confessing it openly that they are being bad. They pretend to be good in order to be openly approved/honored for it, and to deceive good people into becoming compliant with their evil wishes. But when bad people are among bad people then they reveal all their wicked thoughts and desires to one another. It is something which is being done in secret, whether it is spoken despicably about other people or plotted against them. A truly righteous persons would never pretend to be bad in the eyes of other people, because that would contradict the truth that they feel and know in their hearts. It can happen that a well-intentioned person pretends to be bad in the eyes of other people, because that person believes/presumes that it is being bad when it is not being bad (in the greater matters), because that person has a misplaced concern for bad people (people unworthy of all the kindness and helpfulness shown to it), because that person does not want to become a target to the bad people (while being considered one of them). That person can have a good heart and try to do wrong things in a less wrong way, but that person is still not being truly righteous (whole-heartedly), since that involves integrity or consistency between that what is felt and said and done. A truly righteous person dares to speak the truth and to stand by it, and it is being willing to suffer wrong for doing the right thing. A truly righteous person is being supported by the good qualities of wisdom and courage, because that person discerns the voice of the good source and firmly keeps to its good belongings. A person can have good intentions, but because it lacks a spiritual roothold in its life then it does not know ‘how’ it can actually be done good things. That person possesses the potential to become righteous, but it is still being undecided and half-hearted (not whole-hearted), being weak and unstable, or somewhat influenced by the extremes of selfishness and self-righteousness. That well-intentioned person can be called the repentant and sincere and humble sinner, which chooses the company of bad people while not really being one of them, since these people are not being repentant and sincere and humble. It is like that person would dress itself like a bad person, or put on a costume of a monster, but when it is looked into the eyes of that person then its eyes give it away, because it has the eyes of kindness (harmless dove or sheep). It is eyes of a person that is soft enough to ultimately bow down to the voice of the truth in its heart. It does not involve the evil eyeing that bad people have, whether it can be called ‘glint in their eyes’, gloating eyes, rough/hard-hearted eyes, or hungry-looking eyes. It can of course happen that bad people pretend to have ‘a kind look’, so it is something which one has to judge/ascertain on the scene. When these bad people find out that this well-intentioned person is not being bad as them, and not willing to go as far as them in bad things; then they turn against that person and treat it as ‘trash’ (outcast). Once that person reveals a sign of weakness or becomes exposed to attacks then these people reveal their ugly character, which they had all along. The humble sinner was being inexperienced in the ways of the world, and ignorant about the true character of bad people. He was being deceived by thoughts which made it look like there was something beautiful and redeeming to be seen about wicked people, while failing to notice the actual people and what they were truly capable of. Once being ‘branded’ then they act like he does not exist in their eyes, despite all the kindness and helpfulness that he had shown them. It is a good sign that he should never have shown them any kindness and helpfulness in the first place. He should never have sought their company in the first place.
                      If the man is going to overcome evil people and their opposition then he must first overcome his own selfishness, any concern for his own self-image, self-interest, and self-preservation. If there does not exist any ego then there will also not exist any problem, at least not in the man’s eyes, since there is no fear or vanity in him which can be appealed to. The external things are not the original problem, but it is rather the mind with its delusions which seeks to make everything and everyone become a problem in the man’s eyes. The wrong opinions of other people are unable to harm the man, unless the man chooses to receive it into himself, by behaving after such lies and slander as if it was true about him. The man does not need the recognition or the approval of other people, as if their permission was required before he could finally aspire for greater things and have a decent life. But the man can very well do so without such people, and without the mind’s intervention. Even that nobody has faith in the man then it does still not matter, so long as the man has faith in himself, thereby confirming that the divinity has faith in him. It does however not work the other way around, if everyone had faith in the man except the man himself. The spiritually blind men should be allowed to be selfish and stupid in peace, by being wrong about everything, so long as it does involve their own life alone. But it should otherwise be stood up to the evil men, if their choices are about to or are already affecting other people for the worse. If an evil man is not persuaded after the first few truthful arguments (or rebukes); then it would also not matter whether one would produce forth thousand additional arguments. For that evil man has already been intent upon that in making an evil choice, and he does afterwards come up with a pretence or excuse in order to cloak his real intentions. It is something which has already been planned in advance, what the evil man should say and commit at the scene, even before he had heard what other people had to say about it. That man is already closed in advance, hypocritical, and self-condemned in his ways. It is most important to stand one’s ground, as if nothing could change one’s determination and conviction, when it comes to oppose lies and injustice in all things
