FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE (71 page)

     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.

     “Truth _ which one is it of this then
?
” asked Rod pointedly.

     “
This
is not truly known. There are many secrets that Nature does not reveal to us. We can only practise what we have managed to observe, learn, discover, search and find out. This is the limit of our capabilities and constitutes the best of what we can do. So we do the best that we can, but not beyond,” answered the Receiver in a matter-of-factly manner.

     Spirit stared into the flames. Bright yellow manifestation of heat danced before him. He wondered what transgression he had done, or that his family had done, to have deserved the fate that had befallen them earlier, or what merit that he had done, to have deserved being rescued by Ray and now to be part of this large, happy pack.

     The
10
th
Day of Third Month of Dry Season
saw much improvement to the condition of Southgust Town. Many of the town’s buildings had been strengthened by timber, sourced from the nearby Windswept Forest. The townsfolk began returning to their homes. Higher Recipient Truthkeeper went from family to family, consoling and solacing as best he could, while trying to dispense The Light. Ray observed that some families received the Receiver well, but most did not. Ray understood why this was so and he suspected that the Receiver too knew why this was so, but had for some reason chosen to ignore it.

     “Preach _ why do you do of this at the moment of their grief, for you know that it gives them no solace but makes them feel that you are taking advantage of their misfortunes
?
” asked Ray as he came across Higher Recipient Truthkeeper in the town square, or what was left of it.

     “I do so for two reasons. The first is that at the moment of grief is when they are the most humble, and therefore they would be the most receptive to the truth. My priority is to the living and not to the dead. You must understand this
!
So this is the best time for me to show the living the error of their ways, by using this tragedy to stress the consequences of their transgressions. The second is that the sooner I educate and enlighten the living, the better it is for them. The sooner they see and understand The Light, the sooner they can let go of the dead and the sooner their grieving ends. This may sound cruel to you, and it may be cruel to them, but it is for their own good,” answered the Receiver.