What Is Evil?

Q: What exactly is evil if there are different standards in different cultures?

MM: We tend to call what we are afraid of "evil". Of course we would be afraid of someone trying to murder us. So we call murder evil. We would call a hurricane or earthquake "sent by the devil" - or by" George Bush" - but there is no inherent evil in it. We are just afraid of it. There are infinite things to be afraid of. When there is no fear there is no evil. Even in the case of the murderer. If you are not afraid of being murdered, you can not see any evil in a murderer.

So-called "evil" is mostly stupidity. Pretty mundane and boring, committed by dumb or even innocent people out of fear or greed, or misguided notions, who "do not know what they are doing". And don't be fooled by the "highly intelligent" evil. There is no greater stupidity than the superiorly intelligent who commit evil. Hitler, for example, would be called "evil" by a fearful person, or "stupid" by a scholar, or "poor" by a childhood psychologist.

Q: How about "the evil in us"? Our not so pretty selves we try to manage or hide?

MM: Greed and fear, nothing else. Don't hide it. Be greedy, be fearful and see how foolish it is. There is no need to struggle with it once you experience it directly for yourself. You will naturally give it up. Otherwise you will always think the greedy are smarter, and the fearful dumber than you, and you will lack compassion.

Q: There are times I think I am evil.

MM: You are afraid of yourself. When do you think you are evil?

Q: When I am greedy.

MM: Who is calling you greedy?

Q: I am.

MM: Then stop. If there is no one there to call you greedy you will not be needy and afraid anymore.

Q: But how do I work on myself to grow and become a better person, then?

MM: Who is there to be improved, and who is working on whom? It is all nonsense of the mind.

First the mind says "I like, want, need, or should have" and grasps for something, then it calls this greed, and then it wants to fix this greediness out of fear of being judged greedy. It is all your mind doing all this. It all starts with "I". This idea of "I" is the root cause of all fear and greed. Simply stop.

Q: But what if others call me greedy?

MM: Or "stupid", or "rude", or "fat", or "mean"...or "beautiful", or "smart", or "kind", or "enlightened"...make sure there is no "I" there to agree or disagree with "them"!