[Short Story] The Universal Principle

The thought of a universal principle intrigued her. There was the golden rule, or the Golden Rule, as philosophers would put it. But in the absence of other human beings, would this be applicable? There had to be a greater meaning, a larger purpose, a way of life that existed beyond that of some sort of Guide to Interacting with Other Human Beings, which is what the Golden Rule was.

She had been an acolyte of many faiths, each with its own set of doctrines. The supreme beings of each pantheon, however, were far form the role models that she had come to expect. They were hardly the paragons that she envisioned them to be. And that was the universal principle, she thought. That those who made the rules never had to follow them.

The Universal Principle, then, was that you could only break the rules if you made them. That was the grandest hypocrisy of the universe. That the creator was entitled to absolute destruction of all that was created.

So she began her own cult. Her objective was to create a set of rules that everyone was forced to follow, lest they be branded a heretic. But since she was logical, beautiful and charismatic, her rules seemed infallible to her followers. And so her cult grew and grew, and became a global faith that attracted the loyalty of billions.

But when it had reached critical mass, she had her doubts. She was on the cusp of executing her glorious plan – the judgement of all her flock and the ultimate betrayal of them all. She would destroy what she had created, because that was the Universal Principle. Nobody would question her, since she laid down the guidelines for humanity to follow.

If she broke the rules, wouldn’t she be one of those she despised? If the measure of her worth was dependent on the reactions of her fellow human beings, then that wasn’t a principle she could claim as universal. And finally, she didn’t truly believe it was what the universe wanted.

What did the universe want?

It was not a question she could answer. Not a single deity could giver the solution she sought, for at this point she had become divine as well.

It was then that she decided to dedicate her life to her followers. She would dedicate what remained of her life on the planet to helping people.

As she learned, help came in many forms to her myriad devotees. There were those who had to be led down the path of destruction en route to salvation. Those who had to experience great sorrow to eliminate suffering. And those for whom the darkest of desires had to be consummated for balance to be achieved.

She began to appreciate and understand how difficult it was for her to tend to everyone. That was when her compassion was born.

She understood.

It wasn’t about treating others the way that you had been treated, for humans had the uncanny ability to see the worst of intentions in others. If all intentions were judged on such a scale, humanity would never be satisfied with the Golden Rule. They would treat everyone with love at first, but it would devolve quickly into cruelty.

Love was not the answer either, for unconditional love would lead to absolute resentment.

There was no universal principle, for all principles would devolve into a measure of hate and anger in time, and no human being would be able to live in happiness forever.

But to understand, and to be kind to the actions you could not understand, was the key to her own happiness. It was a Guide to Interacting with Other Human Beings.

It was not equal treatment, but kindness; not logical principles, but empathy; not unconditional love, but compassion.