How do you understand evil?

[kris]

The title says it all. How do people on this forum make sense of evil in the world?

[bobjob]

Evil is not in the world it's in certain individuals. I'm thankful I can't get too close to how those sick individuals might feel when occasionally I have meditated on their situations. I feel sick inside when I do get close so I have to stop.

I can't make sense of evil and nowadays - after nearly 40 years 'in the spooks' - I find myself increasingly questioning why a percentage of new humans coming into this world are seemingly destined to live lives where they perpetrate the kind of sick behaviors humankind has been subjected to for centuries and millennia.

[BigJohn]

Look at the word 'evil'....... backwards...... and you have the word "live".

Having said that , some people look at the word "evil" differently then others do.

If something 'bad' happens, is it some 'Spirit(s)' trying to get somebody to experience a certain experience? This reminds me of Judas, who betrayed Jesus and who some claim was only fulfiliing a karmic debt or one of the many other versions of the 'story'. So, was Judas 'evil'?

As for me, I believe that if you dwell on 'evil', we might give it enough energy that it can come 'alive' to cause havoc as we create our own realities. Is this what we really want? Who knows?

[Unseeking Seeker]

In a channelled session, Buddha said “sometimes to go to the right, the pendulum must first move to the left” … or words to that effect

https://www.spiritualforums.com/vb/s...d.php?t=128587

[lemex]

Originally Posted by BigJohn

Look at the word 'evil'....... backwards...... and you have the word "live".

Life, yes. Interesting because this is where it is seen. Is it something we are suppose to see maybe, not to do. It is experienced. How important and relevant is it do we know it. Do we have an innate understanding of it and if so is it valid? Look at the energy felt. It certainly is found in why we do things, so we know imo.

What I find interesting about the question is a persons view that seems to determine it. I've noticed one can look at something done towards others (outside) and supposedly not see it wrong yet complain when the (exact) same thing happens to them (inside). It seems to be more relatable when it happens to us. If it is understood in one situation then it remains the same outside oneself to. Certainly instinct plays a part and part of the code.

[Miss Hepburn]

I have plenty to say, but later. So here is just 1 thing Joel S. Goldsmith* said:

''When we appear to be good, it is the activity of God operating through us.
When we appear to be evil, it is the activity of material sense
which is only a sense of separation from God.''

*Author of:
'Conscious Union with God"
'Practicing the Presence'
'Beyond Words and Thought'
'Living by Grace'
'The Art of Spiritual Healing'

[kris]

Originally Posted by bobjob

I can't make sense of evil and nowadays - after nearly 40 years 'in the spooks' - I find myself increasingly questioning why a percentage of new humans coming into this world are seemingly destined to live lives where they perpetrate the kind of sick behaviors humankind has been subjected to for centuries and millennia.

I think people commit evil when they see it benefiting them immediately or in the near term. The benefit may be material gain or psychological advantage. Thus a few years ago we had a guy (Bernie Madoff) perpetrate a vast securities fraud whose magnitude was estimated at over 60 billion dollars. He wanted to get rich quickly and he didn't care that a lot of retirees lost their life's savings and safety net in the process. This is an example of evil for material gain.

Sometimes, evil is committed for psychological advantage. Most cases of revenge fall under this type of evil.

[kris]

Originally Posted by Unseeking Seeker

In a channelled session, Buddha said “sometimes to go to the right, the pendulum must first move to the left” … or words to that effect

https://www.spiritualforums.com/vb/s...d.php?t=128587

Does this mean evil is necessary?

[Native spirit]

Please remember any quotes more than two or three sentences long will be deleted


Namaste

[bobjob]

Originally Posted by kris

I think people commit evil when they see it benefiting them immediately or in the near term.

I wasn't puzzled about the reasons for their doing what they do.

But I am baffled why foul and outrageous patterns of behavior are still happening even after many thousands of years of human existence and certain humans being inhumane towards their fellow man.

Does it mean that a small percentage of all new humans - the ones experiencing their very first incarnations as humans - will have the chance to behave in such ways? If so then it seems humankind must be resigned to such situations ad infinitum or as long as first-timers continue to come into this world.

Perhaps it's the positive/negative aspects of human existence which will never change?