The Root of All Evil

The Root of All Evil: How Shame has the capacity to Kill or Save

I’m a fictional story-teller, which means I have to understand as much as I can about the human mind. For eight years, I’ve been trying to perfect my craft by understanding what we mean and how we function and through this, I’ve come to realize that just about everything we make a big deal out of is actually pretty frivolous.

Take the concept of shame for example. It’s been known to be the primary driving force behind “Senseless” violence yet, shame in actuality doesn’t exist. Rather, it’s a way for us to understand and respond to the complexities in our social interactions. We always like to think that we somehow matter to the universe but in reality we only matter to each other. The Universe doesn’t need us, let alone even think about us. But we need each other. That’s why we’re only as valuable as we are to others.

Whether in an emotional way, such as a friend or in a more business way, we’re always providing some value to someone. And if we’re not then, we don’t have friends. And if we don’t have friends then, it becomes difficult to affirm our self-worth. So we start to feel lonely and depressed and if we’re ridiculed enough then, we begin to feel a certain animus towards society. Individuals become irrelevant and suddenly we start to see homogenized walking things instead of sentient beings that are valuable to others. Suddenly, it becomes easier to pull the trigger, so to speak. That’s the power that shame can have on us.

Many have perished in the wake of this emotion yet, it isn’t even real. Instead, it’s a reaction to the realization that whatever we’re doing isn’t causing people to like us. It’s a realization that can lead to a sense of worthlessness. Now, that’s true emotional pain and it can cause one to unleash immeasurable violence.
Feeling shame will probably be with us for a very long time because it’s so hard-wired in our brains. But, that doesn’t mean it has to dictate our behaviors. As long as we understand that it’s our way of panicking when we’re not socially accepted then, we’ll be able to better control the urge to lash out at others. Instead of dwelling in blind rage we’ll start to help each other out and grow into better individuals. We’ll understand that kind acts relieve the mind of shame.

Christianity and Islam say that we should live good lives so that we can eventually join God in the Kingdom of Heaven. Well, I don’t believe there’s a Kingdom of Heaven but, I do believe that we can make our own “Heaven” right here on Earth as long as we understand that most of our problems are really not that big of a deal to begin with.

Shame is nothing more than an emotional reaction that should push us into doing good deeds. If we want to not feel shame and despair then, we need to go out and do good things for people. We need to maintain our sense of integrity and be honest with ourselves and each other.

But it’s hard to let your guard down because so many people aren’t honest and want a lot of things that go beyond what they really need. In particular, many desire that one thing which drives the economy and is often sought after so viciously because we feel shame. I’m talking about money. Just think about it.

Everyone wants money because they want economic stability but, what’s more telling is that they also want to affirm their worth to everyone else. If someone has a lot of money, we generally assume that they’re smart and resourceful. We assume that they are able to help a lot of people out. That’s why money is the ultimate protection against shame. With enough of it, you can be whomever you want and do whatever you please without having to depend on others. And so the need to help those around you and maintain good standings is no longer required as much.

That’s why we say money is the root of all evil. But, Money isn’t evil. It’s our propensity to cave in to emotional urges that are evil. They seem to always fool us into doing foolish things. Some people resort to violence and others resort to making money for the sake of itself. But at the end of the day, both of these actions are driven by a phobia of shame.

Granted, not all rich people are afraid of this destructive emotion. Rather, it is those who seek money for its own purpose who have this fear. And that’s what drives that thing we call, “Evil”. It’s caving into shame and going to extreme lengths to avoid it. That’s what makes money evil.

And to me that’s the biggest tragedy of mankind. We have so much potential to do great things but we squander it almost every day because we cave in to shame. It’s not a lower or an upper-class thing. It’s everyone, across the board. The lower class loves to criticize the rich and point out how unfair they are but a lot of them would do the same things if they were rich.

That’s why we have so many cheaters and thieves; black markets and crime. Most of these people aren’t able to play by the big league rules of the white-collar World so they resort to illegal acts just so they can have the money, which is nothing more than a “status” driven by none other than shame. So, just as the 1% is driven by shame to expand their dominance through monetary gains, so are we in the 99%.

All in all, it doesn’t matter whether you have a lot of money or not. Just do your part in making this World a better place. Keep your guard up against others and yourself because the World can be dangerous. But, understand and try to move beyond these natural tendencies. We all have a choice. We can either try to consciously shift our view towards something that is conducive to a healthy environment or we can cave in and continue living in this hell on Earth we so vehemently hate. It’s your choice…
 
Take the concept of shame for example. It’s been known to be the primary driving force behind “Senseless” violence yet, shame in actuality doesn’t exist.

Yamaoka Tesshu, as a young student of Zen, visited one master after another. He called upon Dokuon of Shokoku.

Desiring to show his attainment, he said: "The mind, Buddha, and sentient beings, after all, do not exist. The true nature of phenomena is emptiness. There is no relaization, no delusion, no sage, no mediocrity. There is no giving and nothing to be received."

Dokuon, who was smoking quietly, said nothing. Suddenly he whacked Yamaoka with his bamboo pipe. This made the youth quite angry.

"If nothing exists," inquired Dokuon, "where did this anger come from?"
 
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