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A while ago, I wrote an article titled “Defeating Evil” which was about not yielding to those who would do evil, but here I do not refer to the evil in others but to the evil within oneself that must be overcome, defeated. Within any and every human being, good and evil are constantly battling each other. In Buddhism, it is called the battle to suppress earthly desires. The point is that as the greed of human beings has no limit, whether it is money, women, power, or fame, all want to satisfy selfish desires. These kinds of evils are always showing their heads, so good seeks to suppress these evils by such admonitions as: you should not do such things, be careful, and, if you do such a thing, it will not end well. Good seeks that human beings are made happy and urges that efforts should be made to make others happy. Thus are good and evil always battling which is the way the lord of all creation as it is.
Since this is the situation, if evil prevails, sins are committed and unhappiness results. If good comes out ahead, happiness is born, a fact that human beings know but cannot act upon, non-believers particularly so. Those who have faith, because they are aware of the problem, rarely make mistakes, but even having said so, standing up to evil is still not an easy task. Of course, it is the secondary spirit that causes evil and the primary spirit that causes good. The primary spirit is the entity that commands absolute good, so the authority of the primary spirit must be increased. This authority is fundamentally the power to conquer evil. Human beings must therefore always endeavor to develop this power, and the only methods to accomplish such a task are to worship God and to exhaustively practice faith. No other way is there to become a happy human being.

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“Jibun no Aku ni Kate” was originally published in Eikō, Issue 109, June 20, 1951, and while Meishu-sama still alive, reprinted in the teaching anthology for ministers Goshinsho: Shūkyō-hen (Divine Writings: Volume on Religion), page 35, March 25, 1954, and again reprinted in the essays anthology for the general public Tengoku no Fukuinsho (Gospels of Heaven), page 76, August 25, 1954. “Jibun no Aku ni Kate” has appeared previously in English. Citation is given below for reference.

“Conquer Your Own Evil,” Foundation of Paradise, 1984, page 162.

“Overcome Your Own Negativity,” Teachings of Meishu-sama, Volume Four, 2007, page 26.

“Strong Faith Will Overcome Evil Within You,” Reaching for Faith, 2010, page 54.

“Conquer Your Own Evils,” Meishu and His Teachings, no date, page 65.

“Defeat the Evil in Yourself,” A Hundred Teachings of Meishusama, no date, page 144.