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!!!!!!
29 comments:
Vasu, its nice to be introduced to your reflections. Keep reflecting! I think true evil does exist, perhaps inside all of us.. and the only way we can fight it is with our goodness.
At times we tend to fight the evil with the evil inside us... and it grows and grows before we can even stop it. We have to learn to kill that evil instinct inside us everytime we encounter an evil.. and thats what learning and upbringing is all about.. thats what choices are all about..
To have the courage to choose good over bad.
To have the courage to choose right over wrong.
To have the courage to choose love over hatred.
My 'mantra'.. love ALL.. evil or good.
Thanks Namita...that makes a lot of sense...like you always do!!!!!
Hi Vasu Di!
I believe evil does exist..in varying degrees in all of us.I would rather not agree with the theory of born equals...coz we are not..in so many terms.Some people get the best of everything they can imagine...we've been lucky in that regard...but how do you explain the plight of so many all around us...?
And i do thus believe everyone has a varying degree of good and bad...the sum total of which is what we look at when we label a person good or bad.
Have I experienced any evil that did not hurt me? Yes..but more often I have seen evil that did hurt me...The evil was not a random daily error in human dealings...it was evil beyond any... to derive pleasure by hurting someone...I did experience the coldness and savageness of it all...Thankfully I escaped unscathed...
About the evil that did not hurt me...how do I go and confront them? For I have no valid reason,except my instincts! I think we all percieve auras of people...more often than not I have been proven right later...
So my next step is to try and make people aware and keep everyone away...'coz sum evils are beyond any change...
Other than that..I believe the quest for good and evil is most easily sorted out within...My choices good and bad have taught me to choose the rights over wrongs...good over bad... but its a continuous process for all of us.And I believe thats what striving for perfection is about... not to compete with anyone else or be better than others..but to be the BEST you can be!
:)
Dear Adie,
Thanks for your input...your ideas as always seem to mirror mine to a great degree...and thats a comfort when you're not sure about what you think is right or wrong..
you have understood my question better than anyone I've asked so far...and I totally get your reply..its crystal clear!!
its all relative isn't it.
Evil and good are only relative to each other and even after that, there's perspective...
an cheated wife killing or putting her husband in jail might be evil or good...perspective.
I mean if you face the devil himself and ask him are you evil, you expect him to say yes right? I think thats just religious dogma and the movies....I think the Devil will say no, I am good...I had to kill a few angels and God called me evil, but God also killed a few of my demons....why is he not evil?
So Crazy Diamond...I don't know who you are....but thanks for posting your comment...
Not only good or evil...everything is relative in this world...but there are averages for everything...and when I say evil...it means way more than the average bad...
Anyway this was a morbid topic to write on...
And our perspectives are shaped by what we learn...but they can be an easy means of justifying something that is not right...certainly in the example you give a cheated wife has a right to leave the husband...but I do not think she has the right to deliver judgement/punish her husband because she is not GOD!!!
But I do agree with you that evil will never agree it is evil!!
But as I said the key is to continue to be good yourself...beacuse evil does not kill evil...it only begets more evil...that I think is the only useful thing I wrote in the whole piece!!!!!!!
Greetings (after a long time).
Let me be mildly evil and translate (read "slightly misquote") Bulle Shah:
Behold the dance of dust, my friend, Oh these gardeners of dust
Dust is the horse, dust the saddle, of dust is the rider
Dust rides dust, behold the clamour of dust
Dust slays dust with weapons of dust.
Dust adorning excessive dust is the dust called arrogance
The land is dust, the garden - dust, of dust is made gardener
Dust has come to look at dust, to behold the comely season of dust
It laughs, it plays, and laying flat returns to dust
O Bulla, solve this riddle, and remove from my head this burden of dust.
----
And now let me be even more evil:
The primary function of the mind is to learn and apply (and improve by relearning) classifiers (in other words the pursuit of vivek). All classifiers attributable to a mind define its identity at any point in time.
Identity is an equivalence relation on the family of classifier-sets (minds).
Is it only true evil that truly hurts us? Or is only what truly hurts us truly evil?
----
Of course, your question is ethics itself.
Apologies for the low EQ.
its an interesting and diff topic and kudos to you for attempting to bring it out....but we could go on and on about this...
for example your statement "But as I said the key is to continue to be good yourself" is sooooooo subjective that it loses its meaning and we could thresh it to bare bones
oh and I didn't say the last time - you do write very well.
Hey Aditya,
Thanks for the comment..and even more thanks for introducing me to Bulle Shah...I hate to admit it...but didn't know much about him....I do now thanks to you!
the verse is beautiful I think...so true and so well written...
and the other unique thing about your reply is that you managed to convert part of it at least into a mathematical equation...love that!!!
and as for your question..
Is it only true evil that truly hurts us? Or is only what truly hurts us truly evil?