                     The man cannot expect that it is possible for him to overcome the enemy, if the man is already afraid of him in advance, already too hesitant or fighting half-heartedly. For the man will otherwise not be fully concentrated upon that in overcoming the enemy himself, since that his attention is upon things irrelevant to the victory. This does especially apply about the man’s concerns for his own self-preservation, like by being afraid of the possible pain which the enemy could inflict upon him, or by being too passive and on the defensive, merely following the initiative of the enemy’s attacks. But the man must rather fight with his whole heart, by being fully devoted to the struggle, in making his best possible effort, and be determined for its own sake. That to save the body at the expense of the spirit does always prove to be counterproductive, because it is the spirit which governs the body but it is not the other way around. If the spirit is neglected then the body will be neglected as well, like when a capable man allows himself to be enslaved by evil people and thereby will his capability only serve their selfish ends. But if the man does sacrifice the body in order to uphold the spirit then he will be more likely to save both. The man should never comply with the demands of an evil person, but he should on the contrary be willing to endure the opposition which the threat does reach to. It is preferable that the man should endure such pain above any shameful dealings, because he will continue to be free after the pain, not be burdened with the presence of that evil person. That evil person would otherwise be the root of the problem, constantly creating new evil demands and new troubles, since it does possess the deliberate will to cause evil.
                     The matter in question is not about the possibility of avoiding all harm, or by having an easy victory against an inferior opponent, as if it could already be foreseen the outcome. It all comes down to that whether the man will abide by a principle, by continuing to withstand the evilness in an unconditional way, at any time and place. It is as if the conditions do not matter, or what opponent is involved, so long as the man would be willing to live and die for a higher cause, rather than by saving his life in a shameful way. The man can perhaps be defeated in regard to the physical body, but he has still the same conquered in regard to his spirit, by maintaining his freedom, dignity, and innocence intact. The noble man does not necessarily care that much whether he can win or lose in these or those fights, because he does already have faith in himself, does never give up on himself, does never yield to his enemies, and he will continue to persist to the very end. It does however not make any sense when the man surrenders away his freedom and dignity to the evil enemies, in order to save his physical body temporarily from harm. For that by doing so that man will encourage all other evil men to treat him in the same way, so they will come up with similar threats and exploit the same weaknesses against himself. This is why it is preferable to continue to persist to the very end and be willing to die with honour, since the alternative does otherwise make the life seem worse than death. It is more important that the man can be freed from his fear of death, because his enemies have hitherto only seemed dreadful because they are able to inflict death upon him. But if there is no fear of death then there will also be no fear of any human enemies, because it does all come down to the same destination, the ability to endure suffering. It does not make any sense when the man craves after the survival of the body, even that he has nothing worth living for, since only the spiritual aspect can make his life meaningful. 

It can be a needless thing when the man remains bitter, and still carries personal grudge against people which did him wrong in the past. It can namely apply that the man has already been healed of his weakness, and the problem has already been solved which was once used against him. For an example then the man was once insatiable and unhappy, but he is now contented and happy with his life. The man was once cowardly and weak, but he is now courageous and strong. And he was once foolish and easily exploited by other people, but the man is now wise and spiritually sober. The wrong things do thereby no longer exist in the man’s life, which he is supposed to be upset over. The man did once not have faith in himself, in his capability to have decent life of his own. For an example then the man did not believe that he could do the right thing, he did not believe that he could resist temptations, and he did not believe that he could be changed for the better. Once the man did give up on himself then he committed many shameful things, provoking people and making a fool out of himself in their eyes. Therefore did the man obtain a bad reputation, and other people began to shun his company and treat him with disrespect. However the man should still not blame these people for the things which went wrong in his life, because it was merely the consequence, the after-effects, or incidental things. The primary goal is not about satisfying a personal revenge, in hurting one’s enemies or to make them acknowledge their past faults. It is much more important what dwells from within the man at all times, what kind of understanding and capability does follow him everywhere, and affects his personal experience. This is why the man should forget all about the enemies of the past, but be rather concerned about that in understanding and improving himself, when it comes learn from the mistakes and do better next time, when finding himself in a corresponding situation. The people of the past were not the only evil persons in the world, but the man would surely have met some other persons instead, even that he had been located somewhere else and at another period. For that any evil person would have noticed his transparent weaknesses and sought to exploit it against the man, so long as that man would remain so, and not stand up for himself. The best preventive measure is to be free from such weaknesses, while accustoming oneself to firm determination and conviction. But it should not be wished the people of the past any evil or rejoiced over their misfortunes, since it is a despicable thing to attack people while they are down upon the ground.
