Evil?

I am struck by the diversity of how people see or envision evil.
Many seem to see it as an embodied form, such as the devil or demons.
Some seem to see it as actions and thoughts that are done by conscious beings who may or may not be aware that what they are doing/thinking is "evil".
Others may reject the notion entirely and say no things or actions are good or evil, it is only the conscious observer who assigns the word "evil" to them.

I am curious as to what your views on "evil" are and why you hold them.

[JosephineB]

I Just don't like the word. I say negative. Evil to me is a religious word.

I think there are negative actions and behaviours of the ego.

Evil is whatever you are trained to think it is by the majority belief in society at the time. If you want to add an esoteric religious Flair to it then although man did create evil and the devil man is the devil as well because the devil is depicted as having that triangle pointed tail in a lot of old historical paintings and depictions and he's also known as a dragon well the tail is because your sacrum makes a triangle point your spine makes a snake and it also makes a dragging when you look at the rib cage as wings and it's connected to the lower portion of your brain which is called The Reptilian Brain where all your desires come from and those desires mainly being things like food /anger/ sexual appetite /basically all the things that relations says are of the devil

[davidsun]

'evil' is 'live' backward - complete coincidence? woowooo

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by ketzer

I am struck by the diversity of how people see or envision evil.
Many seem to see it as an embodied form, such as the devil or demons.
Some seem to see it as actions and thoughts that are done by conscious beings who may or may not be aware that what they are doing/thinking is "evil".
Others may reject the notion entirely and say no things or actions are good or evil, it is only the conscious observer who assigns the word "evil" to them.

I am curious as to what your views on "evil" are and why you hold them.

I prefer to 'skate around' that word. I don't acknowledge it and I do not give power to claiming something as being evil.

Evil is analogous to that of demons as far as I am concerned: If you believe in them,; they exist. Conversely if you don't believe in them, they don't bother you. Evil might be a thought form we energize and in some cases actually created. That just my opinion....

Originally Posted by ImthatIm

I like to use the word Elvis.
So then I can say I had an Elvis sighting.

Well, many thought his dancing was evil at that time so there is that. And you do have all the letters for Evil in Elvis, plus plural.... the Evils of Elvis... coincidence???
You are on to something there, maybe the old folks were right, it was the devil up there doing his evil dancing to the sinful music. And of course peanut butter and pickles is just plain evil.

Originally Posted by davidsun

'evil' is 'live' backward - complete coincidence? woowooo

So maybe seeing Elvis live was seeing evil, maybe still is since he is not really dead ya know, pretty sure I saw him alive the other day...hasn't aged a bit?

[Jyotir]

Hi ketzer,

Best definition of evil I found is of Sri Aurobindo, that:

Evil is a perversion of ignorance.

That is to say...
Ignorance is a condition of physical existence that we emerge from by an evolution of consciousness.
But the conscious deliberate preservation, promotion, and action of that ignorance by choice is what constitutes that perversion = evil.

This is not present in lower kingdoms of Nature, but becomes a possibility in human beings due to the dual principle of reflective self-consciousness available through mind.

~ J

[davidsun]

Originally Posted by Jyotir

[indent]Best definition of evil I found is of Sri Aurobindo, that:

Evil is a perversion of ignorance.

to that!

I would just amplify that by saying it is a perversion of LIFE due to ignorance.

My friend quotes his grandmother as having say: "Honey Chile, if they knew better they'd do better!"

I also resonate with "This is not present in lower kingdoms of Nature, but becomes a possibility in human beings due to the dual principle of reflective self-consciousness available through mind."

Well thought out and well said (IMO).

[TheGlow]

Originally Posted by davidsun

"Honey Chile, if they knew better they'd do better!"
.

That is basically how I see it.

"sin" just means to miss the mark, or error.

These errors tend to lead to suffering.
I do not at all believe in evil.
Things called evil are actions/energy that often come from a deep well of fear or pain, or not understanding themselves/their wounds/others...

if they knew better they would do better, or forgive them they know not what they do