Does ones previous good deeds and kindnesses negate current maliciousness?
And in turn, do past transgressions hold any weight on the present or future?
And in turn, do past transgressions hold any weight on the present or future?
Past Behavior's Impact on the Present and Future
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It depends on the person who is making the judgement. Some people move past things easily and engage the present more on its own merits; and some people build a more cumulative impression to interact with.
I'd say both have pluses and minuses, so that ideally the past informs the present, but doesn't bias it.
I think it depends on the deed and the spirit in which the kindness is given. Someone who does something really horrible may try to assuage their guilt by doing good things to make up for it. This may indicate they've recognized the hurt they've caused and want to "atone" so to speak. Or it could mean they don't want to be seen in a bad light by others, so they cover up bad deeds with good ones. Intent or motive matters.
Past transgressions hold weight to an extent. It can be tough to let the past go, because it's the only thing you have a reference or how to interpret present and future. Nothing is guaranteed of course, and it may not be fair to judge anyone by their past since most if not all have made mistakes which we're not proud of or would rather forget. We may be different people than we were and to judge us by the past would ignore the hard work put into make us the better persons we may have become.
However, the past can alert you to patterns or tendencies, and warn you if something is likely to happen or indicate in what direction someone is likely to go. So, you don't ignore it, but how much weight should it hold? Not sure. Each person has to make that decision for themselves depending on the person and circumstances.
As some would say, you may forgive but you may not forget.
"However, the past can alert you to patterns or tendencies, and warn you if something is likely to happen or indicate in what direction someone is likely to go. So, you don't ignore it, but how much weight should it hold?"
Indeed, patterns matter. If someone has a pattern of kindness and they suddenly become malicious, I'm trying to figure out why, what's going on with them? Were they kind just to win me over (though this motive is typically apparent early on which, in my experience, leads to a toxic relationship), or something they currently need help with? Equally, patterns of
"As some would say, you may forgive but you may not forget."
Indeed, patterns matter. If someone has a pattern of kindness and they suddenly become malicious, I'm trying to figure out why, what's going on with them? Were they kind just to win me over (though this motive is typically apparent early on which, in my experience, leads to a toxic relationship), or something they currently need help with? Equally, patterns of
"As some would say, you may forgive but you may not forget."
Usually a past of previous good deeds are forgiven and brushed off as a phase, stage, or troubled time. I cannot think of a time where a person who was consistently good to me or others went through a malicious phase where I judged them in the moment instead of taking their past into account.
In the opposite scenario it also takes time.
In the opposite scenario it also takes time.
Complex answer.
It depends on the person affected and how they were affected.
It depends on the person affected and how they were affected.
This is a difficult question to answer since context always matters and no two situations are alike. But in general, I think it would largely depend upon the type of maliciousness carried out. It's all a matter of scale.
So let's pretend the scale goes from 1-10. 1 being minor and 10 being major. Anything 7 or above would qualify as unforgiveable. Regardless of any previous good deeds or kindnesses. Anything below might be negotiable.
And past trangressions always hold weight. Even if forgiveness has been granted.
When we commit an action, we are changing the self which we project into the future - we become what we do. As such, all actions of the past have their counterpart in the present self.
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edit: an additional note, on the specific nature of these changes a la karma.
We are not separate from the world through which we enact changes: as such, whatever change we enact, we are designating as an acceptable change, and thus opening ourselves up to be changed in the same way that we changed the world. So yes, there is truth to what is said that doing good causes good to happen to you, and doing bad causes bad to happen to you.
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edit: an additional note, on the specific nature of these changes a la karma.
We are not separate from the world through which we enact changes: as such, whatever change we enact, we are designating as an acceptable change, and thus opening ourselves up to be changed in the same way that we changed the world. So yes, there is truth to what is said that doing good causes good to happen to you, and doing bad causes bad to happen to you.
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Yes, I have an example related to the above comment. I am not generally deceptive, or at least I have tried to weed out these tendencies in myself, anyway (no real excuse I know), at some public event a few years back I took toilet roll from the public toilets, knowing I had run out and would be returning home, not the biggest crime, although still technically stealing.... I was hearing a mystic speaker Caroline Myss, talking about spiritual advancement and such like. Anyway I asked her a question and when she replied she pointedly told me that 'every deed had consequences', it all made a difference and nothing could be 'covered up'. I knew she knew what I had done, and it was written in my energetic signature. Yes, karmically we don't really get away with anything, we may think we do at the time....but really we have not. However the intention with which we do something has the biggest difference on the karmic effect that we get back. What I got from what she said is that as everything is so interconnected and we are so interconnected, we really have to take responsibility for every action because everything has a multiple of effects were not even aware of. Pretty mind boggling, so even a small act like that could hurt countless others (or at least have a ripple effect of effects), as well as on myself because of my intentions. Apart from that it's 'written' in your energy signature. Of course it takes a lot of spiritual awareness (or discipline) to completely weed out all negative causes we make. Most of us would find this impossible.
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