the things I've seen
In my life I never shied away from exposing myself to disturbing images. The kind of things that don't even make it into horror movies and are whispered around the edges of the BDSM porn circuit. I mean everything. If it came across my path, I examined it. In my mind, I always felt like I was supposed to prepare myself for a fight against evil one day. I thought that if I was going to tackle evil, I would need to understand it. I found within me, like the cores in yin-yang, that core of evil also. I studied it, I fed it scraps to see what it did, studied how I felt about that, watched how others behaved, asked why. I asked both directly and indirectly. If the opportunity presented, rather than judging or teaching, I asked straight questions. Not "what made you think that was ok" but "what was it you were after?" Because non-judgmental questions get info, and when someone is drawn out to articulate their motives, they often start to question their motives for the first time.
Just as in ying yang, there is a core of good in the evil side too. As the old legend attributed to the navajo goes, you get the wolf you feed. you get the seed you fertilize. You get the child you reward. You get the dog you train. Get it?
But there's not only YOU involved, see, you are being influenced by your environment. By the people and events, the aesthetics and media, the health and safety, the volume and nature of available resources, etc.You can't be some pure self, because what you eat, what you hear, what assaults your body, and more, all affect what choices you can make, as well as will make.
What I'm learning from studying evil, is that evil is not a thing, it is an absence of a thing. Like how darkness is merely not enough light. Evil is merely not enough love. But not that 'love" we think of with hearts and hugs. No, the true love that we don't speak of. The one which drops off a casserole after a birth, or organizes a birthday party to celebrate someone, or takes the kids when you're stuck, or finds you work so you can earn income, and so on. True love that cares for you, body mind and spirit. The one that got squashed by the desires of capitalists and the greedy and the fearful and selfish.
And where did they come from? Absence of care of course. if they'd lived their lives in a society that had their back, a strong safety net, they would not have the same level of selfish impulses.
Just as in ying yang, there is a core of good in the evil side too. As the old legend attributed to the navajo goes, you get the wolf you feed. you get the seed you fertilize. You get the child you reward. You get the dog you train. Get it?
But there's not only YOU involved, see, you are being influenced by your environment. By the people and events, the aesthetics and media, the health and safety, the volume and nature of available resources, etc.You can't be some pure self, because what you eat, what you hear, what assaults your body, and more, all affect what choices you can make, as well as will make.
What I'm learning from studying evil, is that evil is not a thing, it is an absence of a thing. Like how darkness is merely not enough light. Evil is merely not enough love. But not that 'love" we think of with hearts and hugs. No, the true love that we don't speak of. The one which drops off a casserole after a birth, or organizes a birthday party to celebrate someone, or takes the kids when you're stuck, or finds you work so you can earn income, and so on. True love that cares for you, body mind and spirit. The one that got squashed by the desires of capitalists and the greedy and the fearful and selfish.
And where did they come from? Absence of care of course. if they'd lived their lives in a society that had their back, a strong safety net, they would not have the same level of selfish impulses.