Introduction
What we see in the world are effects, but these are also causes, since every effect is also a cause to something else, and so everything is part of a cause-effect chain, and everything we do is of course another cause. Furthermore, each cause is within a greater Cause which is within an even Greater Cause. So this is the hierarchy of causes within Causes. Yet there are really two kinds of Causes: Divine and karmic. Divine Causes come from On High and promote goodness and beauty; but karmic causes can come from anywhere or anyone, and they might not be good at all - they might just be repeating old stuff, either from our own individual past or else from our common social past (for no man is an island).
In addition to these
hierarchies of causes is a hierarchy of Plans. Plans are, of course,
related to causes, since plans tend to produce causes. Note though
that any plan is provisional so will not necessarily succeed. A plan
is like a cause queuing up to be enacted, but this will require
directed energy and work in order to become an actual cause or to
become manifestly causative. Besides the original and eternal Divine
Cause coming from the Being of God, subsequent Divine Causes begin from
Divine Plans
created in the higher mental plane (the Hierarchy of Mind). Thus,
Divine Causes, and the actions and events resulting from these Causes,
proceed from the Plans, since plans come before action. Though, more
generally speaking, both plans and actions are simply different types
of causes. Therefore, except for the original and eternal Causes, all
other Divine Causes
begin from Ideas, Visions, and Plans, as known and worked out by the
creative and intelligent minds of Hierarchy.
A higher Plan is like a general
blueprint for how energies can be directed and what work or actions
to enact, and Divine Plans come
from On High. But of course there are also human plans going on
in the world, which might not be compatible with the Divine Plans and
also
can create negative karmic causes. So, some human plans are not
necessarily in line with Divine Plans, but others may be. Then if our
human plans are in line with Divine Plans, the plan's enactment creates
positve karma.
As part of the spiritual path, our aim is to be in line with Divine
Purposes and Plans. The Divine Purposes all originate in the Being of
God; they are the purposes of all existence. Plans then develop in
order to help fulfill these Purposes. Plans could be thought of as
ideas and visions for how to achieve the Purposes. The most general
Plans will guide more specific plans. But specific plans have to take
into consideration the current physical conditions and unique needs of
the time, so most plans have to change or be revised, as the conditions
and needs of the world change. For remember that the world is in a
process of evolving, though this involves setbacks and even mistakes,
as well as gradual progress.
Thus, from the highest of the
Hierarchy come Great Plans for the world, humanity, the future. Then,
as minds [below] realize these Great Plans they creatively envision
plans within these, so
that within these Great and General Plans are more detailed plans.
The Great Plan divides into seven plans, each concerning an important
aspect of life or field of service. Then each of these branch-plans
divide again into more specific plans, and so it goes... plans within
Plans within even greater Plans.
Each person then has to see what
plans he/she is responsible for. How can I help make a general Plan
more clear and practical? What can I help plan (within a greater
Divine Plan) and what Plans can I help
fulfill?
If we get aligned with Divine Plans, then we become part of the great network of Divine Causes, meaning that these Divine Causes enter into our own reality, our own life and activity. We then become part of these Divine Causes, a link in that Golden Thread, becoming both an effect and a further cause - thus helping to continue and further the whole Divine Work. One way of understanding this is to see the Divine Causes coming from Above and into one's being - into one's mind and heart - then seeing how this Higher Cause can enact subsequent divine causes, through our own inner work and outer activity. The vertical Cause comes down and then is spread out horizontally into our world, though us. This helps to create Positive karma for everyone; whereby Divine Cause becomes karmic cause - positive, helpful, and good karma.
the second half of this article is about The Hierarchy of Plans
We, as well as everything, are interconnectively linked with the Infinite (which is God) by a continuously expanding Hierarchy of causes and plans. By the way, these are principles, not places.
