what is evil

so the whole world thought we lived on a flat plane does that make it right

benedictveritas wrote: and if we see such evil and refuse to act are we not by our inaction evil ourselves

I posted this earlier in a topic I posted on Living the Jedi Code. I thought it might add some light to the subject. At least, from my perspective.

jasonwilkins wrote: I've always found wisdom in the Middle Way of Chan Buddhism, which describes the realization of being free of the prejudice of perspective that takes the extremes of any polarity as objective reality. Even when approaching from the "Gray Area" that supposes that truth is found in the compromise of two polar opposites. While this might seem to describe the Middle Way, it does not. The Middle Way is Balance. It is accepting the darkness existing within the light and the light within the darkness. It is understanding that one can never exist without the other. An adherent of Light may stand and watch a child be raped and murdered for fear of injuring the attacker, accepting that the will of the Light will ultimately prevail. The adherent of darkness would save his own life offering the child as a justifiable sacrifice, while the adherent of the gray area might offer himself as the offering in place of the child. However, and adherent of the Middle Way recognizes the need to protect the weak and will stand between the aggressor and any unwilling victim as a shield and sword for Justice. He defends and attacks with as much power and aggression as is necessary to end the conflict, even unto death. Mercy will be given if the aggressor can be deterred from his actions, but should he continue his pursuit, the Middle Way can find justification for termination of threats. There is always a time and a moment for all actions, even those that bend into the dark side for a period. A Balanced mind acts according to the will of the Force, without passion to cloud vision, and with the intent to protect life at all costs. One can not say what the hierarchy of life is, for in claiming the truth, you create a perspective, a polarity. Therefore, trust in the Force to guide you, and listen with an empty mind and an open heart, that the path may reveal itself before you. That is the how and the why of my life by the code.

act never out of hatred for evil but for love of that which is good a gardener dosent prune a brach because he hates that branch but because he loves the bush as a whole

what is evil?

live spelled backward

or perhaps

against life

benedictveritas wrote: so the whole world thought we lived on a flat plane does that make it right

Nope, the shape of the world is not a human construct, that's something older than our world of ideas and symbols.

benedictveritas wrote: i want order members opinions

Evil is a bad thing. It's open to interpretation and that depends on how we are raised and in what culture.

Evil is one of the greatest inventions mankind has ever come up with.

The concept of evil has provided us the foundation for our civilizations, our moral codes, and our concepts of "right" and "wrong". It is simply the undesirable aspect of the outcomes generated by specific courses of action. If our culture were flipped around in such a way that the outcomes of "good" actions were undesirable, the outcomes of "evil" actions would become our new good.

Evil is not "bad", nor is it "good". It is simply necessary for the world to continue to operate in the manner we are accustomed to.

'We currently know about as much about the human mind as we knew about the galaxy in 1300.' ~ (paraphrased from) Alan Watts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wop91_Gvwos