Why develop metta for a bad person?

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

There are some very bad people in the world. Sometimes evil seems to be not too strong a word for some of the actions that are perpetrated, and you may well wonder why should you develop metta towards those who commit evil actions.

Metta is a state of loving others. It’s a state of empathetic awareness that brings about compassion, consideration, and kindness. If those evil people were to experience metta then they would not do the things that we so deplore. Acts of evil come from a failure of empathy.

It makes sense then that if you want the world to be a better place you would want all beings to experience metta — even the very bad ones. In fact especially the bad ones, since if evil people were to experience Metta, there would be no evil done. I’m not suggesting that we can “wish” bad people into becoming good people, simply that it’s rational to wish that those who commit evil were free from the unwholesome mental states that lead to their actions. This implies that we should have compassion even for those who commit evil actions.

A meditation student of mine who is a psychotherapist pointed out to me that most of the actions that we would label as evil are committed by people who suffer from what is known as Antisocial Personality Disorder, and that scientific research studies have shown that up to 75% of all those in the US criminal justice system fit the diagnostic criteria for this personality disorder.

This disorder is almost certain to have a genetic component, so that many bad people are born that way and not made that way, although poor environments almost certainly make these genetically based traits worse. Many people, in committing evil, are therefore passing on the results of a sickness that they suffer from — a sickness that prevents them from feeling empathy, remorse, and anxiety.

Additionally, they may feel compelled to lie, even when it’s not necessary, have difficulty learning from past experience, and have trouble controlling their impulses in the way that most people can.

Pages: 1 2