Harmony....part 1

Harmony is that which makes beauty, beauty in itself has no meaning. An object which is called beautiful at one time or place may not be beautiful at another. And so it is with thought, speech, and action. That which is called beautiful is only so at a certain time and under certain conditions which make it beautiful; so if one could give a true definition of beauty it is harmony. Harmony in a combination of colors, harmony in the drawing of a design or a line, that is what is called beauty; and a word, a thought, a feeling, or an action which creates harmony is productive of beauty.

Whence comes the tendency towards harmony and whence comes the tendency towards inharmony? The natural tendency of every soul is towards harmony, and the tendency towards inharmony is an unnatural state of mind or affairs; the very fact that it is not natural makes it devoid of beauty. The psychology of man is such that he responds both to harmony and inharmony. He cannot help it, because he is naturally so made; mentally and physically he responds to all that comes to him whether it be harmonious or inharmonious.

The teaching of Christ, 'Resist not evil', is a hint not to respond to inharmony. For instance a word of kindness, of sympathy, or an action of love and affection, finds response, but a word of insult, an action of revolt or of hatred, creates a response too, and that response creates still more inharmony in the world. By giving way to inharmony one allows inharmony to multiply. Where does all the great unrest and discord that one now sees pervading the world come from? It seems that it comes from the ignorance of this fact that inharmony creates inharmony, and that inharmony will multiply. If a person is insulted his natural tendency is to reply by insulting the other person still more. In this way he gets the momentary satisfaction of having given a good answer. But he has responded to that power which came from the other, and these two powers, being negative and positive, create more inharmony. 'Resist not evil' does not mean to take evil into oneself. It only means: do not return the inharmony that comes to you, as a person playing tennis would send back the ball with his racket. But at the same time it does not suggest that one should receive the ball with open hands.