Why does cruelty exist? How to be at peace knowing that it exists?

[Maxman]

This question has been bothering me for past few weeks. And I am not talking about mild hurtful things like someone breaking up with you or someone scamming you for money. I am talking about extreme forms of cruelty - torture, murders, rape etc. And this question came up in the first place because of some incidents that I have witnessed and listening to accounts of other people's lives.

When I was a kid, a woman was burnt alive in my neighbouring house because her family wasn't able to pay the dowry. 

A girl I met in a support group lives with her family where her parents and her other relatives have been beating her regularly since she was a child. 

Another girl was sexually abused by everyone in her family. She was brutally beaten mutliple times till she passed out. 

I was planning on writing this question but I hoped I'd find the answer on my own. But today I was triggered to ask this question cuz I saw my kitten's dead body. I burst out crying. A stray male cat killed her. My brother ran out as soon as he heard the cry but it was too late.

I know that the world is full of beauty and I have experienced that beauty myself. But at the same time, the world can be so fucking cruel. I am talking about those things that when you look at them happening you just can't help crying.

I just finished the book "The Divide" by Jason Hickel. It showed how US and Western Europe is actively causing poverty, famine, malnutrition, AIDS crisis in southern countries with its economic policies.

Non-vegetarians choose to kill animals and make ther lives of torture just to satisfy their taste buds. Even when basically all nutrients can be found in a plant based diet and even after knowing the fact that Livestock farming alone contributes more to global warming than all the cars, trains, planes and ships in the world.

That was just me listing out examples. Cruelty far more worse than this exists in the world. How are you supposed to be at peace with this fact? And why does cruelty exist in the first place? Are there any Leo's videos which deal with this question?

Whenever I ask this question to people, the answer is always without fail the same - Without evil, you can't experience good. Without cruelty, you won't know what kindness feels like. And honestly, that answer has never convinced me.

 

 

Edited May 19, 2020 by Maxman

[Parththakkar12]

If you see that the perpetrator is a part of yourself, you will see the actual reasons for actions that seem outwardly monstrous. These reasons often times reveal the vulnerability of the perpetrator. This helps us to stop demonizing them and get a handle on how we're responsible for those crimes/abuse.

[Preety_India]

 

Biologically we are programmed to have some evil behaviors. You can also see this in animals.

The other day I saw a video of a pack of lions attacking and killing a lion. Lions also kill the cubs of other lions. 

This is the nature of humanity. You have some good and some bad 

There are certain things in life which are so complicated that there will never really be a perfect answer to such questions. That's why people scramble and come up with a universally accepted answer or repeat what others say to not feel defeated. 

The best thing that we can do is grow love and compassion and reduce evil 

Sometimes evil is also used for good purposes. For example killing is considered evil. But you could kill someone to save your child as an act of self defense. Here evil is being used as a weapon and not an intention. 

Often times evil is simply lack of control and lack of a solid moral foundation. Such people take the bait of evil and surrender to it.. 

Strong people can resist evil because they have a mental stamina that doesn't allow them to easily become corrupt. 

 

[Osaid]

 

[RendHeaven]

@Maxman Leo's new video on forgiveness is a MUST-watch for you.

 

[DefinitelyNotARobot]

6 hours ago, Maxman said:

I was planning on writing this question but I hoped I'd find the answer on my own. But today I was triggered to ask this question cuz I saw my kitten's dead body. I burst out crying. A stray male cat killed her. My brother ran out as soon as he heard the cry but it was too late.

I am sorry to hear about that 

I've actually been thinking about this just yesterday. I already lost 2 cats. One got hit by a car, survived, but got really sick and we had to put her to sleep because she was suffering too much. My other cat had a genetic defect and became sick because of that, so we had to put him to sleep too.

This was long ago. I have 2 cats now and I really love them. One of them got sick the other day and we hat to bring him to the vet. I was kind of worried because I already had to witness 2 of my cats dying to some kind of disease and I didn't want to loose yet another one. He was okay though and when he came home we were just chilling together on my bed. Then suddenly I realized it.

I never had thought about it. I mean I have but not like in this moment. I realized that my lovely cat was going to die one day. Suddenly I burst into tears, not because I was sad, but because I was so grateful that my cat was still alive and that I was actually able to experience this beautiful being! I was very grateful and I cried for like 15 minutes straight.

7 hours ago, Maxman said:

Whenever I ask this question to people, the answer is always without fail the same - Without evil, you can't experience good. Without cruelty, you won't know what kindness feels like. And honestly, that answer has never convinced me.

It doesn't convince you because you are trying to be convinced. You are trying to find some logic behind it. Some greater reason that justifies all the fucked up stuff that is happening. But what if there was no reason? What if there was no reason behind anything in this world? What if it just was the way it is because that's the way it is?

