It is not possible to talk about religion and not talk about marriage, and to clarify what good and evil are without clarifying whether the man-woman relationship is good or evil. For these thoughts are forerunners in everyone's mind, like horns in unicorns.
And the religions prevalent in the West—both Christianity and forms of yoga and Neo-Hinduism—have heightened the sensitivity and confusion of this topic, for they condemn and cut down the man-woman relationship and other pleasures. Many are drawn away from religion these days, for they think religion means no relationship, no food, no home, no laughter, no happiness, no travel, no nothing. They fear and see religion as a boring box within which the follower is imprisoned, with head down and hands up to heaven all the time in painful prayer and regretful repentance.
Consequently, they will ask us about marriage, about relationships, and about other pleasures under this blue sky, and whether we should abstain from all these. And if we abstain from writing about these here, we will have to write at a later time. So we choose to write about them now and make them clear now so that our religion is vindicated with a clear image. And what we write about pain and pleasure may be painful to some and pleasant to others, but our concern is to appeal to the Truth and not to any group or institute.
Since ancient times, erroneous ideas have circulated about what good and evil are. Some identified good and evil with pain and pleasure, where they posit that pleasure is bad, is illusion, and so is evil, while pain and sorrow are good and truth. Thus, they turned away from everything that gave comfort and pleasure and instead sought those things that gave discomfort and pain.
Some others identified good and evil with materiality, wherein all things material and visible are bad and evil, and all things immaterial and invisible are good and holy. Still others have identified good and evil with the body vs. the soul, where the human body and all its impulses and needs are evil and distractions, while the soul is good and divine. They sought to distance and detach themselves from the body through trance, astral projection, and other means to achieve an authentic spiritual experience.
And many other similar conceptions and beliefs were circulating around the world of men since time unknown. The result of these ideas was asceticism, mortification of the body, and abstention from life and its pleasures. They infiltrated many religions and cultures, including early Christianity and Indian sects, and today they cause confusion and draw many away from religion.
But in our path, good and evil are not defined by pleasure vs. pain, nor by material vs. immaterial, nor by body vs. soul, nor by any other duality. Indeed, good and evil have their own precise definition and concept, and can exist in pleasure as well as pain, can exist in the material as well as the immaterial, and can exist in every level and realm of creation.
As a result, a purevan (a follower of our path and the pure religion) does not need, and in fact should not, abstain from pleasures, nor from material things, nor from the body, provided that he adheres to moral law and goodness. Our path does not promote the image of monks in ragged clothes sitting in ruined huts, praying all the time.
The source and root of all these misconceptions lie in the concept and definition of good and evil. Indeed, this knowledge is not trivial and requires training and study. Underestimating this science has led to all these confusions and has drawn people away from religion and from the path of truth. This science was the tree that God planted in the middle of the Garden of Eden, according to the ancient creation myth. The tree was called the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil." For indeed, this knowledge is what is to be placed in the middle of heaven, and the whole religion and path of salvation revolve around this knowledge; knowing it is pleasure, and not knowing it is pain.
The aim of this book and the whole pure religion is to focus man on this science and knowledge. Now we attempt to delve into this and explain what good is and what evil is, and to dispel the confusion that good and evil are simplistically defined by pain and pleasure, or by material and non-material boundaries.
Good is that which does not harm anyone, does not offend, and does not violate one's rights and honor. It is that which facilitates the learning of knowledge and virtue; that which produces friendship, creates beauty, removes burdens and barriers, solves problems, brings relief and peace, and everything that the human soul perceives as noble. Evil is the opposite of all these: that which is ugly and produces dishonor and depression for oneself and others.
Good and evil are not correlated with pain and pleasure, and can exist in both: the joy of seeing beautiful natural scenery, the elation of learning knowledge or art, the glory of defeating evil oppression are all examples of goodness that are pleasant; the toil to develop a skill, the struggle to wake up early in the morning, the effort to stop anger and forgive a brother, turning down an evil suggestion for bribery are examples of goodness that come with some degree of pain and hardship; the joy of revenge, the joy of becoming rich by deceit and lies, the joy of insulting and belittling people are examples of evils that are pleasant; the darkness of constant selfish anger, the depression caused by greed, and the bitter hatred caused by jealousy are examples of evils that are painful.
Similarly, good and evil are not correlated with material and non-material concepts, and both appear in material and non-material realms equally, like twins in a womb. As for the realm of materials: beautiful scenes, perfumes, art, order, cleanliness are examples of good; and dirtiness, ugliness, stench, chaos, garbage are examples of evil. In the realm of the non-material: good intention, mental strength, will, determination, faith in God, adherence to moral principles are examples of good; and bad intention, hatred, carelessness, mental gloom, faithlessness, and others are examples of evil. In fact, the very essence of evil is a non-material principle from which all forms of evil entered the material world.
The same is true in regard to the body vs. the soul. Examples of goodness in the body: physical strength, handsomeness, and the fact that the body is the instrument to carry out our good deeds, without which there would be no salvation. Examples of evil in the body: illness, laziness, and its many needs. Examples of goodness in the soul: knowledge, concentration, virtues. Examples of evil in the soul: ignorance, distraction, vices, and so on.
Therefore, good and evil exist in all stations and realms of our current existence: in pain and pleasure, in matter and non-matter, in body and soul. As a result, following our path does not require abstaining from pleasures or material things; quite the opposite, we should engage with them with the goal of manifesting goodness in them.
So we partake in pleasures in this life that are in accord with goodness: we go out in the world, we take wives, and watch the sunset at the beach. We also engage with the material world and try to manifest Divinity and beauty in it: we keep our surroundings clean and in order, we keep our rooms well decorated and our gardens well-trimmed, we seek to acquire riches to be able to further promote Divine causes. We also care about our bodies: we keep our clothes and body clean, for it is a dishonor for a purevan to be dirty, ugly, or miserable, and we keep the body healthy and strong, for physical strength and fitness are a must for our followers and a must for their mission in life.
If some religions imposed some rules or restrictions regarding food, certain pleasures, or marriage, it was merely to ensure they were in line with moral values and to prevent them from turning into evil. Never ever was the goal to forbid them. The goal of religion is to even increase pleasure, and to include spiritual pleasure alongside it as well.
Indeed, in the house of a purevan there are riches, food, and wives, and everyone prospers. We are not seeking to destroy our body or life, but to destroy evil.