Each activity is within a larger Activity... which is within an even Larger Activity, and so it goes. As well, each being is in a Hierarchy of Being, meaning that each being is within a Larger Being.. which is within an even Larger Being, and so it goes. Now in understanding how all activities go on within some larger Activity means also that this is a Hierarchy of causes.
Activities and causes are necessarily related; in that every activity has a cause and every cause is a kind of activity. Any kind of activity becomes a cause to some other activity which is its effect, and this effect will be itself a cause to some other effect which will then be cause of something else, and so it goes. So we logically distinguish between causes and effects, since we can see how a single activity will cause something else (another activity) to occur. We can see how one particular activity will be the cause of another activity - which is the effect of that cause. Then if we imagine one activity causing another activity, which then causes another, and so on; then this is known as a chain of events or a causal chain. But it should also be understood that any particular activity or event is itself both a cause and an effect. It is a cause to what will come after it because of it. But it is also an effect of whatever activity caused it.
Now to bring this into a more personal view, every activity of ours, or every thing we do, becomes a cause of some other activity or event. It may not be the only cause of what occurs because of it, but it is nonetheless a cause. This itself is a huge insight. It is an insight that should not be all too amazing for anyone educated and knowledgeable about the science of causes, but funny how we tend to ignore what is obvious if our self-centeredness wants to ignore this knowledge. For there is an obvious responsibility one we acknowledge that every action or activity of ours creates causes, not just for our own self but also for all others related to us and to the larger world. Remember that everything is interconnected in a great matrix of causes, such that the killing of just one butterfly has ripple causal effects in the whole world. We are each part of the Great causal chain, so whatever we do causally counts, producing either more positive or more negative in the world.
Then also, each activity is an effect, which means that everything we do is, in some way, an effect from some previous cause or causes. This insight is less obvious. For we tend to think that everything we do is just from our own free will and volition. We tend to think that everything we think, feel and do is simply from our own power of self and thus self-caused. It would be quite a shock to anyone were they to see how their very thoughts, emotions and ‘decided’ actions were actually caused by chains of linked activities from outside of their own sphere of volitional power, or in other words, not actually self-caused at all. For in truth, what we do and how we are is caused by a long chain of interconnected events. Moreover, every thought, emotion and activity, which we believe is just our own, is actually part of Larger Causes. Maybe not every, but let us say most.
This sounds like an antithesis to freedom, and it is. For in many instances, self-freedom is a delusion. Freedom can exist. It is a possibility, or a potential, and this is significant in spiritual metaphysics, but freedom is not an actuality in personal life as much as the person thinks it is. What we have in reality is a mixture of, or we might even say a struggle between, freedom and karma (cause and effect). This is explained elsewhere, while for now other principles are needing to be explained.
So now, let us look at the Hierarchy of Activities and Causes to help explain how our own activities are mostly effects from previously enacted causes, which could be from our own previous incarnations but could just as well be from others (since no man is an island). The Hierarchy of Activities means that every activity is within a greater Activity, which is within an even Greater Activity, etc and so it goes. This then means that every self activity is part of a larger Activity - a larger Happening. We are part of something larger, and so are our activities. This also means that every activity is part of the Hierarchy of Causes, meaning that every activity is itself a cause and also an effect. In other words, each activity is within a Larger Cause. Think of concentric encompassing circles, each larger than the one it encompasses. Think of causes that are part of larger Causes which are part of even Larger Causes.
But now we need to clear up a possible misunderstanding about all this. Many readers might at first think that this is about how all of activities and causes are part of Greater Divine Causes. This would then go along with an idea that everything is an interconnected chain of effects coming from an original Divine Cause. In a very general sense, it is true that the Divine Power/Intelligence is the Original Cause to everything; but it is not true that everything we do is divinely caused, or caused by God.
