| The whole course of
evolution consists in the Spirit struggling to come to its own. The infinite is, as it
were, imprisoned in the shell of the finite. It has to break the shell, undergo pain and
suffering before it comes into its own. The infinite is, as it were, imprisoned in the
shell of the finite. It has to break the shell, undergo pain and suffering before it comes
into its own. In other words, we have to progress towards perfection by overcoming evil.
Thus evil is essential to our moral and spiritual growth. Hence it is a permanent, actor in the growing world. It has to exist as
long as there is a single infinite being to be reclaimed to infinitude.
It may be compared
to the shadow, which an opaque body casts, when it is placed against light. The shadow
vanishes when the opaqueness of the object gives place to transparency. Similarly, evil
vanishes when the finite becomes infinite. It is not ultimately real. If evil were
ultimately real, it could never be destroyed.
And if it could not be destroyed, it would be a source of
imperfection to God. And a God who is made imperfect by evil is no God. Sri Ramakrishna
Paramahamsa once compared God to a serpent and evil to its poison. What we call poison is
no poison to the serpent. It is a normal healthy secretion. The serpent does not die of
its own poison. Therefore we say that evil is not ultimately real.
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