Question Asked at the Satsang- "Last week we talked about the "Spirit" or whatever expressing itself through you with the assumption that its a "positive" expression. What's going on when that expression is "negative"?"

Answer- From a yogic perspective, yes, the negative in a person's life is just as "divine". At the most basic level beyond thought and concepts, no difference is seen between good and bad. They are all expressions of the same fundamental substance. Yet, of course that doesn't change the crappiness of some situations. A lot of people want to create an evil or anti-divine force contrary to the good. That's fine, but it doesn't help one rise above duality. If there is evil, there is good, if there is good there is evil. If there just is...well...that's it. Most of the problems in the world occur because of people's ignorance or misunderstanding or warped sense of things. That's what people choose to do with this substance of "God", unconscious or conscious. And from my experience we've all made mistakes at one time or another. Some more troublesome than others. In nature, life and death isn't so twisted. The mind is not present to make it so. When the light of the divine can shine clearly, it is radiant and wholesome. When it shines through lenses that are clouded or distorted, that is what appears in the world- yet another reason for us all to get as clear as we can when we can.

I know its a silly comparison, but just think about entertainment. People always have the option to create uplifting wholesome entertainment, but for some reason there are a lot of really disgusting and tasteless movies out there. Someone must like it! The light that shines through the projector is just the same for both the good and the bad. It is the nature of the film within the projector that creates the experience on the screen.

Further on that brings up the age old question of why does God let good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people. Again, this would go back to the idea of "karmic law" that what is put in motion even if it is several lifetimes ago, can pop up in this life if the seeds of those karmas are not roasted in practices such as meditation or living a wholesome life now. I don't like to get too much into the ideas of karma etc, because it opens a whole philosophical can of worms that serve little purpose to living effectively now, and it can often give folks a reason to act in foolish ways because that is "their karma."