The first and original Cause of everything is from the Divine; this is true. This then begets a great chain of causes and the Hierarchy of Causes. So it is true that the Divine is the very most fundamental Cause of all things and all other causes. But this Divine Cause acts in a most General way. We might even understand it as being the Cause for what is then possible. However, this Divine Cause does not causally determine every particular event or activity in life. It does not determine specifically; but only generally. Thus in the same way, in the whole great Hierarchy of Causes, the higher encompassing Causes are general in nature, rather than being specifically determining of how its effects will be. In fact, the Hierarchical principle is ascending levels of increasing generality, along with descending levels of increasing particularity.
By analogy, the universal force of gravity is very truly a Great Cause in the whole universe, which effects everything. Yet it is a General Cause, which does not determine how every particular thing will be. Everything will be affected by gravity and so generally determined by it, but gravity is not a specific determiner, since other localized forces will have much more deterministic causal power. So the Hierarchy of Causes is from Universal to local, and from General to specific.
Next to understand is that there are two Types of ‘causes within Causes’. One is the vertical, and the other is horizontal. One is the Hierarchy of Causes starting from the Divine. The other is an encircling chain of causes coming from the manifest world others, or from others. The former, vertical Causes are known as Destiny, but keep in mind that the Divine Causes are merely general so not absolutely determining how every exact effect will be. The latter, horizontal Causes are the vast and complex network of human cause, of which there are numerous encircling causes within greater Causes within even great Causes. This is also known as Karma.
Thus, the two types of Causes are Divine Destiny and Karma; one being vertical and the other being horizontal, and they both work upon one another. A third type is a general-to-specific dynamic of ‘natural causes’, which can be included as another horizontal causes since it comes from the world and universe around us, not the Divine World above us.
So these are three different types of Causes, but they each follow the same principles of Hierarchical Order; one principle which is that every cause is within a Larger Cause, etc, infinitum,. This can be visualized as greater and greater concentric circles, encompassing one another, or as being encompassed by one another. In one old manuscript they are pictured as rings within Rings.
Another principle is that each particular cause is part of a more General Cause, such that there is are Hierarchical levels of evermore General Causes enfolding levels of evermore particular causes. Knowing this helps us understand how any particular cause (or effect) is not exactly-specifically determined by its Larger (more General) Cause, since at each level of generality there are further degrees of freedom as to what is causally determined below it. These are not easy things to understand by lazy reading; it will require some concentrated thinking to understand.
The principle of general causation is like being lead in a general direction but not specifically exact; like if someone says to a bunch of people, “head north,” each person might well end up in different exact places, yet all went in that general direction. Or if I say to group, “let’s build something beautiful,” I am not giving anyone exact instructions, so each will likely build something quite different, but hopefully each of the creations will be more beautiful than ugly. It’s not like there are no instructions at all, or no direction at all; it’s just that the destination will not be exactly determined. So if God asks us to create beauty, there is not some exact form in mind; but nonetheless there are some general parameters. So likewise, causes are sort of like instructions, but really they are kinds of forces or influences. Thus, the Divine Causes might be better understood as Divine Influences, (to avoid a misunderstanding that they directly and exactly determine). General influences move us in a general direction, yet do not exactly determine where we will end up or exactly what will come to be.
But what is most important to see is the distinction between the Divine Chain of Causes and the Human Chain of Causes. The Divine Causes originate from the Infinity of Divine Being, and these influence everyone in a divinely positive way, leading people and the whole world towards more love, goodness and beauty. Yet not being specifically deterministic, and not even derailing people’s free will. For people will have their free will and free choice, and thus make their own journeys of learning by experience; but the Divine will nonetheless keep making itself present and available to the mind and heart, which will then have a general nudging influence on the evolution of everyone.
So, we on the spiritual path will want to part of this, open and accepting to this, and a willing participant in it. We will want to be right in the stream of this Larger Divine Cause and in the stream of all levels of divine causes. Moreover, we will want to produce more of these divine causes -- from the Larger Divine Causes. We will want to be specific artists expressing the genre of the Divine.
