For the longest time I had a fear of becoming evil. Since my teenage years, I gravitated towards power. The intentions were good, I wanted control, I wanted influence because I wanted to make the world a better place.
For years, I've accumulated power, and wealth since. Thinking with wealth, comes power, and with power, comes the ability to make a change in the world.
But after reading the chapter on Ignorance in Yuval Noah Harari's book, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. I was deeply troubled for weeks. In this chapter, Harari described power as a blackhole that sucks everything in and attracts others that seek power. Like in a blackhole, your concept of time is distorted and because everyone would want your power for their own gain, you would be distorted as well. Your reality becomes detached from others and you will live in dark.
I pondered on this for weeks, wondering what should I do now? Now that almost my entire life I've been chasing power, should I stop? Where should I go then?
Then in this morning's meditation (11-Feb, 2021). I figured it out. Evil IS seeking that permanent control over others, more and more. Evil IS thinking that you know more than others and your ideas alone, are worthy of praise. Evil IS that addiction to grandiosity. Doesn't matter if your intentions are good, many modern day films and movies tries to teach us that. Many of our modern day villains in fiction had great intentions. They suffered in their childhood and wanted to protect others from suffering the same way, but their efforts were towards asserting themselves on top of others to prevent that past from happening again. Some villains were born because they were pushed down and bullied one too many times, in self-defense, they snapped and wanted to be bullied no more. I wouldn't know what I'd do in their positions, I don't see myself as a fighter and would probably give up much sooner than what these guys did.
So Evil IS about pride, that first sin tells us a lot about controlling our egos. So what is Good then? If we study the seven deadly sins, the virtue that's opposite of pride is Humility. Yes, that's it, one word. If you have true Humility, there is no way you can be Evil anymore.
