THE TIME OF THE CYCLE

Earth was within a long cycle prepared for the development of human consciousness. This cycle concerned not the planet’s physical age, but the level of consciousness the people incarnating on it were expected to reach.

At the beginning of the cycle, people had not been given a ready-made consciousness. They had to distinguish good from evil, right from wrong, through their own experiences. For this, they had been allowed a long period of development that was not limited to a single lifetime.

People would make choices in every situation they encountered. They would see the consequences of an action, understand the effect their wrongdoing had on another person, and make their next decision with that knowledge.

The purpose of the cycle was not to create perfect people. Making mistakes was considered a natural part of development. What mattered was that a person did not continue defending a wrong as right after recognizing it.

When Arinna, the officer responsible for Earth, arrived at the higher system’s assessment center, Neril and Suvat were preparing the final records. Observations from different periods of Earth’s history had been brought together at the center. The development of societies, people’s behavior, and the consequences of that behavior could be examined separately.

Neril brought the final assessment records before Arinna.

“The comparisons concerning the development of consciousness on Earth are complete,” Neril said.

Arinna opened the records. The first section contained societies’ technological developments, economic systems, and the institutions they had established.

“These show what people can do. Not whether they use their own consciousness,” Arinna said.

Suvat prepared the other records.

“We also compared the circumstances in which people made their decisions,” Suvat said.

Arinna began examining the second assessment.

Most people did not use their own consciousness to decide whether a behavior they encountered was right. They looked at what the people around them thought, how many people supported the behavior, and what their society accepted.

If many people defended an idea, it was accepted as right. If few expressed it, it was disregarded.

Arinna asked Suvat to show the reactions to the same behavior in different periods.

Suvat placed the records side by side. Behavior considered wrong in one period had been regarded as normal in another when more people engaged in it. The harm it caused others had not changed.

“People are judging the number of people doing it, not the behavior,” Suvat said.

Arinna examined the details of the records.

“A wrong becoming widespread does not erase the harm it causes,” Arinna said.

Neril noted that they had made the same assessment in the records of different societies. The results were similar. People were not only following others’ choices; they were changing their own judgments according to the crowd’s reaction.

Many people waited to hear what those around them would say before deciding whether they considered a behavior right.

Arinna continued examining the records of earlier periods.

Societies had been established, changed, and disappeared. People had faced the same choices again in different periods. In some periods, choosing what was right had been easy. When most of society defended the same value, behaving well had not required a person to use their own consciousness.

Real development lay in a person’s ability to decide with their own consciousness while the majority went in the wrong direction. Instead of repeating what others did, they needed to evaluate the behavior itself.

“Identify how people make decisions when the majority supports a wrong behavior,” Arinna said.

Neril opened the relevant records.

The same people could defend a behavior in a crowd that they would recognize as wrong when alone. Because they did not take responsibility for the decision themselves.

When they followed the majority, they thought the choice they made did not belong to them.

Suvat showed part of the records.

“Many people accept that the group made their decision. They do not consider their own responsibility separately,” Suvat said.

“The fact that many people engage in a behavior does not remove the individual’s responsibility,” Arinna said.

The higher system made its assessment according to each person’s own consciousness, not according to societies. Even within a crowd, a person was making their own choice.

This time, Arinna requested the records concerning the development people had shown after their mistakes.

Neril brought assessments selected from different periods. Some people had changed their behavior after seeing the consequences of their wrongdoing. Others had continued defending the same wrong because the people around them did it too.

“Not everyone who does wrong is in the same position,” Neril said.

“The purpose of the cycle was not to create perfect people,” Arinna replied. “What matters is what a person does after recognizing the wrong.”

Suvat noted that the assessment results also included people who had developed.

Arinna asked for those records to be preserved. The fact that most people continued the same behavior did not mean there were no people capable of choosing with their own consciousness.

Every person was expected to use their own consciousness. Repeating what others said, following the majority’s decision, or accepting their society’s values without question did not count as the development of consciousness.

A person had to be able to evaluate a behavior within themselves. They had to distinguish good from evil regardless of who performed an action, how many people supported it, or how widespread it was in society.

Arinna examined the final assessment results again.

Throughout Earth’s cycle of consciousness, people had been given this opportunity again and again. Wrongs had been shown along with their consequences. The difference between good and evil was clear enough to be seen in what people did to one another.

Despite this, most people had made a habit of watching those around them instead of using their consciousness.

Neril completed the final comparisons from different periods.

“It is now clear that this behavior does not belong to just one particular period,” Neril said.

Arinna examined the results. The time allotted for the development of human consciousness had reached its end. Technological progress had taken place in most societies, and living conditions had changed. But the fundamental problem in how people made their decisions remained.

The boundary between right and wrong was being changed according to the majority’s decision. A behavior considered bad yesterday was regarded as normal today when more people engaged in it.

Suvat closed the final records.

“The assessment has been sent to the higher system,” Suvat said.

Arinna waited for the decision to be announced. The time allotted for the development of consciousness on Earth was complete. But how the outcome would be implemented was within the higher system’s authority.

Neril and Suvat were also at the center when the decision arrived.

The higher system had decided to close the cycle.

Arinna carefully examined the scope of the decision.

This decision did not mean that Earth would be physically destroyed. The planet would continue to exist. The lands, seas, and life would not disappear entirely.

What was ending was the period in which a certain level of consciousness could continue to incarnate on Earth. The same consciousnesses would no longer be allowed to return to the same conditions without showing any development.

The time given throughout the cycle had to have an end. Unlimited time would mean that a consciousness refusing to develop never faced any consequences.

People had been offered enough experience to distinguish good from evil. They had been given the opportunities needed to see the harm of wrongdoing and to choose what was right even outside the majority.

Despite this, most had left their own consciousness to others. When many people around them engaged in the same behavior, they felt no responsibility and accepted that numbers could turn wrong into right.

Neril opened the final section of the decision.

“The officer responsible for Earth will conduct the closing process,” Neril said.

Arinna read the assignment. The officer would descend to the planet, directly assess the level of consciousness people had reached, and oversee the final stage of the cycle.

Suvat reported that Earth’s records had been prepared so they could also be used during the descent.

Arinna would not be satisfied with past assessments alone. It was necessary to examine directly the circumstances in which people made their choices and how they exercised their own responsibility.

“All records will be preserved,” Arinna said. “Especially the assessments of people who decide with their own consciousness.”

Neril checked the scope of the assignment.

“People’s choices will not be interfered with,” Neril said.

“Consciousness cannot be given from outside,” Arinna replied. “People have to develop through their own choices.”

When preparations were complete, Arinna examined Earth’s assessment results one last time.

The end of the cycle meant an assessment of consciousness. Earth would continue to live, but the level of consciousness allowed to incarnate on it would change.

Arinna instructed Neril and Suvat to preserve the records at the center.

Then the officer set out for Earth.