The divinity is the supreme judge, which passes the final decision on the human lot. When the divinity passes a righteous judgment then it evens everything out, both regarding prosperity which can be deserved or undeserved, and regarding adversity which can be deserved or undeserved. If the man does experience undeserved adversity then it means that the divinity will later make it up to him with free blessings. This can also apply to adversity within the man, when the man is being haunted by his own mind while he is hating evil and departing from evil, and that nothing good seems to be aroused within and making the situation any better. All these aggressive and unpleasant thoughts, chaos and suffering in the flesh,  spiritual poverty and limitations, do yet serve the higher purpose in the long run. The man is storing up free blessings from the divinity, even as if it was being a sum in a bank, where the bad things undeserved do equal good things deserved. The divinity can equalize the situation by making the man more lucky and prosperous in his life, or the man can allow the divinity to transfer these free blessings to other people, whom are having a harder time than himself and are in desperate need of help. It is not lost a prosperity. That prosperity does merely change places, according to necessity. So these blessings can fly away and land on someone else, where before the afflicted person knows it then it does already feel better and is freed from its problems. The righteous man who suffers evil undeservedly and maintains his integrity; that man obtains the greatest spiritual treasure, which is namely the favour of God. This means that the man can bold in the presence of God, when it comes to ask God for good things and that God might spare the many for the sake of the few.
It makes sense that the true believer should be constantly experiencing within himself temptations, adversity, restrictions, weaknesses, and foolishness. Just like Jesus Christ carried the sins of other people then the true believer is doing his part in spiritually carrying the burdens of other people. Jesus Christ became spiritually poor that He might spiritually enrich His people. Let’s say that there is a group of people and each person has a part of its spiritual body tainted by a different thing. One person is spiritually tainted in its leg, another person tainted in its hand, a third person is tainted in its torso, a fourth person is tainted in its head, and so forth. One person is being troubled by bad past/memories, another person is being troubled by the fear of doing something wrong, a third person is being troubled by that how other people see it, a fourth person is being troubled by obsession and restlessness, and so forth.  Each person can be so affected by a specific subjective problem that this spiritual taint quells/suffocates spiritual growth and the person fails to reach its full potential. The person allows this tainted part to overshadow everything else which is being healthy and functional. Because something important to the person is lacking then it prevents the person from becoming happy and contented with its life. But what if one person would receive into itself all this taint which belongs to the other persons, so that all the other persons might brighten up and move on with their lives and become prosperous. For example then instead of one fully healthy person and ten persons having each ten percent tainted part (which manages to affect the rest of the body for the worse); then the fully healthy person takes on itself one hundred percent taint and the ten become wholly healthy. The divinity redistributes the good things and bad things involved, that the true believer might spiritually carry all these burdens for the sake of other people and promote maximum benefits to everyone else. All these devils behind subjective problems are being transferred over to the true believer and they harass/haunt his mind instead. When the believer is being mentally harassed by the enemies of God then the believer is taking hits ‘for the team’ (the people of God). When a specific devil is being occupied in hitting the believer then that devil is thereby not hitting someone else somewhere else. Someone else somewhere else is being spared all this. It might seem unfair and undesirable that true believer should be experiencing all these bad things within and that nothing good is ever being roused within to counter it. Even that the true believer keeps rejecting all these wrong possibilities and abstaining from corruption then he never ‘heals’ in a sense, is never being rewarded with good mood or better understanding and capability. He keeps being just as ignorant and restricted within. But when it is noticed all the good changes in the lives of other people and how bright they have become and living their lives to the full then it is all being worth it for the true believer. The true believer is grateful that all these people are experiencing good in their lives, regardless of his own life, regardless of that how it might affect his own life, regardless of that what is lacking in his own life, regardless of that how empty and barren his own life is. When the true believer is able to bear and outlast the spiritual burdens of other people then it is not because he is being strong in will-power, or clever enough to see through tangled arguments, or that he has more merit than other people. The true believer is being just as weak and helpless as other people. The difference between the true believer and the people involved is that he approaches the divinity regarding the burdens, and he confesses the truth about his own frail position and that he is need in help, and he asks the divinity to carry/lead him through this experience, and he believes that it is possible and that it can be overcome these difficult things. That alone is sufficient to last through all these great and many burdens. That alone is being transformed into spiritual benefit stored up. The true believer takes the place of another person, and he stands before the divinity and pleads on behalf of the person, and that person is being rewarded for it.
