Must be pushed out.
No matter what world you walk in -- office, school, temple, prison, or the streets -- there is an underworld populated with demons. These are people who are avaricious, aggressive, sadistic, and cynical. They not only take advantage of others without compunction, they delight in it. They find pleasure in seeing others suffer.
The why of it cannot be answered. There is only the fact, with no metaphysical meaning or other ramifications. It is not karma, it is not fate. If these people decide to attack you, it is circumstance. You must fight or be mowed down.
Compassion and humility may be among the most treasured of human virtues, but they are not useful in conflict. A beautiful gold statue of your most adored god is a treasure, but you would not use it as a weapon. Virtue is to be value in the proper context; only a sword will do in battle.
Whether an attack is physical -- assault, rape, murder -- or whether it is mental -- business intrigues, emotional abuse -- you must be prepared. It is best to prepare for conflict by learning as much self-defense as possible. You will not become a bully or a monster, but instead, you will learn that you an respond to any situation. If you are never attacked, that will be wonderful. Training will still help you work out your fears, inhibitions, and anxieties. In the case of conflict, no one, not even a veteran, is ever sure that they will come out alive from a confrontation. But they resolve to go in there and give themselves a fighting chance. This in itself is a triumph over evil.
Over the weekend I spent time with my best friend in this world. He lives about an hour from me and in our lives we have gone long periods without seeing each other or even talking. That's a shame. But as my friend reminded me, there is a bond between us that is so great that should a decade go by without speaking, the two of us can come together and pick up where we left off. Burt's spirit and my spirit have walked together for a long time and will do so long after we leave this world.
I tell you this, and remind myself of this, because I have for many years surrounded myself with false friends. There have been 'friends' in my life that are merely neglectful and there are those that have actively chosen to betray me. Recently I had to look into the face of a friend who betrayed me and then remove them from my life.
The betrayal was so painful that it still deeply impacts me. In many ways it is the reason I started exploring my feelings here and looking for calming techniques and means of finding lasting peace. At this point, there is still not a day that goes by that I don't think about the betrayal or the betrayer. There are many reasons I did not beat him within an inch of his life. The fact that it would do further damage to my spirit is only one of them.
I struggle to exorcise this demon from my life every day. It doesn't help that he is still peripherally in my life. We share friends and his wife is my wife's friend. In the end, our mutual 'friends' were told by me that what passed between myself and the betrayer was 'personal' and left it at that. I am led to understand that he did not portray the even the same way.
I am easy to paint as the villain. I can be dark and rigid and unloveable. No matter how spotless I may truly be, I will always be the bad guy. I can live with that.
The lessons learned are that spiritual cleansing is as important and the physical cleansing. To do what is right you must be willing to sacrifice, true friends are forever and, finally, to allow evil people to haunt you after you have removed them from your life gives them a power of which they are unworthy.
Peace
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