Myth Of Evil

Mind & Spirit: NST Life & Times: 11/01/2011

http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/MIND_SPIRIT_Mythofevil/Article

BY CHIM LI YEN

DO you think punishment is necessary to reduce crime levels? Were you brought up in a family where misbehaviour was regulated with the rotan, or with guilt-inducing threats?
Have you heard the expression “two wrongs do not make a right”? All wrongs must be corrected in the right manner. To overpower or to argue with a false idea is to strengthen it — it is the way of violence. Guilt is perpetuated when we perceive that pain and suffering are necessary to penalise a certain action which we deem as wrong. Non-violence is an approach to the problem using love, not attack. It has means consistent with its ends.

We treat criminals as a group of untouchables in society. We don’t want to look at their lives or hear about their pain. Dehumanising them makes it easier for us to continue judging them as sinners — it makes them seem different from us. We tend to put them in a place where they are kept away from our sight so we don’t have to deal with them.

Crime is simply a form of self-punishment, unconsciously chosen to address unconscious guilt. The criminal commits a crime because he is trying to punish himself. Society obliges him by punishing him and reinforcing his guilt. Just as we deny and repress the negative tendencies we don’t want to accept in ourselves, society denies and institutionalises the problems it does not want to face. The collective unconscious is filled with unspeakable wounds which results in behaviour driven by the unacknowledged pain and guilt embedded within.

If we only allow ourselves to look beyond the angry, disdainful face of the person and really see what lies beneath, we will find overwhelming pain and self-judgment. Beneath the mask of mismanaged strength and vicious anger is the boy who does not believe he is lovable. If we cannot embrace the boy in him, how can we embrace the boy or girl in ourselves? Let us take away our mask of moral superiority and let the boy or girl in us look out at the boy in him. That is where love and acceptance begins. That is where forgiveness has its roots.

Forgiveness brings a light into these dark, shadow aspects in the self and in society. Acknowledging the wound is always the first step in the healing process. Once we are willing to face the fear behind the wound individually and collectively, the healing process can begin. It is difficult for society to look at the pain of its outcasts but this must be done.

Everybody lives in a prison of reactivity until the wound is made conscious. If we don’t work intentionally with the criminal to help him come to love and accept himself, he will re-enter society with the same anger and resentment. Placing more policemen on the streets or building more prisons will not make the streets safer. On the contrary, they only aggravate the situation by raising the level of fear among us.

Punishment merely reinforces rejection which is the opposite of what is required. It is up to us to alleviate feelings of rejection. Judgement and attack must be brought into the light of conscious awareness.

The way out of this vicious cycle is for us to drop the agenda of ostracism and punishment. Every person in pain must be offered a path out of pain. Rehabilitation is a work of integration. By consciously identifying his shame, unworthiness, patterns of abuse and betrayal in his life, the shadow self can be transformed into love.

There are remarkable results of criminal rehabilitation programmes that focus on eradicating the factors which cause criminal behaviour. Forgiveness is brought into the prisons and inmates are offered experiences of safe emotional bonding. They are provided with opportunities for education and training which gives them hope, acceptance and a second chance at life. The person’s innate goodness and self trust is restored.

People are not essentially bad. Their actions may be unloving or cruel because they do not feel loved. When we bring love and offer them a different choice, they can transform their lives. When we learn to love the enemy outside and the enemy within us, we are able to see with compassion. Inner and outer healing is connected. How we view the world determines what the world will be for us. Heaven is right here if we open up to love. It is in our mind when we see “good” instead of evil. It is in our eyes when we see with acceptance. It is in our hands when we reach out to help.

The writer is co-founder of The Violet Flame Holistic Shop and Therapy Centre, Bangsar. Check out the website at www.thevioletflame.com.my for details.