When the believer undergoes a ‘baptism of fire’ then it is like he is being stationed in the fires of hell, and the most powerful and clever devils are tempting/attacking him from every possible angle. If the believer comes up with imperfect and transient arguments against such temptations then these devils will immediately discover its weakness/holes and exploit it against him. Such arguments would not involve a universal truth, a general truth, or a common/shared truth, something which is able to last in all these situations with the time. It corresponds to that when cheap materials like stubble and wood do burn up in the fire (wholly wasted away), while precious materials like gold and silver are being refined in the fire. Hence if we are going outlast all these convincing and difficult temptations from the greater devils then we must make use of the word of God, and understand it further, and explain further its moral principles. We can discover further truth about these moral principles and come up with additional arguments to enforce/encourage them, as what applies to the purpose of this work. It is like the divinity has burned down everything within the believer (understanding, talents, ability, responsiveness), except the believer’s awareness of his human frailty, and his reliance on God, and his willingness to heed and obey the voice of God. It makes sense that the believer should have one great talent (the knowledge of God, patience amidst temptations) which can be fully focused on and invested all the time in, rather than by having many talents which shallow time and effort is invested upon each one. So what little and narrow thing the believer is given he does well. It makes sense that the divinity does deliberately deny the believer specific abilities/competence which would otherwise  have made him successful in worldly affairs, when these worldly affairs are in themselves transient and vainglorious. It would otherwise have delayed and distracted the believer from a higher calling regarding spiritual matters. For example a man can have it in himself to finish military training and become a competent soldier, and yet such success is being misused when he fights for the selfish agenda of selfish leaders. Or the man has it in himself to finish education and get a high position in a company, when that company is founded upon greed and exploitation and unfair wages to its workers. It is like the man becomes ‘good’ in something that steals his attention from the greater good. A rich country is being invaded for its resources, and animals are being tamed for their natural products (milk, wool), while those that do not seem to offer any advantage are left alone. It can be a good thing to be rich in spiritual affairs and poor in worldly affairs, or at least to seem poor to other people. The poor person is automatically being free of the company of pretentious and hypocritical people, because they do not notice any advantage to be exploited from it and thereby shun/disregard it. The poor person does not need to reject the advances of such people because they never went over to it in the first place. The poverty became a preventive measure against flatterers and parasites, separating the false persons from the true ones. It can be a good thing in a bad thing when we have transparent weaknesses and restrictions, when something lacking in ourselves drives away a specific sort of people. For example then it can be mentioned the search for true love. If the man is being outwardly ugly or unattractive then it excludes all the people that only seek outward beauty in relationship or which value that most in relationship. These people would either way not have truly loved the man during a relationship. Just like they would not seek relationship with the man before he became beautiful; then they would have abandoned the man after him having lost his beauty. If the man is being boring, or unresponsive in specific type of conversations (flirting, flattering), or either unwilling or unable to become ‘charming’ and ‘funny’ by making use of the lies of the mind; then it excludes all the people that want to hear ‘beautiful lies’ rather than the humble truth. If a person truly loves the man and only wishes him the best then that person will still continue to love the man in all his weaknesses and restrictions, despite all his weaknesses and restrictions. We have our weaknesses and restrictions to thank for that we are being free of superficial people, that they are not being drawn to us. Our weaknesses and restrictions automatically got rid of them for us.
