What is the nature of Evil?

Every time evil incidents like the Mumbai Rape case happen, we start rambling about our rich past, "preserving Indian culture", about how great we once were, about how great we can be. That allows us to procrastinate. 

Culture is what is happening NOW, not 3000 years back. What is happening now is what we ARE. This is not a brief detour from the past. We ARE sick right now. That is the only reality - the rest is imagination. 

Will we start the treatment? 

Or will we get busy reminiscing how healthy we once were, whose fault it is in making us sick, about which sickness is worse, writing songs about how 'healthy' would look like, forming "I wanna be healthy" groups, creating "wake up" groups, debating that a treatment is needed urgently etc etc.  All that might be true, but it still delays the treatment. 

Culture is what is happening NOW, not 3000 years back. What is happening now is what we ARE. This is not a brief detour from the past.

Once we SEE how sick we ARE, Change happens

Lets stop seeking consolation in our rich past - that's part of our imagination, not reality. Lets stop dreaming about a great future - that's part of our imagination, not reality. Lets stop hating the present - which happens when we compare what IS with what was, or with what COULD be...which is again part of imagination, not reality. Arising out of an inability to ACCEPT the current bitter reality. And you can't change what you don't accept.  

Lets ACCEPT the reality of OUR sickness. The responsibility for sustaining it, for proliferating it, if not creating it. Lets feel the sorrow ABOUT it, not anger AGAINST it. 

When its time to wake up, we simply wake up ... Not dream about it. Once we wake up, we dont start doing something magical. We simply stop doing things that are non-sensical.

Once we wake up, we dont start doing something magical. We simply stop doing things that are non-sensical

What can I do?
Its foolishness to think YOU can CHANGE the mess. And hence the failure of all our past "grand" attempts. What you CAN do is stop ADDING to it. See how your little, conditioned, subtle, mostly unconscious...thoughts, words, actions, un-examined beliefs SUSTAIN the mess. Not blame yourself, but actually EXAMINE. Open your eyes and see. I think that's waking up? Something we can start right now? So why over-dramatize, and hence postpone it?

What is Evil?
No one person creates the tree of evil individually. Someone sees only the seed - just plants it out of curiosity. Someone sees only the sprout, drops some water and allows it to sprout out of ignorance, Someone sees only the tiny leaf and provides manure out of "compassion", someone sees only the branch enroaching but provides space out of "tolerance". Unless we see the WHOLE tree, its impossible to see what we have created. When we do see, its impossible to keep blaming the individuals or start judging individual actions in isolation - we see how we have all created it together. Partaken of its fruits. Made its roots stronger.

No one person creates the tree of evil individually.

Its impossible to dream of cutting down the entire tree in one big swipe. Its as big as the earth! But having glimpsed reality - we IMMEDIATELY become alert, see if we are helping it grow without knowing. We recognize the "gravity" of our "little" actions. We cannot afford to waiting for OTHERS to change first. We simply stop being adding to the mess. We cannot NOT do anything except this. And when enough people stop adding, the tree gradually shrinks, shrivels and dies.

Whatever is LEFT is goodness, not another special, bigger, better tree.

If this sounds philosophical, do raise questions. Not conclusions. Let us recognize that our 'practical' ways have not been working so far and something has gone horribly wrong somewhere.