There is no difficulty in recognizing the fact that good and evil exist within and without us, and that in our cycle evil appears to predominate over the good. It is so on all sides. It is likewise obvious that some means have to be found to control the evil and bring out the good. A thousand remedies are suggested, but the problem will not be solved until a clear perception is gained of how evil springs up and flowers into what it now is, and how human beings with their wrong morals and ways of living contribute to the evil in the world.

So our first task is to find the origin of evil. A clear perception of what we call evil shows that it is the result of a seed which has its natural place in the scheme of things. Also, that which we call good must be understood in a proper fashion. Failure to grasp these concepts has made some fall into the error of believing that there is nothing wrong about indulgence in evil; for, they argue, since God is everywhere and is responsible for all things, we shall be with God, no matter what we do. It is therefore necessary to note what H.P.B. writes in The Secret Doctrine regarding the origin of good and evil:

Archaic philosophy, recognizing neither Good nor Evil as a fundamental or independent power, but starting from the Absolute ALL (Universal Perfection eternally), traced both through the course of natural evolution to pure Light condensing gradually into form, hence becoming Matter or Evil. (I, 73)

The expression "pure Light condensing gradually into form" suggests a concretization of Light. Light and darkness thus represent good and evil, and are rooted in the One Absolute. We ought, therefore, at once to get rid of the idea that there is a God who creates good, and a Devil who creates evil. Once that we have grasped the fundamental metaphysical idea as given in the above quotation, we will be able to find for ourselves the remedy for the evil in us and in nature.

The Absolute, Parabrahm, is nirguna (attributeless). It is qualified neither by light nor by darkness, neither by Spirit nor by Matter, but is the container of all. Out of this ever-unknowable, Light emanates as the first manifestation, and that Light casts no shadow. It is pure luminosity. From it emanates that which we may call Life. Thus Light and Life are the first manifestations within the attributeless eternal and absolute background. Light is thus seen to concretize progressively, and as it continues its work of emanation, life emerges. The action of Light on Life on this side of manifestation casts a shadow, and this is the root of Evil.

In the Gita, we are given two aspects of Krishna, the One Self: the manifested and the unmanifested. "I established this whole Universe with a single portion of myself, and remain separate." The centre of Light rises from the background of the Absolute. This emanates the "superior nature" of Krishna, Para Prakriti, spoken of in the seventh chapter of the Gita as that which gives rise to and sustains the universe. Krishna, then, speaking of his "inferior nature," Apara Prakriti, calls it the root of matter, and associated with it are the three gunas (attributes)—sattva, rajas and tamas.

What we call "good" comes from the superior nature of Krishna, and what we call "evil" comes from the inferior nature with its three attributes. Krishna says that his inferior nature consists of "earth, water, fire, air, and akasa. Manas, Buddhi, and Ahankara." From this arises all that we call evil. This needs to be understood. Krishna's superior nature is the Knower, the indwelling Spirit, "the Ego which is seated in the hearts of all beings." The thirteenth chapter of the Gita carries further this division between the higher and the lower, kshetra and kshetrajna, prakriti and purusha, the perishable and the imperishable that go to make up the whole of manifestation and all beings of whatever kind. As evolution proceeds, the predominance of prakriti (matter) over purusha (spirit) increases the aggregate of that which we ordinarily call evil. This aspect of evil arises under the law of necessity, because of the contrast between spirit and its shadow—matter. In her Secret Doctrine H.P.B. wrote:

Everywhere the speculations of the Kabalists treat of Evil as a Force, which is antagonistic, but at the same time essential, to Good, as giving it vitality and existence, which it could never have otherwise. There would be no life possible (in the Mayavic sense) without Death, nor regeneration and reconstruction without destruction. Plants would perish in eternal sunlight, and so would man, who would become an automaton without the exercise of his free will and aspirations after that sunlight, which would lose its being and value for him had he nothing but light. Good is infinite and eternal only in the eternally concealed from us, and this is why we imagine it eternal. On the manifested planes, one equilibrates the other. (I, 413-14)

