Goodness is indeed stronger than evil

Goodness is indeed stronger than evil

November 2022

By Suma Varughese

Good is indeed stronger than evil, says  Suma Varughese 

The country is celebrating  Dussehra as I write this.  Across the land, households  are honouring the victory of good  over evil. So, really, is there any  innate power within goodness that  guarantees this victory in every  scuffle with the dark forces? 

Most of us would probably shake  our heads sadly. We have witnessed  only too often the exploitation of  the poor and the innocent by the  rich and the powerful. 

What, however, if we were to  change our perspective? 

For starters, how about shifting  our focus from the short term to  the long term? Aha! Immediately,  the scenario brightens up. Karma, 

to begin with, gallops to our rescue.  If we were to follow the lives of  wrongdoers into their sunset years,  we may find them undergoing  many setbacks—financial,  relational, or healthwise. Even if  their karma decrees a fair passage  through the present life, none of  us can avoid the consequences of  our actions. In some lifetime or the  other, it catches up with us, and we  pay for every misdemeanour.  

Secondly, we need to consider  the nature of the Universe itself.  Is it good or bad? The more we  study Creation (and Nature is  our supreme teacher) the more  we realise that a golden thread of  love, harmony, peace, selflessness,  and generosity runs through all of  Nature and of life.  

Nothing lives for itself alone. The  rain falls to bring salvation to the  thirsty Earth and waterbodies.  The tree offers shade, food and  sanctuary to a whole brood of  living things, including mankind.  Nature ensures that all living  things, even in the course of  doing their daily rounds, serve  the larger whole. While buzzing  around looking for nectar to sip,  bees pollinate all that they rest on  and trigger off the cycle of growth  among plant life. Love hums  like a tanpura (Indian musical  instrument) through all creation.  God indeed is love. 

How, then, can evil survive? Our  national credo, Satyameva Jayate,  says it all. In the fullness of time,  all falsity fades away, and only  truth triumphs. And truth means  all that is eternal, including  goodness and justice. 

Now let’s shift the perspective  from the outside to the inside.  Outside, a wrong-doer may appear  to be the picture of prosperity and  peace, but what do we know of  their inner life? There is certainly  no question that the more harm  we do to others, the more the finer  qualities within us shut down.  Even our conscience, our eternal  gatekeeper, recedes. The more  our goodness shuts down, the  grosser becomes our vibration.  

The first thing that happens is  our alienation from ourselves.  There is such commotion within  that we can hardly peep inside.  And alienation from ourselves is  effectively our vehicle to ruin.  

Secondly, we will be denied all the  great gifts of life, peace, love, joy,  and intimacy with another. Some  amount of goodness needs to exist  for us to earn these great graces. 

And thirdly, we will be completely  alienated from God. The more  we spin away, the feebler our  connection, and the less grace  from the Universe. Many of us,  especially those who step on the  path of growth and transformation,  may experience an active sense of  being looked after. Miracles visit  us fairly often. Help comes to us  from unexpected sources. Answers  to spiritual questions woo us from  all sides. Life appears to be on our  side.  

So, yes, from the time we take the  first step against our conscience,  our happiness will be a casualty.  As the Buddha rightly said,  “Suffering follows an evil thought  as the wheels of a cart follow the  oxen that draw it.” 

Suma Varughese is a thinker,  writer, and former Editor-inChief of Life Positive. She also  

holds writer’s workshops. Write  to her at sumavarughese@ hotmail.com. 

We welcome your comments and suggestions on  this article. Mail us at editor@lifepositive.net