by S. K. Ng
“Transgressions against the flow of nature are many. These stubborn people committed some of the most serious ones. But this is their personal affair; therefore I shall not discuss it further with any of you. Observe, and one day you shall find out,” replied the Receiver firmly and with a humble bow, he excused himself and headed back into the town; going from family to family and offering counsel and solace.
The countless stars shone like distant gemstones in the night sky. The temperature was chilly. Most of the Sollenthars sat by the various campfires that were lit earlier on, welcoming the warmth that they radiated and seizing the opportunity to chat. Ray, Lance and Spirit sat by a campfire in front of Ray’s tent. Lance’s eyes were drooping slightly, a clear sign of sleepiness. Spirit looked into the dancing flames. He felt sadness for these people.
Clearly, Spirit was reminded of the tragedies of his own life. The loss of his parents and siblings raced through his mind. The cruel fate that befell his wife and his daughter and the agonising unknown of what had befallen his sons brought tears to his eyes. And of the numerous tears that were shed from the saddened eyes of Spirit the White Wolf, one was shed for the little girl whose bloated body he had found earlier that morning. He could not hold his feelings back anymore. He drew air into his chest to the point it felt like exploding and exhaled it with all his might in the form of a loud, long howl. The Sollenthars sat in silence. Spirit gave out another sorrowful howl. The Sollenthars started to close their eyes and utter prayers in their hearts for the dead whom they had buried throughout the day.
Clover and Serene sat down at Ray’s campfire. Clover held a list in her hand.
“Report _ the final of this is that there are 1,823 survivors from the original population of 3,082. Casualties _ of the 1,259 of these, 1,009 are infants and children. Survivors _ of them, 300 are seriously injured and 405 are with light injuries,” said Clover.
“Understand _ I do of this,” replied Ray.
“Plans _ what are ours of these for tomorrow?” asked Serene.
“Plans _ ours of these are to inspect each and every building for their structural integrity, strengthen them if necessary, clear out all debris and rebuild whatever that requires rebuilding. Strengthen _ with lumber do we do of this, for rocks and stones will take too long and to manipulate them by using Elemental Sorcery will drain too much of our soul energy,” said Ray casually.
“Understand _ I do of this,” acknowledged Serene.
About 30 paces away, Higher Recipient Truthkeeper sat alone by a small campfire. He sat there in deep meditation. Ray glanced at the Receiver. Then, a sudden curiosity aroused in him. He stood up and walked over to the Receiver and sat in front of him. Clover, Serene, Lance, Rod and Spirit followed Ray and they sat opposite the Receiver as well. So the six of them sat in silence and waited for the Receiver to finish meditating. Finally, Recipient Truthkeeper opened his eyes.
“Permission _ I seek of this to enquire the truth,” said Ray.
“You may proceed to enquire, all of you,” said Recipient Truthkeeper in return.
Ray cleared his throat. The others sat patiently, curious as to what Ray was going to ask.
“Good _ what is it of this and what is Evil and how do we differentiate between the two?” asked Ray.