I think the answer to BOTH is NO !
Will explain later!
And Crazy Diamond,
Well thanks for appreciating my "effort" and thanks so much for that line right at the end...almost like an afterthought:))
and we can certainly thresh it to bare bones if you so desire...but I don't agree that it loses its meaning...again we come full circle to the good being relative..but at a minimum it means not to stoop to the level of evil:)...righteousness,forgiveness and pity...even for the evil...is what is needed.
:)..aight, all this is too complicated for a tuesday evening....I give.
and apologies for the compliment to look as if it came as an afterthought....that was never the intention.
hahaha!!
you don't need to apologize:)
I am curious to know how you came across my blog though...via orkut???
uh huh
wordy blabber follows...
<quote> I think the answer to BOTH is NO ! </quote>
Taking your answer to be correct, maybe we can discuss its implications...
Assuming (from your answer) that:
1. it is NOT only true evil that truly hurts us, and
2. NOT only what truly hurts us is truly evil
the immediate implication is:
1. there exist noumena that are not truly evil yet which truly hurt us (when observed as phenomena), and
2. there exist truly evil noumena that do not truly hurt us.
The above implies a belief in the statement that there exists some classification mechanism necessarily OTHER than the observer's mind that "naturally" classifies noumena on the scale from "good" to "evil", even before they are observed as phenomena.
Do you agree to having the above belief? Is it possible describe a classifier that does not belong to any observer-mind, yet classifies events on the Good-Evil spectrum?
I for one cannot identify any such universal classifier.
However if we only seek mutual agreement on an approximate ethical classifier, then I can hazard my personal opinion:
I'd start with the following axiom:
Treat others (and yourself) as you would have others treat you.
which in essence the same as:
Treat others as you think they would like to be treated.
The knowledge of how "I would like to be treated" and how "others would like to be treated" comes from experience and an (conscious / unconscious) effort to improve our "desirable" classifier based on that experience.
In my opinion if the above effort is not there, then we have evil at hand. And yes, I have perceived such phenomena, which do not hurt me personally, but which my classifiers tag as "evil".
But of course to reiterate, the above are personal beliefs and opinions, and it pays to be wary of unfalsifiable metaphysics.
I think this is the subjectivity that CrazyDiamond is pointing to, but hey, any real discussion is impossible without the use of the mind: which by its very nature can function only within a subjective context.
as someone said:
I think I think, therefore I think I am (subjective).
whats uh huh supposed to mean??
yes re....and to my credit...I wasn't being snoopy on orkut..it was while searching for something completely random...
*holds his throat with his finger and thumb and says "god swear*
:)
Dear Aditya,
Thats good too!!
When I say the answer to both is NO..thats because
a)sometimes people who are good may hurt us unintentionally...and thats probably because we were in the wrong at that point
b)there are many evils in this world which are unable to hurt us...even though they may try their hardest...and thats because we are protected by our loved ones...who shield us from all harm!
I hope that explains what I am trying to convey.
As for treating others as we would like to be treated ourselves...I think everyone knows and understands that...but we often still fail at implementing it!
And certainly our brain is our most beautiful treasure as humans...thats what sets us apart as a species...our ability to think!
However since I want to be a cardiologist(!!)I have to say that the heart is equally important too...and when the heart and the mind both work in harmony...and work for good...it is then that we are truly at peace...and then what we say and do is forever beautiful:))
And Crazy Diamond,
the snub is well taken:))
snub???
*scratches head multiple times, sighs, says something about never understanding women and retreats into cave*
hehehee...you are 100% correct this time...never try and undertand women!!
so when,if ever,are you going to reveal your true identity???
I somehow get the feeling that you are from Delhi too! I maybe wrong of course...
hmmm...so, I am from Delhi....but I doubt that we know each other. Didn't know that you're from there...yay delhiite! :)
Isn't it part of the blogger code of ethics not to reveal one's identity....:) ....
hmmmm....maybe it is and maybe it isn't:))
plus you have an unfair advantage...even if not by design...you can see who I am on orkut...but I can't!
plus in the US of A its always good to get to know another Delhiite:))
that I couldn't agree with more.
Nice blog.. Personally I believe there is no black and white in today's world.. all shades of grey..
This is Kalyug.. there is evil in everyone of us.. just the dimensions are hidden.. Some claim their actions to be righteous but if you look it from the victim's prism, you will see a different picture..
For ex : I risk being politically incorrect here.. Western powers raging a fierce war for democracy in Iraq, but they let their conscience sleep when unarmed monks are massacred in Yangoon.. So, good and evil lie within us and when good truimphs over evil, there will be no greed, hunger, anger anything..
Looking forward to reading your future blogs..
Keep them rolling!!
thanks!
dude, are we still stuck on this post. Give us a new one now. We demand it, we do.
hmmm....we are down to threats now are we??:))
lets see what I can do!
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