Yet it is different with human causes, which are karmic causes. For with human causes, we should not be so glib in accepting whatever human influences come our way. Some might be wonderful, but some might not. If we know that a cause or influence is divine, then we know it is good and worthy of being part of. But other causes or influences might just be human or human-karmic. They might not necessarily divine; for they might be distortions of what was divinely intended.
We should not want to be influenced by negative causes, influences, or karma. We should not want to accept these, nor simply be passive recipients. And we should not want to participate in continuing these causes. Instead of being part of their continuance or instead of amplifying them even more, we can ‘accept what is’ (rather than react or fight it); but then Transform this causal energy.
We have all so much stuff coming to us from people all the time. These are chains upon chains of causes; or we might see them as reactions. A reaction was caused by X, which then causes the reaction to cause Y, which is then causes Z. This just happens causally, until someone breaks the chain. So break the chain of these causes upon causes, which breaks the karmic chain, by Not reacting, and Not just going along with it; but instead, transform it with some kind of love or wisdom. Ignore its causal power by not letting it really influence you. So instead of being a reactive effect of what comes to us, become a new cause. Become a new cause inspired by the Divine. Open up to the vertical Power, then bring this right into the present moment. This will bring Divine Cause into the realm of this world, which will transform the karmic causes.
Realize that some causes are from Divine Causes, which are Vertical Causes; but many other causes are from human-karma – the causal chains that people start going, which are horizontal causes. These might be from our own past lives or even from this life, in which case we could call it personal karma. Or alternatively, these causes could come from other people or even from a larger group of people, in which case we would call this social karma.
Most teachings about karma give one an impression that karma is only from one’s own past creations. But we are also affected by the karma of others; just as we are obviously affected by the actions of others. So to think that whatever happens in our own life is simply from our own past causes is nonsense. No man is an island. Everyone is affected by everyone else. So there is a whole lot of social karma going on.
So how do we deal with what comes our way from the causes and karmic actions of other people? Well first of all, these could be either positive (beneficial for us) or negative (unbeneficial for us).
If positive, then naturally we might as well accept them with gratitude and make good use of them. And anything positive from others will usually improve our own way of being and expression, if we assimilate this positive and make good use of it, or let it inspire us to be just as positive to others. Then, we are receiving good karma and also giving out good karma. When we receive goodness and benefit from others, then don’t start thinking, “it must be because I deserve it as good karma for my good past.” No, give thanks for this and give credit to that person. They gave good to you by their own choice, and not because you were due it. Well, maybe you did deserve, but maybe not. Jesus was freely giving to everyone, and so this is how we can be. Be generous, not as a payment for what others deserve, but just giving our positive karma unconditionally.
What if the causations that come from other people are negative? What if other people are acting out negatively and without real love, and thus continuing a negative pattern of social karma? There are three important parts of a useful response. The first is to not react. It’s like this… the other person is submitting their personal poetry for you to read. Whatever they are doing is just their personal expression; it’s their personal poetry or their kind of music. Just be aware of it, and say, “ok”. That’s their expression, and most of the time it’s just their own reaction to something or another. Just observe it. “So that’s what you are submitting as your poetry.”
Second, realize the value of their expression. This could also be called a judgment, a judgment of value; even though it is now a new age creed to never judge. So let’s call it discernment, a discernment of value. And if the other’s expression is realized as having little value, or perhaps a negative value, then just dismiss it. We don’t need to attack it or throw tomatoes at it, because that is just a reactive response which actually continues this karmic pattern of the other person. But if the value is positive and good, then accept it and enjoy it. Then thirdly, respond back to any negativity with love, patience, caring, and a higher wisdom. Respond back with a positive karma. So whenever any negative karma comes our way, especially from others, then respond back with a positive.
Realize that you are a creator in life. Everyone is a potential creator, a creator of energies, causes, and of course karma. We are like musicians. We are playing a certain kind of music, which plays out, radiates out, and this music has effect on our environment, especially our social environment but it even has effect in the land and physical space.