“Life and all existence is a war of Good versus Evil. It is a war that is fought constantly and it is never-ending! Nature consists of two parts, which are The Void and The Existent. The Void is the origin. In the beginning, everything was void. Everything was non existent! And in The Void, everything was harmonious, free-flowing, serene and balanced. This condition is called ‘equilibrium’! So what you must understand is that The Void is ‘order’! Then due to ignorance, some of the mind energy chose to bond with matter energy in The Void to become what is known as ‘compounded entities’ of mind and matter. And these compounded entities, along with the compounded entities of matter and matter, are what forms The Existent. These compounded entities are chaotic! So, The Existent is pure chaos whereas The Void is pure order! Remember this, for it is important! Since The Existent is chaos, all matter energy, or what we call natural forces, such as the winds, the tides, earth movements, fire movements and so on, will flow to try to achieve equilibrium, because equilibrium is the natural and original state of all things that exist and that do not exist, seeing that everything originally came from The Void. It also means that almost everything in existence is not in a state of equilibrium, because if it was, there will be no need for these forces to flow towards equilibrium in the first place! Therefore, the absence of equilibrium is the default condition in The Existent. And equilibrium is the ultimate goal of all matter energy. It is the ultimate goal of all natural forces. So the next question is, what about the mind energy? What about living beings? What about those who have body and soul, or otherwise known as the compounded entities of mind and matter? It is understood amongst the wisest of the compounded entities that since equilibrium is the objective of all natural forces, and since we compounded entities are a part of nature as well, it is only logical for us to accept that creating equilibrium should also be our goal. Creating equilibrium should be the ultimate goal of all living beings, be they angels, humans, animals, demons or prisoners of hell. Some living beings, however, reject this reality; how unfortunate of them! So now, let me answer your question proper! Whatsoever and whomsoever that complies with the flow of nature to create equilibrium is defined as Good; and whatsoever and whomsoever that goes against this flow of nature to create equilibrium is defined as Evil! Therefore, Good and Evil are the opposite of each other. And being the total opposite of each other in intention, Good and Evil are meant to destroy one another! If equilibrium is created, Good has won. If equilibrium is not created, then Evil has won. Good and Evil are not meant to co-exist together, if this happens, than Evil has won by default, because equilibrium was not achieved and can never be achieved as long as Evil exists. Everything that exists can be defined by opposite polarities, for example, light and darkness, day and night, wisdom and ignorance, attraction and repulsion, love and hate; and so on. Where there is light, darkness is absent; therefore Good has won. Where there is an absence of light, darkness exists by default, and therefore Evil has won. Therefore, whichever polarity contributes to the creation of equilibrium is defined as Good and whichever polarity that opposes the creation of equilibrium is defined as Evil. Imagine if all of existence was like a piece of soiled, tainted cloth. The soiled and tainted cloth is the default condition, or what it actually is at the time. Now imagine if this cloth was washed and washed until it is absolutely white and perfectly clean; this represents what that soiled and tainted cloth could be, provided that there were efforts made to wash it. So whatsoever and whomsoever tries to wash this piece of cloth is defined as Good and whatsoever and whomsoever tries to stop this piece of cloth from being washed is defined as Evil. And of course, the analogy of this soiled and tainted cloth can be used to define the struggles of your very own soul! If you choose to ‘wash’ your soul, then you choose to become Good; whereas if you choose to do nothing, then your soul remains tainted and you stay Evil. The truth is as simple as that. The truth is bitter. The truth is unattractive. But the truth is the truth, and it is undeniable!” answered Recipient Truthkeeper.
Except for Ray, all the others were scratching their heads at the Receiver’s explanation.
“Compounded entities _ what is it of them of mind and matter as opposed to matter and matter?” Ray asked.
“There are five types of energy in The Void. The Void is called ‘void’ not because there is nothing there but because all things there are uncompounded, unassembled, not joined together, or exist as individual units at the most basic and smallest level. The five types of energy are Earth, Water, Fire, Wind and Mind. Earth, Water, Fire and Wind are called matter energy, whereas Mind is known just by itself as mind energy. All these energies, in their smallest, un-compounded units are too small and too weak to be sensed or felt, thus one
would think that they do not exist and one would call them void. But they do exist! They just cannot be felt or sensed! When a unit of mind energy merges with any unit of matter energy, be it Earth, Water, Fire or Wind; it becomes a compounded entity, and is known as a compounded entity of mind and matter; in other words, a living being! The mind energy is what we call our soul and the matter energy forms our body. Now when one matter energy combines with another matter energy, then they form compounded entities of matter and matter. For example, we are not able to see or feel pure water energy, because it would be too small and too weak, but when individual units of water energy join together and are held together by a small amount of earth, wind or fire energy, then we can see and taste and feel the body of water that has been formed. So in conclusion, a living being is a compounded entity of mind and matter in the sense that its soul is Mind, its flesh is Earth, its blood is Water, its ability to move is Fire and its breath is Wind. Whereas a puddle of water is a vast amount of the energy type known as Water held together by tiny amounts of Fire, Earth, and Wind; but it is without Mind! And the presence or absence of mind energy is what differentiates a living being from a non living being,” answered Recipient Truthkeeper.