Just like God is being selfless then the true believer is being selfless and the faith in God makes sense from that perspective. But the false/phony believer expects God to fulfill his selfish needs and he gives up on the faith when it does not come true. It includes that when the phony believer wants God to reveal Himself to him and to witness supernatural signs that he might ‘feel better about himself’. It includes that when the phony believer expects God to make him always experience prosperity and never any adversity, as if everything would always be easy and never difficult, never involving any temptations and hard choices, never testing his loyalty to God and to the moral principles which belong to God. The phony believer says that he believes in God as his Savior, and yet he keeps trying to save himself from selfish problems, instead of confirming that only God can save him from it and that he who believes is already being saved as a free gift. The true believer is meant to stand fast in the moral principles of the Scripture, to keep abiding in the same things in the long run, no matter what could change within him or around him. The phony believer does on the contrary keep changing his answers and reactions to temptations. When things change in his mind then his resolve is being changed as well. He says that he agrees with the moral principles of God, and yet he is quick to abandon such resolve when it does not seem to yield immediate results, to arouse something good within or to make these bad thoughts go away. Hence he is constantly inventing something new in his mind to rely upon and hide behind, and expecting that it will lead to a different result. It is not really meant that what is said, nor is it believed in its value, but it is pretended something temporarily and made a guess for something which is supposed to make him feel better. It does involve a short-sighted chase after good consequences, when a long-term resolve in abiding by that which is right would have made good consequences come over to us. What can be said about our internal condition and activity, when there is a conflict between the Spirit of God in our hearts and the spirit of the Enemy in our mind? First God does come over to us (within us), and He tells us to do the true and decent thing in the situation. Next God does temporarily go away or hide Himself from us. Then comes to the devil over to us (within us), and he tries to contradict that what we had previously been taught by God, and/or distract us from it and/or make us digress from it, that we might ‘not’ do the true and decent thing in the situation. After that the devil goes away, and God does again come over to us or again reveal Himself to us. Then God finds out whether we have stayed true/faithful to His words or whether we have betrayed His trust, and God will then reward us or reprimand us accordingly. Hence it is not really us that manage to find/arouse good things (within ourselves), but it is rather like good things manage to find us. Even that we do not seem to experience any immediate reward within us (good mood); then God has still entrusted us for more spiritual and moral things. Something has happened within us which makes us able to confess further truth about our lives and develop further sense of decency (attitude, human relations).  When we keep moving on with our lives and remain consistent with our conviction then it is had all kinds of invisible and unhearable changes within. It is something which has already happened before we know of it or become aware of it. It is something unexpected, where we have no way of determining its timing and manifestation. We never needed to stop with our lives and ‘check’ whether good things were now coming or not. We never needed to stop with our lives and ‘check’ whether we were now supposed to deserve blessing and immediately demand it from God. God will in due time set things right and straighten things out within us.
As the man has more faith in the divinity then things will get easier for him, because it involves that in heading in the right direction and doing things right in the very beginning, by being governed by right premises when approaching things, by getting straight to the point when speaking to the divinity and heading straight to the root/source of the solution.  The difficult thing is to keep denying one’s self on the path in unlocking more faith, to cease to be proud and cease to rely on our own human effort in trying to force things, to realize that the things we considered to be ours are not really ours and belonging to higher powers, and to realize that we are doing things upon a wrong basis and based on a faulty premise. The difficult thing is to recognize the root of the problem, that we might not keep repeating the same mistakes and not get stuck on new illusions/problems which the tempter invents instead of those sorted out. If it is neglected the very beginning of things then all subsequent effort will be doomed to failure, having been needless and a waste of time, having been irrelevant and digressive from the things that we were trying to obtain. It is an easy and effortless thing to receive a spiritual benefit/victory as a free gift from the divinity, but it can be a difficult thing for us to be humble and patient enough to wait for it in the meantime, and that to maintain the same resolve amidst so many conflicting thoughts. It might be hard to begin with, like when something manages to make us angry enough to complain, but once it has been accustomed oneself to wholesome attitude and practice for some time then that attitude and practice does follow oneself. It is just something which one does, and which one keeps doing either way, without ever stopping to question it or to seek (further) reasons in encouraging it. Once it has been gotten over the beginner’s phase/problem then the rest becomes easy. The true believer will experience more temptations and harder temptations with the time, and yet at the same time the divinity (in its grace) makes it easier for him to turn to the divinity for help and rely on it to counter everything. Even that things are not being perfect and something manages to affect the believer in some way then he does still consider things to be acceptable and bearable. A true believer and non-believer can encounter the same problem which initially manages to affect them in the same way, and yet they differ in that how it is chosen to see the problem and what is chosen to do after having realized their own weakness. The true believer justifies God for being true and righteous in all things, and confesses that he can only overcome this weakness through God’s truth and righteousness.  But the non-believer justifies himself, and he lies something to himself and tries to hide behind something when complying with corruption.