The problem is that the human brain is BIASED. Negative things are just more relevant for survival. If you don't touch an oven you will not remember not touching it. That makes sense. You didn't touch it why would that be a relevant thing to remember. But if you DO touch the oven you will always remember it, because it is a relevant thing to remember. That how life goes. This process has become kind of twisted thanks to our minds being able to get lost in endless thought loops. The internet making us able to see what horrors are going on in the world doesn't make it any better.

If life was eternal, if there were no pain and no suffering, if everybody had food, if there were no wars and no violence, then how many people could appreciate life? How many people would be grateful for what they have? It's hard to see life from that perspective, I still have a hard time doing it, but I realized that that's how life is! Like for example the woman that was burned alive in her home. That IS horrible! It truly is! When somebody is at peace with the fact that this woman got burned alive it's not because they are desensitized and they don't care about that woman, but because they can accept the horror of that scenario. It IS horrible, but that makes everything that isn't horrible fucking beautiful! But that is not because of some higher reason. That is simply how things are!

Here is a small exercise: Think about a horrible thing. REALLY horrible. For example that woman being burned alive. Now take that scenario and come up with an opposite. Think about someone that hasn't been burned alive. It's even more powerful if you think about someone close to you. Has your mother been burned alive? Your father? Your brother? You can do that with everything. Think about a war-torn country like Liberia. Now think about a country that isn't war-torn, like for example your country (unless you live in a war-torn country in which case I am sorry for you!) Think about someone that has to starve. Now think about someone that doesn't have to starve. Perhaps you yourself?

Here is also another small exercise: Write down: Cruelty exists. Then ask yourself: "If that is true, why is that so bad?". Write down the answer. Look at the statement that you've written down and do the same thing with that statement: "If that is true, then why is that so bad?". Do that again and again with every answer that you get and try to go as deep as you can. Try to find the reason for why cruelty is such a bad thing.

Have you ever entertained the possibility that cruelty is NOT a bad thing? I am not saying it isn't, but I am just wondering if you have every questioned that statement itself. You will probably find that the underlying reason is some kind of existential anxiety. That brings us back to the way your mind focuses on negative stuff because it is more relevant for your survival. Finding cruelty bad is one of these ways.

Cruelty directly threatens your survival. If there is cruelty out there, cruelty can happen to you. Cruelty can harm and/or kill you and those that you love. Cruelty is a direct threat to you aka. your ego. Obviously there is nothing "wrong" with finding cruelty bad, but you should at least try to understand WHY it is so bad. Understanding cruelty itself will shed a completely different light on your problem.

[Leo Gura]

Evil is Love.

Obviously

Quote

How are you supposed to be at peace with this fact?

By dying.

There cannot be peace so long as you think you are real.

[Aquarius]

9 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Evil is Love.

I told that to people so many times how do I convince them?

[Maxman]

32 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Evil is Love.

How? How is cruelty love?

[Leo Gura]

42 minutes ago, Maxman said:

How? How is cruelty love?

That requires Awakening.

It is an act of God's selflessness to allow and love extreme selfishness.

To find fault with extremely selfish behavior is itself an act of selfishness.

The only reason you have a problem with other people being selfish is because it infringes on your ability to be selfish yourself.

If you were totally selfless, the selfishness of others would not bother you. In fact, you would understand why their selfishness is necessary.

[The observer]

On 19/05/2020 at 6:32 PM, Maxman said:

Why does cruelty exist?

Because God created it.

21 hours ago, Maxman said:

How to be at peace knowing that it exists?

Deal with the fact above. What other choice do you have than surrendering?

21 hours ago, Maxman said:

How? How is cruelty love?

It is Love for the ones who surrender, because it's designed to kill the ego. Notice that cruelty makes less than 1% compared to God's Love and Mercy. It is the perfect amount for keeping life going because without it, there would be no life because the devil would have had destroyed it long ago.

Also, keep in mind that inside the yin, there is yang. And inside the yang, there is yin. There's love in cruelty, and there's cruelty in love. These two little dots are necessary to keep the balance ☯️

Edited May 21, 2020 by The observer

[Reincarnated Cat]

This a good question to ask Maxman and one that has had me stumped since I started to enquiry seriously into Reality, Truth, Love, God etc.

It's difficult to accept another's suffering so that I may feel gratitude for not suffering and as a tool to elicit my compassion. It's also very very hard to 'surrender' or accept it as dark grace when the person who is suffering is close to you, perhaps related, and their lives will be severley affected from something they did not desire, provoke or choose.

Karmic arguments are hard to entertain because a 4 yr old's consciousness doesn't understand karma and the damage done by trauma limits the ability to change their karma/destiny/path. I know thats not how it works but thats how I feel.

I'll keep searching and sitting with this and I hope, one day soon I can come back and offer a little light and solace.