Clover began to understand the Receiver’s explanation. Ray was nodding his head. But the rest were still confused.
“Vast _ which is more of this, The Void or The Existent?” asked Clover.
“The Void is more vast than The Existent by far. Actually, The Existent exists inside The Void. Imagine there is a big basket and inside this basket there is a small apple. In this case, the basket would be The Void and the small apple would be The Existent,” answered Recipient Truthkeeper.
Clover and Ray both nodded their heads. Serene and the others were still confused.
“Way _ is there any simpler of this to determine the difference between Good and Evil?” asked Serene.
“Principles which tries to establish the equilibrium are defined as Good and can be simplified as such; firstly, no killing is to be resulted or allowed to happen; secondly, no stealing is to be resulted or allowed to happen, thirdly, no sexual misconduct is to be resulted or allowed to happen, fourthly, no lying or falseness is to be resulted or allowed to happen and fifthly, no intoxication is to be resulted or allowed to happen. Another way to determine the difference between Good and Evil is that whatever way, intention or action that reduces or eliminates suffering overall and in completeness is deemed Good! The opposite of all these things are deemed Evil! For example, if you kill a man, this is deemed Evil because you cause him suffering and you are creating chaos, and not equilibrium. But if the man is trying to kill an innocent child, and the only way for you to stop him is to kill him and you do not do so, then you are deemed Evil, or creating chaos, for allowing the killing of the innocent child to happen. Allowing Evil to happen is almost as good as committing Evil yourself. Remember, it is the result that matters! It is not so much as what you do but more of what actually happens. And what must happen is that equilibrium must be achieved and maintained at all times! And remember, whatever it is that you choose to do, you must be fair to everyone involved; even if the one involved is the bitterest of your enemies! To fully understand equilibrium, you must accept that all things are equal and must be made to stay equal! Thus, the value of your life is equal to that of the value of the life of a chicken, or goat or cow! You want to live, and so does the chicken, goat or cow. Therefore, it is not right for you to kill the chicken, goat or cow to eat them just so that you can live. This would be deemed Evil because you did not consider the animals’ lives to be equal to yours! You have caused them suffering and pain and you have created chaos instead of equilibrium! So to be Good, you must choose to ‘Live and Let Live’. You must let the animals live so that you are allowed to live. This would create the equilibrium. And if you choose to kill the animal for food so that you may live at the cost of them suffering or dying, then you are choosing to ‘Kill and Be Killed’ and thus, you have chosen to be Evil, and as a result, you shall be killed! This is the basis of the ‘Law of Retribution’. What you must understand is that everything that you do will be judged by a higher power, in this case, the forces of Nature which manifests itself in the form of the ‘Law of Retribution’. So if you choose to ‘Let Live and Live’ as how it should correctly be said, then you are choosing to be Good and you shall be allowed to live. If you choose to ‘Kill and Be Killed’, then you are choosing to be Evil and as a result, you shall be killed in the end. This is the simpler way of determining the difference between Good and Evil,” answered Recipient Truthkeeper.
Ray, Clover and Lance nodded the heads, but Serene and Rod shook their head in firm disagreement.
“You disagree, and this is because you do not accept that all things are equal and must be made to stay equal. This is you weakness! This is your mistake!” added the Receiver.
Serene and Rod’s jaw fell wide open. Clearly, from what the Receiver had said, they had a totally wrong view of life and reality.
“Food _ but the animals are of this to us!” objected Serene.
