Hatred

It's strange how easy it is to find some way to believe it's ok to hate - like we are somehow permitted (and even vindicated) to hate based on our beliefs, or our judgments about whether something is right or not, as if hatred were some desired and esteemed emotion.

It's not.

Sorry to dash all those noble and esteemed thoughts, but hatred is a derivative of fear. Hate is a completely human emotion manufactured in the belief that one person has the right to be better than another, and that is a notion that comes from fear of not being good enough. A deer doesn't hate the lioness. She learns to be wary of her, to run from her, to avoid her, but she doesn't hate. Humans hate.

We hate when we are driven into a corner. We hate when we think someone is trying to get the better of us. We hate when we think other people are doing harm to something we value. We hate when we think we're more intelligent, more evolved, better than someone else.

But there is no justification for this. There is no original holy book that advocates hate. period. (I can't speak for modern, sometimes manipulated translations.) Every spiritual path, every religion bespeaks love, tolerance, compassion and recognizing that the other person is you. (Love your neighbor as yourself...) There is no strength in the belief that there is any justification or vindication for hate - except from others who fear as deeply as you do.

Despite our beliefs that we know best, I do believe that there is a Higher Power, God, who knows a little better than we do. I don't believe that anything happens that does not have meaning and purpose for the higher good of all. Even the most heinous and hideous occurrences in history have taught us incredibly valuable lessons in human rights, human dignity, and the evolution of human consciousness. We can judge it as evil or wrong, but who are we to know? What if we hadn't learned those lessons? Could not the result have been much worse for us????? How can we truly know?

There just isn't any excuse or justification for hatred and it's a word used frequently - I hate this and I hate that...it's all over the place and once you start listening for it you hear it again and again.

Here is something to ponder. This is an opportunity to look deep inside and really look to see if "hating" is where you're really at. Is it what you really mean? And when you look behind the hate and even replace the word hate with fear, what comes up for you, what do you find at the core essence of it? What would happen if you replaced the word hate with love? What would happen if you simply didn't use the word hate at all?

Blessings.
- Darshan






© 2010 Darshan F Jessop