Question: I have always been afraid of what people call “evil,” whether in unseen spirits or in human beings. What exactly is evil and where does it come from?
Answer: Evil is a human invention. Evil does not exist in a tree or a galaxy and most definitely does not exist within the Creator or All of Creation. The origin of evil is simply the decision to say “no” to God; to insist that there is something outside of the Evolutionary Intelligence and Power of the Universe, or God’s Love. Since countless multitudes of humans have been saying “no” to God for hundreds of thousands of years, it now seems as if it has an entirely independent existence. What is now called the Devil is the collective ego. The essence of one human being saying no to God is the same as the collective essence called the devil. It is just a matter of degree and scope.
In the East it has been called Mara or Illusion and in Christianity it has been called the Devil or Satan. Both the Buddha under the Bodhi tree and Jesus in the dessert, faced the temptation of bowing to fear and the enticements of false power. They overcame this attack and temptation by realizing that there is no other Power or Reality other than God or Nirvana – the Truth. Engaging in a battle with the Devil or Mara would have been succumbing to it because that would have been a tacit agreement that it actually exits. In both cases they did not fall for the lies and the threats – they simply affirmed the TRUTH! Therefore, the terms illusion, evil and ego are actually all synonymous.
It could be said that evil does exist as ILLUSION for most of us. Jesus and the Buddha gave us clear demonstrations of how to overcome evil/illusion through ceasing to believe in the lies. What are the lies? They are the voices in the head – the stories of doom, discouragement, shame and blame, and the resulting feelings of sinking defeat or tormenting anxiety. It is the attraction to the false power of self-righteousness and judgment. Illusion is the master mimicker that fools us into believing that Confidence, Love, Security, Power and Well-Being can come from trying to squeeze it out of others and the world through manipulation, domination, and seduction. If there is a battle between Good and Evil, between Love and Fear, it is occurring only within our own consciousness. All else are PROJECTIONS of that inner reality.
Jesus and Buddha, and every other being who has brought Love and Truth into this world, assisted others only after they had conquered the illusion of evil WITHIN, through affirming and Realizing the Truth of Oneness – an all-inclusive God. This inner work is the work that really matters. It is the ONLY work which results in positive gains of an ETERNAL nature. All else passes at the end of every lifetime, and often much sooner. The only thing that will fulfill our deepest and truest yearning is to return Home to a Life free of illusion and fear. Why not turn within and begin the Soul satisfying, Heart healing process of falling into the awaiting embrace of Love?
Mark Okita