Perfection, to be fully such, must be born out of imperfection, the incorruptible must grow out of the corruptible, having the latter as its vehicle and basis and contrtast. Absolute light is absolute darkness, and vice versa....Good and Evil are twins, the progeny of Space and Time, under the sway of Maya. Separate them, by cutting off one from the other, and they will both die. Neither exists per se, since each has to be generated and created out of the other, in order to come into being; both must be known and appreciated before becoming objects of perception, hence, in mortal mind, they must be divided. (II, 95-96)

What happens in the lower kingdoms, where prakriti unhindered is at work, is different from what happens within human beings. Man alone is capable of producing unnatural evil—that which need not be, which is not intended in the scheme of things. This is because man will not follow the pattern given to him and plainly visible in nature. "Light and darkness are the world's eternal ways." The evils seen in the lower kingdoms of Nature are not deliberate, but natural, as, for instance, one animal preying upon another; but, we have a different proposition when we consider human beings. Man has the power of choice and can deal with the three qualities or aspects of nature in himself and around him. No animal is capable of doing this; according to the guna (natural quality) predominating in it, it acts naturally. We human beings have the power to readjust and balance the three gunas and proceed from tamas to rajas, and from rajas to sattva, and beyond sattva to the superior nature which is within each one of us. Let us not, therefore, accept the mistaken thinking of false philosophers who give out that we inherit our evil from Krishna along with everything else. Much of the evil that exists in the human kingdom today comes from ourselves. It takes a human being to produce wine out of grapes; it does not come of itself—and that is the difference. It is important for us to realize individually and collectively that two-thirds of our evil is caused by ourselves.

It is sometimes argued: "If evolution means the gaining of experience, then why not do evil to experience the result?" This is a most dangerous course to follow. The more we indulge in evil, the more difficult it becomes to eradicate it, and for the evil-doer eventually there cannot be anything but sorrow and suffering. "It is by feeding vice that it expands and waxes strong, like to the worm that fattens on the blossom's heart," says The Voice of the Silence. Evolution proceeds in non-self-conscious kingdoms in harmonious and smooth ways, with no kind of hindrance, but, when we come to man we see that the cycles of nature are hindered, and new cycles come into existence, resulting in evil.

The passage from The Secret Doctrine quoted earlier speaks of pure light condensing gradually into form. The astral light is not this real light; it is the illusive radiance which dazzles us. We have to seek for the archetypal universe where the true light of Daivi-prakriti, of pure akasha, ever shines. The astral light is the invisible region that surrounds our globe, and from it radiates on humanity every evil influence. It is sometimes called the Serpent—the Tempter. But, says H.P.B.,

why not add that the Astral Light gives out nothing but what it has received; that it is the great terrestrial crucible, in which the vile emanations of the earth (moral and physical) upon which the Astral Light is fed, are all converted into their subtlest essence, and radiated back intensified, thus becoming epidemics—moral, psychic and physical. (The Theosophical Glossary)

So man by his free will impresses the astral light with self-conscious actions and adds to the evil in the world, and therefrom are produced reactions upon him. Krishna tells Arjuna to take possession, firm possession, of his own lower nature. This puzzles Arjuna and he asks how it is possible for one to do so; for, though he wants to eschew evil, yet at times he seems to be led into it "seemingly against his will and as if constrained by some secret force." Man has bound himself hand and foot to his past actions. Recognizing the astral light as the recorder of all our acts, we have to free ourselves from its evil influence—through knowledge, understanding, dispassion and diligence in the right performance of our natural duties, without caring for the results.

The Great Buddha has pointed to this truth in another way—in his exposition of the Four Noble Truths which lead to sorrow's ceasing and to emancipation. If we do not arouse in ourselves the desire for the higher life, then it is the desire for the lower that will continue to predominate and will eventually lead to destruction.

When someone speaks to you curtly, disregards what you say, performs what seems to be a thoughtless gesture or even an outright evil act, think to yourself, "If I were that person and had endured the same trials, borne the same heartbreaks, had the same parents, and so on, I probably would have done or said the same thing." We are not privy to the stories behind people's actions, so we should be patient with others and suspend our judgement of them, recognizing the limits of our understanding....When people do not act as you would wish them to, excercise the muscle of your good nature by shrugging your shoulders and saying to yourself, "Oh well." Then let the incident go.

—Epictetus