WebsterMark wrote on Today at 04:18:19:
My observed reality: when Evil is in the presence of Good, it is embarrassed at its own shortcomings. Rather than pulling itself upwards, Evil tries to drag Good down to its level.
Another observed reality is we all experienced times when we find ourselves in the role of Evil or Good. The trick is to recognize when you find yourself in the role of Evil and to resist the temptation of being the one trying to level the playing field.
My other observed reality is I’ve not be doing a good job of recognizing when Evil is accomplishing its goal of dragging me down to its level.
I think it's much more effective to recognize whether you're thinking.
For example, there's nothing wrong with feelings of hate. Hate is just energy. But it goes wrong when you project your hate.
Projecting is nothing more than thinking.
Let me give you an example: Thought: Those darn Palestinians can't be trusted.
At that moment, you're projecting onto the Palestinians. You no longer see reality. You're simply projecting your own untrustworthiness onto them.
Why do we do that?
Suppose someone doesn't want to acknowledge their own feelings of aggression or hate. That can feel too painful or threatening ("I'm not a hateful person, I'm good"). Instead of admitting it to themselves, they push that feeling outward:
"That group (e.g., Palestinians) hates us, they're aggressive, they want to destroy us."
In reality, some of that hostile feeling may originate within the person themselves, but through projection, it appears as if it originates entirely from the other person. This makes one's own aggression feel "justified": "We must defend ourselves against their hatred."
So you see, reality is completely distorted by someone's inability to face their own hatred.
And by facing, I mean the process of recognizing, acknowledging, and feeling it fully and completely so that it dissolves. Totality is the key word here.