What if I told you that the root of all the world's biggest problems can be summed up in the words - lust, greed and anger. When lust and greed are unfulfilled, they lead to anger.
It is the lust and greed of those in power in the world, that lead them to do crazy actions that one might label madness.
Especially when those leaders are part of that small minority of humans - perhaps around 5% - who can be labeled sociopath. Sadly it is lust and greed for power and money which attracts such personality types to climb the ladder to positions of power.
It's easy to simplify the world and it's inhabitants into this condition when you look at it from a broad enough perspective. The underlying root cause of negative human behavior is simplified into these three qualities - lust, greed and anger.
They were not labeled deadly sins by medieval Christian scholars for nothing. Why do you think that old Christianity and modern Hinduism and Islam require women to cover their hair? It's to prevent men, who were unable to control their lust, from becoming bewildered and acting irrationally.
Call it old-fashioned if you wish. That doesn't make it wrong. It just makes you sound naive.
Sadly modern civilization places profit above morals and so whatever works to keep us trapped in a hamster wheel of consumerism is allowed.
Thus advertising agencies are allowed to play upon our greatest human vulnerabilities - our weakness to lust and greed - by using large images of scantily clad beautiful women to allure prospective consumers to their product.
As a result, nakedness is encouraged among women in western society where the destruction of morals is seen as a sign of progress. The modern world has been deliberately inverted and perverted by those very same sociopaths in power.
The liberalization and free flow of porn is under the same agenda of capturing the psyche of humanity and enslaving it, degrading it and making many into victims of their own weakness instead of protecting society from their weaknesses.
The bottom line is to fulfill the greed of a few in power by enslaving the masses via their lust. Modern society adds fuel to the fire of lust and greed, leading to a world of confused, lonely, empty unfulfilled people who have lost perspective due to being deliberately misguided by unscrupulous vulture-like people pulling the strings of power.
The whole world is ensnared within its web of lust, greed and anger. The ancient Wisdom has said this for thousands of years already because it is an ancient and ageless fact of our human condition, one that will never change. It's part of the fabric of reality on earth which is perpetuated by eating, sleeping, mating and fearing.
There's no way out of it, except to transform the lust into love... of self, other and nature or spirit or god. This can be achieved by, among other things, cultivating a mod of service.
That's why being a powerful government leader is labeled as being a civil servant, a public servant. That's the real attitude that those in power should aspire for. Some do, but most find the position of power fuels their selfish lust and greed, and so they become lesser people, and they drag the masses down with them into ignorance.
Bhagavad Gita ch3:36
arjuna uvāca
atha kena prayukto 'yaṁ
pāpaṁ carati pūruṣaḥ
anicchann api vārṣṇeya
balād iva niyojitaḥ
SYNONYMS
arjunaḥ uvāca—Arjuna said; atha—hereafter; kena—by what; prayuktaḥ—impelled; ayam—one; pāpam—sins; carati—acts; pūruṣaḥ—a man; anicchan—without desiring; api—although; vārṣṇeya—O descendant of Vṛṣṇi; balāt—by force; iva—as if; niyojitaḥ—engaged
TRANSLATION
Arjuna said: O descendant of Vṛṣṇi, by what is one impelled to sinful acts, even unwillingly, as if engaged by force?
PURPORT
A living entity, as part and parcel of the Supreme, is originally spiritual, pure, and free from all material contaminations. Therefore, by nature he is not subjected to the sins of the material world. But when he is in contact with the material nature, he acts in many sinful ways without hesitation, and sometimes even against his will. As such, Arjuna's question to Kṛṣṇa is very sanguine, as to the perverted nature of the living entities. Although the living entity sometimes does not want to act in sin, he is still forced to act. Sinful actions are not, however, impelled by the Supersoul within, but are due to another cause, as the Lord explains in the next verse.
Bhagavad Gita ch3:37
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
kāma eṣa krodha eṣa
rajo-guṇa-samudbhavaḥ
mahāśano mahā-pāpmā
viddhy enam iha vairiṇam
SYNONYMS
śrī bhagavān uvāca—the Personality of Godhead said; kāmaḥ—lust; eṣaḥ—all these; krodhaḥ—wrath; eṣaḥ—all these; rajo-guṇa—the mode of passion; samudbhavaḥ—born of; mahā-śanaḥ—all-devouring; mahā-pāpmā—greatly sinful; viddhi—know; enam—this; iha—in the material world; vairiṇam—greatest enemy
TRANSLATION
The Blessed Lord said: It is lust only, Arjuna, which is born of contact with the material modes of passion and later transformed into wrath, and which is the all-devouring, sinful enemy of this world.
PURPORT
When a living entity comes in contact with the material creation, his eternal love for Kṛṣṇa is transformed into lust, in association with the mode of passion. Or, in other words, the sense of love of God becomes transformed into lust, as milk in contact with sour tamarind is transformed into yogurt. Then again, when lust is unsatisfied, it turns into wrath; wrath is transformed into illusion, and illusion continues the material existence. Therefore, lust is the greatest enemy of the living entity, and it is lust only which induces the pure living entity to remain entangled in the material world. Wrath is the manifestation of the mode of ignorance; these modes exhibit themselves as wrath and other corollaries. If, therefore, the modes of passion, instead of being degraded into the modes of ignorance, are elevated to the modes of goodness by the prescribed method of living and acting, then one can be saved from the degradation of wrath by spiritual attachment.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead expanded Himself into many for His ever-increasing spiritual bliss, and the living entities are parts and parcels of this spiritual bliss. They also have partial independence, but by misuse of their independence, when the service attitude is transformed into the propensity for sense enjoyment, they come under the sway of lust. This material creation is created by the Lord to give a facility to the conditioned souls to fulfill these lustful propensities, and when they are completely baffled by prolonged lustful activities, the living entities begin to inquire about their real position.
This inquiry is the beginning of the Vedānta-sūtras, wherein it is said, athāto brahma-jijñāsā: one should inquire into the Supreme. And the Supreme is defined in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as janmādyasya yato 'nvayād itarataś ca, or, "The origin of everything is the Supreme Brahman." Therefore, the origin of lust is also in the Supreme. If, therefore, lust is transformed into love for the Supreme, or transformed into Kṛṣṇa consciousness—or, in other words, desiring everything for Kṛṣṇa—then both lust and wrath can be spiritualized. Hanumān, the great servitor of Lord Rama, engaged his wrath upon his enemies for the satisfaction of the Lord. Therefore, lust and wrath, when they are employed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, become our friends instead of our enemies.
Reference: Bhagavad Gita As It Is, translation and commentary by Swami A C Bhaktivedanta, original MacMillan 1972 edition, freely available at prabhupadabooks.com.
Image: https://pixabay.com/photos/church-lust-woman-family-voltage-101278/
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