Hatred is the internal condition within our minds that causes a variety of sad situations, such as prejudice, genocide and war in human history. Hatred is our emotional state of intense dislike or hostility towards a particular person or thing that we perceive to be causing unhappiness within our minds.
Hatred is caused by the perception of threat.
When we feel a threat, it usually means that we face something that is going to diminish something that we hold dear. A threat is something likely to cause danger or damage to what we value and thus likely to hurt us.
When we feel a threat, this feeling is quickly converted to anger, which is a state of defence. We can think of anger as our attempt to keep our boundaries intact in order to stay safe. We try to push that thing away and sometimes eradicate it.
Hatred, therefore, is the human ego in a state of defence.
When we find ourselves hating something, the question we have to ask ourselves is “What threat does this thing pose to me?” “How is it hurting me?” “What am I afraid of?”
A group of people might feel hatred towards another group of people.
It is often because they have different religious or political views. Upon deeper reflection, the reason that one hates the other is rooted in the belief they hold about each other. They may believe that this other group is evil or wicked, but the fundamental cause of this belief is their feelings that the other group is a threat to life on earth and a threat to their happiness.
Indeed, the safer we feel, the less we hate.
The problem is that hatred tends to snowball. We perceive a threat first. Our reaction to the threat is to push it away from us. So, we start to feel hatred. And because we are focused on the thing with an attitude of hatred as if they are a threat, what happens is that we attract more proof that they are a threat. This makes us more afraid, which makes us hate them more, which makes us manifest more proof that they are dangerous, which makes us hate them more. And it just keeps going and going until we have so much hatred inside us that we can do nothing except for trying to destroy them. It is also natural that when someone starts hating you, you, too, start perceiving them as a threat.
However, hatred does not exist because we or they are evil or wicked. Hatred exists because we perceive them to be a threat to something we treasure and are therefore attached to. So what we have to ask ourselves when we feel hatred is “What threat do we perceive them posing to us?” We may discover that we feel as if they are a threat to our physical safety. Or, they are a threat to our wellbeing. Or, they are a threat to our relationship. Or, they are a threat to how we want the world to look. Or, they are a threat to the beliefs which are keeping us safe. Or, they are a threat to our sense of self-esteem.
One of the best ways to get out of the vicious cycle is to start focusing on the pain that is in fact causing our hatred. When it comes to hatred, regardless of whether it is us hating them or them hating us, what we have to do is to address the fear and the pain that is underneath the hatred.
It might be extremely difficult to understand another person’s perspective when our core belief systems, upbringings and experiences stand in stark contrast to one another. These different factors cause people to think and feel differently, resulting in strong convictions and even stronger conflicts. It is not unusual to feel offended or attacked when someone challenges our opinions. However, we need to learn to agree to disagree. Just because someone has a different opinion than us, doesn’t mean they deserve to be hated.
( Inspired and cited from Youtube videos of Teal Swan's "Hatred" and Brainy Dose's "7 Reasons Why You Hate People" )
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