Chapter 72: The good spirit which should inspire monastic life

It is easy to recognize the bitter spirit of wickedness which creates a barrier to God's grace and opens the way to the evil of hell. But equally there is a good spirit which frees us from evil ways and brings us closer to God and eternal life. (From Ch. 72 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

I know that I have both the good in the evil in myself. In particular, I'm aware of having a stubborn and very human disposition towards alienation. But, I learn not to identify with either the good or the evil in myself; I learn how to detach, how to let the hold of my judgment over myself be loosened, by the practice of meditation.