Good and Evil

Seems like a well worn out topic doesn't it...good and evil...the eternal enemies....fighting for sway over our hearts and lives..
So why am I sitting down today to think,reflect(!) and write about this...again something everyone would have thought about at some point or the other in their lives..

Well, it started as always with a discussion the other day about whether true evil exists in this world..or can everyone's "sins" in life be attributed to some major trauma in life?
And are all these problems and defects(for lack of a better word) "fixable" or are there people in this world whose souls have been truly and irretrievably lost??

We all know that true perfection doesn't probably exist...nothing in this world is perfect...but we all strive for it anyway...and I do believe in the mantra handed down to me from my school days...our school motto..."Nayamatma Balhinen labhyah" meaning "Perfection cannot be achieved by the weak".
The pursuit of life is a pursuit of happiness and a pursuit of perfection...though both mean different things for all of us...we might not truly attain either but the journey of life becomes worthwhile as long as we continue to work towards the shimmering ideal.
As a dear friend(CC) said the other day...(pardon me for bringing medicine into the blog)...that even God doesn't believe in perfection...otherwise the normal ejection fraction of the heart would have been 100% and not 60% as it is!!!
And truly you can see evidence of this "lack of perfection" in all of God's creations...and best of all in Man!
If we were all perfect think of how terrible we might be...we would never understand weakness or suffering in others,never know or understand what pity meant,never probably love anyone except for ourselves...
Certainly a recognition of our imperfections makes us better human beings....probably thats the reason Man is a social animal...we need people around us to make us feel better in times when we are feeling lost...and so we reach out for each other...for comfort and warmth...oftentimes for those who are stronger than us and sometimes for those who are weaker than us...
So it is that most people are neither black or white but rather shades of gray....our goodness/badness is relative like everything else in this world...

I have been privileged to know several really good souls..people who though they may not be "perfect" are way along the spectrum towards 'white'...these people have made my life...and indeed the lives of everyone that they came in contact with more meaningful and richer....think of someone like Mother Teresa...I have heard friends who met her in person say that everyone could feel and perceive that aura of goodness...her handshake was like a breath of life...a sip of water to the thirsty...

But what about true evil..and I mean not selfishness/dishonesty/jealousy/envy or the other more common and mundane human pitfalls...I mean true evil...the desire to hurt people...obtaining satisfaction from other's grief...random people....not those who have hurt you...maybe even those who have helped you???
Is it that true evil doesn't exist or is it that we are just lucky enough not to encounter it too often??
Do people like Lord Voldemort exist in the real world???
( you see the influence Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling have on my mind and imagination?!!)
People who have progressed so much on the path towards evil...that their souls have been tarnished and lost for ever....
I have been lucky not to see much of evil...but I have perceived glimpses of it I think in a few random people...even as a child...I remember meeting people who made me feel scared for no good reason...and I learnt later about why I felt like that and was thankful that I was safe and protected always...in fact as children I think we are even more alert to such vibes because our own souls are so much more pristine....all of us...without fail...do dirty our souls to different degrees as we grow up...and destroy our natural instincts for good...they are clouded by other worldly desires...which not only distort our vision but also our judgement of right and wrong..

And if such people do exist...is there a reason why God made them like that???
Is it always some trauma in life that is a precipitant..or are they just born like that....or is it their choices in life....as Rowling would say..that it matters not what you are born with..the talents/qualities....but rather the choices that you make in life that make you the person that you are...
and if there is a reason for the evil .....will it do any good to go looking for it...will it help the person or the society at large..or will the quest for answers just uncover more dirt and grime???
Will even the greatest magic in this world...LOVE..help these lost souls....or will it just cause them more agony??
As I discussed with one of my more dearer teachers the other day...there are few things that we can "fix" even in the body..we just care for people in medicine.....and even just caring for the mind is so much more arduous than caring for the body...but the SOUL???....is it even within our range as humans to restore it to its untarnished state for a broken soul is like broken glass??

And finally...how do you save yourself from true evil...just avoid it and pray to God for your safety and sanity...or be brave and look the devil in the eye..and say that "I am not afraid of thou because I have God on my side!!!!!!!!" and make an effort to save all your friends and the society from it too???
(this is not to make it melodramatic!!)
Or by continuing to be "good" yourself...and doing what is right...and never to try to conquer it by being evil yourself....that perhaps is the toughest but most crucial part of the answer to the puzzle.

I need help from all of you who read this...let me know what you think...for once I am somewhat at a loss in life...my experiences so far ill-equip me from answering these questions fully...I would appreciate any input/thoughts or ideas you might have....
And when you answer the question about whether you have perceived any evil....I am talking about evil which has not harmed you but you still perceive it...don't please mix it up with people who have hurt you for one reason or another....because that is definitely a big confounding factor!!!!!!