We should not hate the evildoers. People who are engaging in obviously evil actions, whether they are currently undergoing outright pain or not, are causing themselves pain in the future, and thus, they should be objects of compassion.

People corrupted by power harbor mistaken notions that worldly pleasures are true happiness. These persons are under the very strong influence of afflictive ideas. They are dominated by ignorance. They have our pity, not hatred.

The afflictive emotions, anger, hatred, desire and jealousy, are the cause of suffering. These emotions are essentially "stupid" because they mask prejudices.

Seemingly mighty persons suffer the consequence of pervasive conditioning, wrapped in the influence of afflictive emotions, deprived of being under their own power and beset by self-destruction. Their mental and physical suffering is a direct consequence of the fact that they are prisoners and victims of pervasive conditioning.

These misguided but powerful people are under the influence of counterproductive attitudes, doing the work of self-destruction. What a mess they are in. If they could only be free from suffering and the causes of suffering, how nice it would be.

Are these people winners?

In a situation where somebody is being pushed around by another, we pity the one who is losing out and we are upset by the aggressor. We see the suffering of the loser but we pay no attention to the greater pain that the aggressor will endure in the future, because the vile actions of the perpetrator magnify through an accumulation.

The loser may undergo the fruit of a single bad action. The winner will suffer the fruit of his awful deeds for the rest of his life because the cycle of cause and effect is eternal.

From this viewpoint, we should have greater compassion for the perpetrator.

Take pity on the aggressor because he will yield the bitter fruit of his actions and will never be free of the pain he brings. This person who wants happiness and not suffering is physically and mentally stricken by the misery of change forced through pervasive conditioning.

What needs to be stopped is the self-cherishing aggrandizement that afflictive emotions encourage by unleashing a destructive cycle of cause and effect.

Hatred constricts outlook. By focusing on just one particular factor among the many giving rise to a problem, you close the door to broadmindedness. The broader your outlook is, the greater the possibility of constructing something positive or undoing something negative.

When we try to fix a problem without this broad outlook, we create alot of problems for ourselves and others.

Many the predicaments that we see in the world today, are due to not seeing the greater picture by concentrating on just one facet. Targeting for instance a single person as the source of problems, thinking "This is my enemy".

Focusing on your own self interest, is the problem. Being concerned for others, is the solution.

To eradicate ignorance, it is necessary to generate wisdom that contradicts it. First, you need to remove the predispositions that destructive emotions have left in your mind. Remove hatred. Hatred arises from the exaggeration of the status of an object beyond what actually exists. Afflictive emotions require a target that is magnified by your mind, do not let your hatred cloud your judgement. Ignorance and hatred is the poison that leads to destruction, we need to counter, not encourage the source of suffering.

Focusing only on yourself and exaggerating the influence of another is the problem. Being concerned for others, is the solution.

Since the truth is embedded in a vast network of conditions, the broader your outlook is, the greater the possibility of combating the madness of afflictive emotions that cause one to be crazed and to stumble into wrongdoing.

Opposing forces indicates the potential for change. When you need to counter something, you need to identify its opposing force and when you increase power, the strength of its opposite diminishes. Since suffering is caused by afflictive emotions, relying on attitudes that oppose them, promotes healthy change.

When you are solely concerned with "I", this naturally leads to fear and anxiety, resulting in even more insecurity, making the body imbalanced and riddled with health problems. Courage diminishes fear and restores relaxation.

If a luminous and cognitive mind were produced from a mistaken mind, then when the mistake was finally removed, the luminous and cognitive mind would also have to gradually stop.

But luminous cognition and misapprehension are entirely different. When wisdom undermines ignorance, this does not oppose the continuation of basic mind. It contradicts reason for an enlightened mind to be snuffed out. This is why the dream survives, even if you kill the dreamer.

Biographies of those who harm others generate dislike when they are read or even considered. The only difference between them and the biographies of the those we admire is their attitude -their intent to help or their altruism.

NEXT: The consequence of afflictive emotions.