Gossiping And Rumour Spreading
One of the most popular and destructive evils of our world is idle gossiping and malicious rumour spreading. In pursuit of establishing the thinking patterns that help rather than hinder our evolutionary progress, our decision-making starts with something as basic – and only seemingly simple – as the power to communicate and express ourselves. Life constantly presents us with choices and if for instance, we choose to take part in scattering the rumours that come our way, we actively participate in creating and spreading evil. Wise ones, however, make every effort to search for the good in all people and every situation. Bearing in mind that even the worst criminal is here for no other reason than the rest of us, helps them to rise above tittle-tattle and rumour spreading and confirms to those in charge of them their present higher degree of spiritual maturity than that of the masses.
The concepts of Heaven and Hell are not places anyone goes to. They are metaphors for the various states of consciousness that we create for ourselves and each other, in our daily lives in the here and now. Because we are allowed freedom of choice, it always has been up to each individual whether we create a living hell for ourselves and those around us or prefer to bring our own ideas of Heaven down to Earth in our daily lives. ‘Hell is other people!’ wrote Jean-Paul Sartre, 1905–1980, the French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. The same wisdom is contained in one of the songs of ‘Paint your Wagon’ by Lerner and Lowe: ‘Mud can make you prisoner and the plains can make you dry. Snow can burn your eyes, but only people make you cry!’
How right they were! Learning to watch the words we speak and thus taking charge of our tongues is one of the most vital and ancient issues to be tackled, especially now that we are entering into an age of ever increasing spiritual awareness. The proverbs of the Old Testament were written a long time before the Bible came into being – their origins are lost in the mists of time. But, even then Proverb 18:21 warned: ‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and those who love it shall eat the fruits thereof.’ White Eagle in ‘Spiritual Unfoldment 2’ adds to this: ‘Keep control of your tongue, so that it says no unkind and hurtful thing. Bear in mind the feelings of those to whom you speak and do so gently and thoughtfully, without anger and without haste. When you constantly practise this, my dear children of the Earth, difficulties fall away, sorrow recedes into the background and you cannot help but become aware of the gentle presence of your Master on the highest levels of life.’
Through making an effort at consciously thinking good thoughts we not only do our share of increasing the good that is in our world, we also do something for our own evolution and that of our race. Making an effort at turning our conversation towards something good and positive is more constructive by far than standing on street corners with people discussing how awful things in our world are. Good is created when we refuse to sit in judgment over anyone and make a conscious effort at looking for the good in all people and situations. This task is considerably eased by the knowledge that Earth life for all human souls is a place of learning, a giant training ground and a school where everything it contains – without exception – serves wise higher evolutionary purposes.
This is by no means as trivial a task as it may seem, because the temptation to practise and spread evil in our daily lives is great for everybody and can at times be extremely subtle. The best way of avoiding it is by not giving in to the evil of gossiping and rumour spreading. We create good and add to the positive stream of thought each time we endeavour to look for the goodness and kindness of people that can be seen everywhere in our world by those who are willing to open their eyes to perceive it. This does more for our environment and its people than you might imagine. Another type of evil begins with bullying those around us into doing what they do not want to do by scaring them in some way. This applies especially to small children and others who cannot stand up to us. If instead of using our intelligence to convince others of our viewpoint, we intimidate or browbeat them into doing our willing rather than their own, we are guilty of spreading evil.
On the higher and highest levels of life records exist of every one of our thoughts, words and deeds of all our lifetimes. From the beginnings of time on the Earth, frightening and intimidating others in pursuit of personal selfish gains, material wealth and earthly possessions that allow us power over others instead of allowing them the personal freedom of following their own interests and convictions, has spiritually always counted as bullying, emotional blackmail and evil. Even when our decisions reach Universal proportions, for example if we become involved in matters like atomic power, the principle remains the same. The decisive question of the wise ones in charge of us is: ‘How does this earthling apply the power of the knowledge we are permitting it access to?’
That’s the way the Universe tests the degree of our spiritual maturity. Without fail, the outcome of all our efforts depends on the thinking patterns, motivations and intentions behind our actions. Sufficiently evolved souls, equipped with this knowledge, are likely to dedicate the rest of their life’s work to finding ways of producing inexpensive electricity that provides affordable light and warmth and therefore improves everybody’s quality of life. Because we and our world can only learn from the mistakes we make, even good intentions may initially produce bad results. The pollution caused by the peaceful uses of nuclear power demonstrates this clearly.
Yet, for as long as humankind’s intentions are good, the Universal intelligence will always be happy to teach us ways of using all its energies safely. The wise ones on the Highest levels of life in charge of our world and us are much more highly evolved than we are. They have access to all the knowledge and skills our race is lacking to this day. These beings are our elder siblings in the vast family of life, waiting to be called upon to stand by our side, to guide and protect us. Their helping hands are reaching out to us, but we must ask for their help – it will not be pushed onto us. It is our choice whether we wish to do the work that has to be done more easily, namely with their help. For this purpose we have to attune our energies to theirs and to keep on asking for their support, so that together the work may be carried out safely and for the good of all, not merely humankind, but the whole of Creation. By willingly following their instructions our new world will come into being with much more ease than we may presently think possible.
Recommended Reading:
• ‘Guarding Our Tongues’
This article is a chapter from ‘Our World In Transition'
If it has whetted your appetite to read more, please follow the link below: