I cannot destroy evil out there. Evil doesn’t exist out there.
Evil is an idea that exists in my own heart.
It’s the anger I have toward those who hate. Toward those who harm my family. Or who harm innocent beings. Or who harm the planet. Or who harm justice. Or who harm whatever I care about.
Evil is anything that threatens my identity, threatens my existence or gets between me and what I want.
I feel it inside of me. And I become angry. I want to destroy it. Because it feels more potent than this fear I experience.
Anger is a powerful motivator.
It is what drove me to the Zen monastery where I trained in the first place.
You see, I didn’t go there because “I was so in love with my life.” But love is what kept me there all those years, and it gave me a voice to express a new way.
Love as my creative force.
I learned that I could hate suffering, or I could love freedom. I could beat myself into overcoming resistance, or I could love myself into living my dreams.
You may call it a matter of semantics, but for me, I say that how you do what you do is everything.
It either poisons or nourishes. Separates or unifies.
Holds together or dissolves.
Evil into love.
In lovingkindness,
Alex