                     The wicked people can deceitful and crafty, but they are still the same not wise or prudent. That craftiness can only work if the man is credulous and believes their lies, by assuming such people to be trustworthy, and while he is unprepared for their treacherous move. But after the wicked people have betrayed the man and turned against him then they will be unable to do again, since he now knows their true nature and intentions. The wicked people are full of weaknesses, where there is no existing virtue which makes them strong and wise. They can only rely upon the foolishness and weaknesses of other men. And the wicked people might rely upon lies and tricks in order to deceive other men, but they can still be utterly incapable of discerning the same things in others, whether they are telling the truth or not. For the wicked person does already live in self-deception, not heeding the truth in its own life, so that person can easily be deceived by other wicked people, or that person does not believe the truthful testimony of a honest man. A quarrel with its change of insults is not something which belongs to the goodness, so the goodness will not help the better man scorn and humiliate his enemy.  The wicked man is already worthless, and he does have nothing to lose during a quarrel, by relying upon personal attacks and insults, which is deemed shameful to him. But the better man does only degrade himself by relying upon evil against evil, by going down to the same level as his enemy, so that he has nothing to gain and everything to lose. For the honest man wants to maintain his self-control, innocence, and dignity intact, so it would have been better if he had never participated in the quarrel from the outset. The main objective is not about getting the better of insolent person in a needless quarrel, nor to come up with a witty insult which might seem fun, but it is rather about being altogether free of the presence of that person. That to not regard a insolent person and to forget all about it within is priceless.  Wickedness involves a loser-attitude. A wicked man seeks to exploit the weak position of another person, when it is not on equal terms.  Let’s say that a wicked man has training in martial arts. He might know the basics of fighting, but because of his inner failings then he is unable to advance in it. When that man fights against other trained fighters then his performance is poor. Because of the wickedness of that man then he avoids fights against his equals, while he rather seeks to abuse and oppress persons that lack all training. A virtuous man with the same training and opportunities would have bested that wicked man. Virtue is superior to wickedness on equal terms. Wickedness seeks to obtain victory through irrelevant means (cheating, dirty tricks), thereby making such victory empty in itself and without confirming any merit/superiority. Many attack one person, or it is made use of weapon against an unarmed person.  It is suddenly attacked a person which did not know that it was going to happen and was altogether unready for it.  But if that person would have been ready for it and able to make use of same things  (equal terms, as in a contest, where the same rules and the same equipment apply to the contestants) then the outcome would favour the better person.
                     The wicked men are especially those which deliberately seek to harm and abuse other people, whether it does involve violence, sexual abuse, oppression, manipulation, discrimination, or corruption. The divinity can punish the wicked people from within, even that they have not experienced any external incidents, or intervention from their enemies. This means that the wicked people have not experienced pain through violence, nor shame openly, but the wicked people do still experience another kind of pain and shame from within. It can be said that the wicked people have already been punished by the divinity, because they are already wicked and unable to know the benefits of the goodness. As the wicked person becomes the more stubborn in its evil ways and refuses to repent; then it will experience the more chaos, torment, madness, and maladies in its soul, as if each moment would be unbearable. It is much greater punishment than any personal revenge from a human enemy, since it is constantly experienced from within while the latter does only last temporarily in the flesh. The man does not become virtuous by killing human enemies, nor will a misfortune make the man a better person by default. It can happen that a wicked person does experience a misfortune which arouses pity from other people. But that same wicked person had been devoid of all compassion and mercy toward other people in distress, secretly wishing for such things to happen and rejoicing over their misfortune. It can thereby apply that the wicked person does experience a misfortune of its own doing, because that person has pronounced its own harsh verdicts and received similar evils. For the wicked person was so self-absorbed and delusional that it became distracted and negligent of itself, falling into unforeseen accidents or undertaking tasks far beyond its capability.