“And you are food to the demons! So are you saying that it is right for the demons to kill you and eat you? Are you saying that it is Good for you to kill the animals for food and it is also Good for the demons to kill you for food? Think about it!” chastised Recipient Truthkeeper.
Serene and Rod were lost for words. They looked at each other with confused expressions. Now they understood the reason why Elementhars were vegetarians!
“War _ of this of Good versus Evil, which one will win?” asked Serene finally, changing the topic back to the original.
“Good may win some battles. Evil may win some battles. But in the end, it is Good who will win the war; because Evil has got to fight both the Good compounded entities of mind and matter, and all compounded entities of matter and matter! And what happened to this town is a fine example of that! There were a few good people in this town, but far too few to influence the rest. As a result, Good has lost the battle and Evil has won. And so the evil people in this community rejoiced, celebrated and indulged in their evil ways and did so for many years, until yesterday, when the compounded entities of matter and matter, that is to say, the forces of Nature, caused this disaster to befall them. So in the end, Good will always win,” answered Recipient Truthkeeper.
Serene and Rod were surprised by the Receiver’s answer, but Ray and Clover were not. Lance was not sure whether he understood the Receiver’s answer.
“Facts _ if these are of these, then we should not be helping these people!” concluded Lance.
“True, we should not be helping these people! I help them out of sympathy and charity, not out of duty or obligation. Other Receivers had chosen not to help, for as far as they were concerned, this town was far too evil and far too unrepentant to help. This is the reason why I am the only Receiver left in this town,” explained Recipient Truthkeeper.
An uneasy thought occurred in Clover’s mind.
“Withdraw _ should we do of this from this town?” she asked.
“You are a soldier and as a soldier, you serve the kingdom as a whole. You were given orders and were assigned duties; therefore you should carry them out. I, however, am a Receiver. I do as I choose and I choose as I see fit in accordance with the doctrine of the Reception of Light. This is a freedom that I have but you have not,” explained Recipient Truthkeeper factually.
“Transgression _ what is it of this is this town’s?” asked Rod.
“This truth I shall keep from you and you shall have to search for it on your own,” answered the Receiver.
The Receiver’s answer infuriated Rod slightly.
“Duty _ as a Receiver, is it not yours of this for you and your kind to help, teach and enlightened these people, no matter what they have done?” he asked.
“I am of the order of the Receivers of Light. The policy of our order is to provide the facility for people to learn, not to convince them to learn! They must want
to learn for their own reasons and for the right reasons, for it is their own soul which is at stake, and ultimately they, and only they themselves can be responsible for their own salvation! There are other orders, however, that have a slightly different policy. Some may choose to reach out to people and rather firmly, convince them to learn. But all Receivers know that it is always up to the individual to learn and practice the teachings, for no one can truly save a person except for that person himself or herself,” answered Recipient Truthkeeper.
“Transgression _ if a person has decided to learn and practise the teachings of the Receivers, would his of this be forgiven by Nature?” asked Rod.
“Different orders have different opinions on this issue. Receivers of Light believe that a person’s transgression will never be forgiven and that the person will always be punished by the forces of Nature through its various laws and elements, be it by compounded entities of mind and matter or by compounded entities of matter and matter. In other words, every mistake a person makes will be punished by his fellow living beings or by the elements of earth, water, fire or wind; in the case of this town, the natural disaster of the earth element called earthquake and of the water element called flooding. However, the sooner this person learns and practises the teachings, the lesser will be the amount and severity of his transgressions and therefore, the lesser the punishment shall be experienced overall. True, proper, honest and sincere practice of the teachings will bring about merit, which Nature would then reward and this will offset somewhat the pain of punishment, but not the amount of punishment. Receivers of Sacrifice, however, believe that a person’s transgression will be completely forgiven if that person learns and truly, properly, honestly and sincerely practices the teachings, truly regrets his transgressions and does not commit those transgressions any more. Furthermore, that person will be welcomed in heaven,” answered Recipient Truthkeeper.