Dear Julia:

I recently had a debate about the existence and nature of good and evil in the world. I was talking to a New Age friend who insisted that there is no such thing as the devil, demons or evil, that there is really only fear and love in the world, and the absence of those energies. She also says that there is nothing to fear but fear itself. This strikes me as very naive and idealistic. What do you think...is there such as thing as "evil?"
- Stan

Dear Stan:

Stan, this is a very deep subject, and so I'm hoping you'll have patience with my answer, which actually supports both of your views. Let me explain.

First, I agree with you that there absolutely is such a thing as "evil" in the world. I define love as that force or quality which takes pleasure in others' pleasure and well-being, and evil as that force or quality which takes pleasure in others' pain and suffering. There are definitely people in the world who either "get off on" hurting others, or who care nothing about others' suffering, so long as their own desires are met. Just as people crave happiness, love, drugs, alcohol, etc., there are entities that crave the energy we associate with pain and suffering.

I call deliberately hurting others for the fun or pleasure of it pure evil. Consciously but unintentionally hurting others in the course of pursuing one's own desires I would also call evil, and unfortunately, pretty darn common. Here's a very mild example that comes to mind: Long ago when I was in high school, my best friend told my boyfriend a lie about me so that he would break up with me because she wanted to go out with him herself (which she then did). If we include this sort of selfish disregard for others in the definition of "evil," I'm sure you'll agree that evil is weaving in and out of most of our lives all the time.

"Pure evil," wherein someone deliberately seeks pleasure or satisfaction in hurting other people, is fortunately much rarer. It may, however, exist in proportion to the pure goodness we see when people risk or sacrifice their lives to save another, or when people devote their lives to helping humanity (I'm thinking of individuals like Mother Theresa here). In fact, I'd venture that in order for the Universe to remain in balance, darkness must counterbalance light, evil must counterbalance good, death must counterbalance life. If the sun shown for 24 hours; no one who was ever born died; and no one said or did anything that wasn't compassionate, loving and selfless, I don't think the Universe would "work." There would be no life on this planet, anyway.

Now, I did at one time share your friend's view that there is no such thing as demons, goblins, the devil, etc. These evil entities just weren't part of my reality, and frankly, I didn't want them to be. I'm confident that there really is no such thing as demons, etc., in your friend's reality either. A bit of psychic exploration taught me, however, that just as there are good and evil people in the world, there are good and evil forces in the non-physical. There are people who prey on the innocent, there are sociopaths who get off on hurting others, and there are non-physical entities that feed off of fear and use our lifeforce energy without regard to how it affects us. Think about it: why would there be a pervasive belief in good and evil (which I believe you'll find in every culture throughout history around the world), unless there was such a thing?

Your friend, however, has focused on love and light, and in this way, effectively risen above the vibration where evil affects her. In her case, saying that there is no such thing as evil is a bit like moving to Hawaii and saying that there is no such thing as tigers. Now, we've all seen tigers. Some of us have seen them up close and personal, at a zoo for example. Others have at least seen them on television or in books. There are some people living in remote places, however, who may never have encountered a tiger at all. Tigers do not exist for those folks. If your friend lived on Hawaii, tigers would not be a part of her reality. People could be suffering tiger attacks all over Asia, they could be writing books about them and teaching seminars on how to protect yourself from tigers, but none of this would be part of her experience.

My point is that evil is more or less a part of our personal reality depending on where we live "vibrationally." If you focus on evil or fear evil, it will be a part of your reality, whether you encounter it in your personal experiences or simply find yourself thinking about it, worrying about, hearing about it on the news regularly, etc.

As we evolve spiritually, at some point we move fully into the truth/belief that there ARE things that are worse than death. When we realize that death is not an end but a new beginning in a wonderfully free dimension, then "fear" loses a lot of the power it has held over us in general. It's somewhat like moving to a tropical island where there are no tigers. There would be no good reason to think about tigers any more. This is where your friend is living, metaphorically speaking, and therefore it's true: there "is no evil" in her world.

This whole subject reminds me of Santa Claus. When my son was about six years old, he started hearing rumors at school that there is no such thing as Santa. When he asked me about it, I explained to him that this was indeed a matter of some controversy, and that I could only offer him my own opinion: Given that we create our own realities via our thoughts, then if you believe in Santa Claus, Santa will be real in your reality. I explained that believing in Santa was a bit like believing in magic or Spirit; those who believe experience what they believe in, and those who don't just miss out. We then spent a few moments feeling very sorry for those kids who no longer believed in Santa, and he even went back to school and laid this metaphysical perspective on the kids (who had no idea what he was talking about). It's now nearly a decade later, and so far as he is concerned, Santa visits with just as much devotion every Christmas as he ever has. While he knows "the truth," Santa is indeed "real" to him, and this makes him happy. (If you argue "Yes, but there really is no Santa," you're missing the point!)

Similarly, I know that some people encounter "evil" and demons, etc. I know this is possible. At the same time, I choose to ignore that, and those things are not a part of my own reality. I guess the question now is what do you want to believe, Stan? I CHOOSE to believe that the Universe is a benevolent place and that things happen for a reason. I have had many experiences in my life that support this theory, but the bottom line is I don't know for certain. I choose to believe it, however, because it makes me happy, and it certainly doesn't hurt me or anyone else. If you look for evidence to support any belief, you'll find it. That tells me that we can choose what we believe, and somehow, the Universe will make it true for us. While believing in the existence of evil, demons, etc., may be "right," creating an evil-free personal reality is wiser.

May you always look for and find the good in life, people and your personal experiences!

- Julia