But no one really creates a piece of music out of nothing. At best we are taking the music we have received from others, then re-creating this into our own expression. We absorb and assimilate the music given from our social world (from our parents or our culture or other social influences), then we either repetitiously reflect this back in our “personal” expression, or we re-create what is given into something new – our own unique creative expression (from the musical patterns that we assimilated from our social world). Therefore, use what is given, use whatever comes, then transform this, re-create it into something of our own unique expression – which might as well not be the same negative stuff we receive, but rather a much more positive and beautiful piece of music.
Plans for manifestation are created by the Hierarchy
Many people think there is a Divine Plan; others reject this. But in the whole idea is much confusion. Some think that God made a Plan for everything at the very beginning of time. Or people might tend to think that God must have a plan, since God is wise. But then this gets confused with a wrong idea of God’s power, which religions have tended to believe is an authoritarian power, in that whatever is of God’s Plan must then have to happen. But this is determinism, which contradicts free will. So there are many problems in these beliefs. (read other metaphysics).
In a metaphysics with freedom, in a universe with freedom, any Divine Plan of a moment will have to be changeable – depending on how things work out. This is like it is in our own lives. It is great to have a plan, but this plan will need to be adjusted, depending on how the circumstances turn out. Plans are not guaranteed when freedom and uncertainty is involved. Yet Plans can nonetheless exist.
Also, any divine plan would imply that there is a power to make it succeed. But in a universe with freedom, this Power is not absolutely dictatorial, and thus not guaranteed to produce success.
Now, in the metaphysics of Hierarchy, there is not just God making Plans and then empowering them to be. The Power and the wise-planning of God is delegated and de-centralized to the whole Hierarchy of souls (these souls being the lights of God). Remember that we are all intelligences within the One Intelligence; we are all creative minds within the One Creative Mind.
Thus, the highest Souls of Hierarchy, the Masters and their Ashrams, make Plans for humanity and the world, but these Plans need to be continually re-adjusted and re-formed, due to how humanity has so far moved forward. Yet remember that these Plans are not detailed blueprints for everyone, nor are these Plans deterministic - that is, we are not made to do this or that, for we are not like puppets. The Plans are more like hoped-for goals which the Hierarchy helps nudge humanity towards by providing helpful intuitions, ideas, visions, and creative inspirations -- in line with those Plans. So what is meant here by the term, Plans, is similar to goals or visions of what to work towards. It's like having a plan, but this plan does not completely determine how things will be since that will be dependent on all sorts of factors.
The Hierarchy, first of all, has a Vision for humanity, a vision of how humanity and the world can be. This is, of course, aligned with the Divine Purposes - which the Masters realize and serve. This is not an exactly detailed Vision, but rather is general. It is not vague, in the sense of being unclear, for it is a clear Vision, but it is not exactly specific in all the details. Those details will need to be fleshed out by the world servers who will know more exactly what is needed for each particular circumstance. The Vision becomes as a Cause moving people in a general better direction. Also, the Hierarchy consists of many ‘sections’, each with its own special Focus, so each section of the Hierarchy provides its important Vision (to do with its special Focus) which all contributes to the Larger General Vision.
A Vision becomes both a Goal and a Motivation. The Vision becomes
our goal, and it also motivates us to get there. So a Vision has
power. It has motivating power, it has influencing power, and thus it
is a Cause. We so normally think of causes as just coming from the
past, but these are the karmic causes. Divine Causes, in contrast,
come from Higher Visions of the possible future and from intelligent
plans for how to get there.
So, a Plan is developed, which is guided by a Vision that was aligned
with Divine Purpose. These Plans are more to do with how to reach the
Vision; (yet, in a general sense, all plans are sort of like visions of
what is possible).
