This short article is from Love, Devotion, and Longing which is currently ranked on Amazon U.S. as:
#34 in Faith & Spirituality
#50 in Mysticism & Spirituality
#59 in New Age Self-Help
Spiritual teacher and psychiatrist, Dr Thomas Hora, spoke about the galloping evils of the Four Horsemen as being envy, jealousy, rivalry, and malice. They are quick, escalating, powerful, and a real danger for the unaware. The driving force of hatred will, most likely, be one of these horsemen. We do not have to invite them. They are an inevitable part of human interaction, and all the more so if we are successful in some area. Although we cannot stop them, we can wisely sidestep them. Knowledge is safety.
Those who are not psychologically sophisticated, do not realise the extent to which the average person is unconsciously motivated by jealousy and envy. People who are not happy, confident, and fulfilled will generally resent those who are happier, more confident, and more fulfilled than them. Admiration and envy seem to be received in equal proportion as one develops and succeeds. Many famous people are admired with a passion and also hated with a vengeance. Powerful political leaders are respected and also ruthlessly criticised. Famous movie stars are followed with relentless and undying interest in all details of their life. They are adored and also grossly invaded and scrutinised.
The human world is full of envy, jealousy, rivalry, and malice. When we first learn to recognise these human foibles, we may become somewhat overwhelmed by them and feel that an isolated life would be rather nice. With progress, our focus changes and we learn to think not what the world is doing to us but what we are doing for the world. Our attention is not on how the world is hurting us but on how our presence is helping to heal the world. This outward and upward focus is our protection and our guide. At a higher level, we become increasingly aware that the human dream, the human drama (with all its questionable, damaging, and often malevolent intention), is not real life at all. What a marvellous relief that is, given the apparent paltry state of human consciousness. We learn to see an entirely different reality.
