Why this extreme hatred for fellow human beings, you may ask? There are shootings, rapes, plunders, wars, senseless killings and so on. You wonder when it will come to an end. If you are that optimist who believes in good human nature, you will be in for a terrible shock. The power of evil grows exponentially and is never on the wane. You better watch out!
When you find similar incidents happening to you, the impact is phenomenal. Disagreement between spouses, siblings, parents and children, friends and so on, creates so much of discomfort for us that we hate it ourselves. Yet, we continue to have ill will and hold grudges. You proceed in your life with bitterness, not allowing goodness to flow back in.
Why does a human being have so much of hatred for another fellow human? Surely there has to be some terribly distorted reason for the evil to flourish. It is memories and how they get distorted for us. Memories are like those condiments and spices stored in cool dry places for future use. Then as we take them down, we use them to distort the flavor of certain foodstuffs. Like you may put crushed peppercorns to give the zing to your fries.
Memories are stored incidents or stuff which your minds cupboard owns. It maintains them and uses them in current life to flavor it in whichever way it chooses. Let us use one example here so that you can understand how you distort it today. Let us say you had kissed your wife in a five minute marathon of pure passion in the past. That is your memory. Now let’s see how mind distorts and taints it. After 20 years again you are kissing your wife. Your mind brings out that memory and you say to her that she used to kiss so passionately then but today there is no life or passion left in her. So you have nostalgia about it and just dwell in goodness of that memory and sigh.
In another situation, you come to know she is having an affair with someone else and your mind throws up the same memory. How do you now see the same situation? You cringe to remember how passionate she can get and visualize her doing that same to her paramour and start hating her. Do you see how the same memory got distorted in different situations? Now do you get the hatred you have for the same individual?
There are different communities staying together in harmony in a town. They celebrated different festivals together and participated in it with full gusto. Soon war breaks out and these two communities become enemies of each other due to their ideological differences or religious beliefs. The same person will never ever celebrate the festival with his dear old neighbor as they do not agree on the ideologies. Now the same Diwali or Holi may appear as disturbing of public peace. The same Tomatina festival of throwing tomatoes at each other in festivity may appear as wastage of food later. So now consider which situation is the truth? Aren’t both true depending upon situations arising today? Or I can say both are colored or hued versions of the truth. Or neither are true. They have got distorted by age or time. Nothing is real.
So wars are based on such untruths. Look at that individual who went and shot off fifty people in a club. Even though he was visiting it as a participant there earlier but his ideological difference made him see the same people in a different light and he then killed them in cold blood.
So you can see that the circumstances today can alter the same memory’s perception and distort it for you now. This causes all the ill will and hatred for others in our life.
Now let us view the same memories with nostalgia and goodness and they will appear very loving to us. You remember your own son when you look at your grandson today with love. You remember your alma mater with fondness when you give your acceptance speech. You can never get over your voracious appetite as a child when you see your own kid eating that way.
So why not have goodness in you or love for everything created by God in this world. You saw the Pope touch the tiger with so much love and compassion. You have to see Jesus look upon the sick and poor with absolute love and empathy. There is no need to look at skin color or caste, creed or religion, richness or poverty when we look at our fellow humans. See them without the distortion arising out of memory or circumstances. Have only love for others and you will see goodness all around. Spread the sweetness and goodness all around. Don’t hate anyone. Love all.
Image Credit: Lovethispic