So to review, there are three significant terms involved here: Purpose, Vision, and Plan; and these are quite related. These can of course be plural; in fact, it is only in the most general sense that the terms would be singular. The Plan is guided by a Vision that is attuned with Purpose. Remember that the Vision becomes a Goal, while a Plan is how to reach that Goal. We might say that the Plan is how to reach the Vision (or the Goal). Note also that this ‘Plan’ is really a composite of multiple plans – which are the many needed aspects of the overall Plan. And this Plan will be somewhat general, rather than being a exactly detailed plan.
But this Plan will have to be continually re-adjusted. This is very important. For this Plan from the Hierarchy, this Divine Plan, is not a deterministic plan. Many Christians and Muslims believe in a deterministic Divine Plan; that is, they believe that God HAS a Plan, and this Plan comes to be in the very exact way that God plans it to be. This is the deterministic meaning of the Divine Plan. To put it bluntly, this is wrong.
Within the Divine, God, are Purposes, Visions, and Plans. But none of these are exactly specific, and none of these are absolutely deterministic. So the Divine Plan is not deterministic. It does not necessarily come to be. And anyways, it is not even a specific plan. Nonetheless, there is a Plan, or shall we say there are Plans for how the world and humanity can better be. But these are working-plans.
It’s like the plans that we have. We have a plan of how-to, which is connected to an important Goal or Vision, which is hopefully aligned with a significant Purpose. And so we work with that plan and we work towards the goals of that plan. But the plan is tentative. The plan is not fixed in stone, because that wouldn’t be practical. So we cannot be overly confident in our plan, nor overly fixated on it. For the plan might have to be readjusted, depending on how circumstances unfold. Isn’t this right?
Plans are good to have and to follow, but they often need to be adjusted. The overall general Plan might still be significant, but the details and specifics of the plan will probably need to be continually readjusted. Thus, the more specific a Plan is, the more specific adjustments and changes it will inevitably need to go through.
So the Hierarchy makes plans. The Hierarchy creates plans for humanity and the world, but these will need to be adjusted, again and again, or perhaps even re-envisioned, because of what actually happens.
This might have a sense of uncertainty and inexactitude, which makes many religious people nervous and insecure, especially those who want to securely believe that everything is already planned out and determined. They want to have a secure feeling of certainly, even if they don’t know what this certainty is, but they have faith in it nonetheless. The truth is that the future is an uncertainty. But there are plans and influences coming from spiritual levels. These help unfold a spiritual evolution; but no spiritual plan, nor spiritual influence, is guaranteed to succeed. Nothing is completely determined, and therefore there is uncertainty.
But this uncertainty is our spiritual tension. For the spiritual
future of our world depends on everyone. It depends on all of us. For
even though God and the spiritual Hierarchy create positive
Influences and Plans; the outcome of all this depends on us…
regarding how these Influences and Plans pan out.
Now it might be asked why there is a Hierarchy creating world plans, rather than God? God is the Master Intelligence of the whole Universe. God is the very Root of all intelligence; thus, God is the Cause of all intelligences and intelligent happenings. So really, we could think of God as behind all intelligent plans, including all of the intelligent happenings in nature and also in the human social world. But God’s Intelligence and Directing Guidance is most General, as well as being most encompassing and universal. Whereas God does not make the more specific guidances and plans. One might say that God deals with the bigger picture of things, but not the details. These details, as it were, are worked on by the regents and servers of God, which is what the whole Hierarchy is. We might think of this as God delegating the universal intelligence and creative power to all levels of creation, to all beings of creation. The unfoldment of all of this is the Dynamic Process, the Dynamic Manifestation, the whole creative process of God. It itself is the Great Plan, in its most general outline.
Remember that there are levels of details in relation to the more General. The Greatest of all General Visions+Plans encompasses and begets a level of more detailed Visions+Plans. Then, those more detailed Visions+Plans encompass and beget an even more detailed level Visions+Plans - these being more detailed than those begetting it from the level ‘above’. And so from the perspective of each level, there is a more General level (‘above’) which encompasses and begets it, then also more detailed Visions+Plans (‘below it’) which it encompasses and begets. These levels, ranging gradiently from General to detailed, is the whole Hierarchy of Visions+Plans.
