All religions advise people to do-good deeds and refrain from doing evil. But what is the benefit of doing good? What is the value of morality? We often say "Good deeds bring about good rewards, and evil deeds hard retributions. What role does the concept of good and evil play in the Western traditions? Western traditions believe that God is the creator and sustainer of all things. We would not even be self aware, let alone aware of right and wrong, if God had not created within us His image, and therefore the ability to make moral distinctions. The truth is we have no reference point for all this discussion about morality except as God reveals it. For us to argue with the source of morality is for the clay to argue with the potter. Some philosophers say that for God to define what is right or wrong is arbitrary. God is not arbitrary; He is the source of all life and therefore the source of all truth. We have no basis to even understand the concept of being arbitrary except in reference to an unchanging God. If we recognize the nature of man, which is if man were not fallen, i.e., not corrupted by sin, we would have limitless potential to create from within ourselves a universal moral code. But, we are a fallen lot, every last one of us, and therefore incapable of fully knowing what is good (Rom. 3:23). We are even incapable of carrying out what we do know to be good (Rom. 7:18-21). So the question of right or wrong has everything to do with the origin of our belief, not just the substance of it. No matter how sincerely I believe I am right about some moral decision, the true test is in the origin of that belief. And God is the only universal and absolute origin to all morality (Casey, 1997).The role of Maya in the Eastern traditions is God's technology that he employed in creation. Maya is the veil that prevents us from Self-realization. God gives this veil to us. He thus puts us under the lower prakriti. Because...