Also, at each level are conscious intelligent beings, who hold a certain level of Visions & Plans in mind and also create them for the levels below. They receive (or better to say, realize) a somewhat general Vision and Plans from the Greater Beings Who Guide them, then intelligently and creatively work out something with more detail, more specificity in it. Their intelligent creativity (or creative intelligence) works out more detailed Plans by realizing/understanding the more General Plan and also by seeing what is needed in the world below (or in the level of beings below); then these two levels, the level above which provides the General Vision/Plan, and the levels below which provide the need, all go into making a resultant level of Plans.
But now let us return again to the topic of Divine Causes.
A spiritual aspirant wishes to be part of the Divine Causes, and thus be a positive karmic cause for everyone; rather than being part of a continuing chain of negative karmic causes.
Divine Causes bring good into manifestation. They bring goodness, love, beauty, truth, and justice into manifestation. So the more that Divine Causes come into actual effect, into manifestation, the more of these positive divine qualities come into the world, which is the spiritual evolution of the world or sometimes called the spiritual unfoldment into manifestation. In addition, Divine Causes transform people and social structures, from negative patterns to positive qualities. So Divine Causes bring positive qualities into humanity and also transform negatives into positives. The Divine Energies transform negative karma into positive karma.
In fact, without any help from the Divine, we could not transform our negative karma by ourselves. There needs to be a Power, or Energies, which come from outside of the karmic chain itself; otherwise karma would be a closed loop of cause/effects without any possible freedom to get beyond it or to transform it.
Note also that all Divine Causes are positive and thus have positive effects in the world. There is never any negativity from Divine Causes. They are always positive and good; and they create positive karma, never negative karma. Therefore, Divine Causes are always related with positive karma and are creative of positive karma. Negative karma always comes from human-ego, selfishness, mistaken thinking, and/or various kinds of emotional distortion. Negative karma never comes from the Divine; it never comes from God, nor the soul, nor from the Spiritual Hierarchy. It always comes from distorted thought or emotion, or some kind of human wrong action.
What
is wrong action? Well, basically it is one of the following:
a)being inharmonious with the natural world or debasing its beauty,
b)imposing one's will on others without any real consideration of their
needs,
c) being
cruel, harmful or unloving to others, or having too much apathy.
One might philosophically argue that goodness and love are relative to one's particular perspective, and so are positive and negative. Well, it is true that what is thought to be positive or else negative can depend on one's particular perspective. It might well depend on one's own personal goals or desires, as to what is either positive or negative. But then this about positive and negative from a personal relative perspective. It is certainly obvious that each person or any particular group will see its surrounding events as either positive or negative, depending on how the event serves their interest. A loss for one group in the market might mean a gain for another. So one person, or one group, might see a particular event as negative karma, while another sees it as positive. Rain for one group might mean losing their houses in a flood, but for the farmers this rain might be a saving grace.
Yet this relativist perspective on positive and negative, on good and bad, or on beauty and non-beauty, is not what is meant in the corresponding relationship between Divine Causes and positive karma. Instead, what is meant is an Objective standpoint, which we can understand as the view from God, or else as the view from 'the greater Whole', or as that which is best for the Greater evolution of all life. So we have to understand what is positive and good from an Objective view, not merely from a relative perspective.
But, the philosopher might then ask, how can one ever attain an Objective view about anything, when we are all so caught up in the middle of it all and also when are minds are limited? The philosophical answer to this is that perhaps one can never know anything with absolute certainty; yet we can at least approach greater Objectivity in knowing what is good and beautiful, by a non-attachment to our own relative desires and interests, combined with a continuous inquisitive learning about what is better for most everyone and the Whole, and also continually discover intuitively about the Divine Purpose.